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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

SANTA  BARBARA 

COLLEGE  OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

PRESENTED  BY 


DR.AND  MRS.H.O.KOEFOD 


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WALKS  IN  LONDON 


"  Out  of  monuments,  names,  wordes,  proverbs,  traditions,  private  recordes  and 
evidences,  fragments  of  stories,  passages  of  bookes,and  the  like,  we  doe  save  and 
recover  somewhat  from  the  deluge  of  Time." 

Lord  Bacon.     Advance  oj 'Learning. 

"  They  who  make  researches  into  Antiquity,  may  be  said  to  passe  often  through 
many  dark  lobbies  and  dusky  places,  before  they  come  to  the  Aula  lucis,  the  great 
hall  of  light ;  they  must  repair  to  old  archives,  and  peruse  many  moulded  and 
moth-eaten  records,  and  so  bring  light  as  it  were  out  of  darkness,  to  inform  the 
present  world  what  the  former  did,  and  make  us  see  truth  through  our  ancestors' 
eyes. 

jf.  Howel.     Londinofolis- 

"  I'll  see  these  things  ! — They're  rare  and  passi.ig  curious — 
But  thus  'tis  ever  ;  what's  within  our  ken, 
Owl-like,  we  blink  at,  and  direct  our  search 
To  farthest  Inde  in  quest  of  novelties; 
Whilst  here,  at  home,  upon  our  very  thresholds, 
Ten  thousand  objects  hurtle  into  view, 
Of  Int'rest  wonderful." 

Old  Play. 


WALKS  IN  LONDON 


/fr%^^  oU^^_ 


BY 


AUGUSTUS   J.    C.    HARE 

AUTHOR   OF    "WALKS    IN    ROME,"    "  CITIES   OF   NORTHERN     AND  CENTRAL   ITALY,' 
"MEMORIALS   OF    A   QUIET    LIFE,"    ETC 


TWO   VOLUMES   IN   ONE 


NEW  YORK 
GEORGE  ROUTLEDGE  AND  SONS 

9  LAFAYETTE  PLACE. 
1884. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
■ANTA  BARBARA  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 


yzi 


TO 

H.R.H.  THE  DUKE  OF  CONNAUGHT 

IN    GRATEFUL   REMEMBRANCE   OF 
PLEASANT   WALKS   IN   A   GREATER  AND  OLDER   CITY 

THESE  VOLUMES 
ARE  RESPECTFULLY  DEDICATED. 


PREFACE. 


LONG  ago,  when  I  was  a  boy  at  a  private  tutor's  near 
Edmonton,  the  only  book  in  which  I  could  find  any 
interest  or  amusement  in  the  scanty  library  of  the  house 
was  Charles  Knight's  "  London,"  and  the  pleasure  derived 
from  it  led  to  my  spending  every  sixpence  I  could  save,  and 
every  holiday  on  which  I  could  get  leave,  in  seeing  some  of 
the  places  it  described. 

London  is  much  changed  since  that  time ;  but  the  solitary 
expeditions  I  then  made  through  its  historic  sights,  so  in- 
expressibly delightful  at  the  time,  laid  a  foundation  for  the 
work  of  the  last  two  years,  of  which  these  volumes  are  the 
result.  They  aim  at  nothing  original,  indeed  any  one  who 
attempts  a  work  of  the  kind  must,  to  borrow  the  language  of 
the  author  of  "Eothen,"  be  "subjected  to  the  immutable  law 
which  compels  a  man  with  a  pen  in  his  hand  to  be  uttering 
now  and  then  some  sentiment  not  his  own,  as  though,  like 
the  French  peasant  under  the  old  regime,  he  were  bound  to 
perform  a  certain  amount  of  work  on  the  public  highways." 
But,  when  I  was  wishing  to  know  something  about  London 


nil  PREFACE. 

myself,  in  spite  rr  the  multiplicity  of  works  upon  the  sub- 
ject, I  felt  the  want  of  having  things  brought  together  in 
the  order  in  which  they  occur,  of  one  recollection  being  in- 
terlaced with  another  in  a  way  which  might  help  me  to 
remember  it,  and  this  is  what  I  have  tried  to  do  for  others. 

In  these  two  volumes  I  believe  that  all  the  objects  of 
interest  in  London  are  described  consecutively,  as  they  may 
be  visited  in  excursions,  taking  Charing  Cross  as  a  centre. 
The  first  volume  is  chiefly  devoted  to  the  City,  the  second 
to  the  West  End  and  Westminster. 

I  have  followed  the  plan  adopted  in  my  books  on  Italy, 
of  introducing  quotations  from  other  and  better  authors, 
where  they  apply  to  my  subject ;  and,  while  endeavouring 
to  make  "Walks  in  London"  something  more  interesting 
than  a  Guide-book,  I  have  tried,  especially  in  Westminster 
Abbey  and  the  Picture  Galleries,  to  give  such  details  as 
may  suggest  new  lines  of  inquiry  to  those  who  care  to 
lingei  and  investigate. 

The  Histories  of  London,  and  the  Histories  of  especial 
points  connected  with  London,  are  too  numerous  to  men- 
tion. They  are  all  to  be  found  in  the  admirable  Library  at 
the  Guildhall,  which  is  the  greatest  advantage  to  a  local 
antiquarian,  and  leaves  little  to  be  desired  except  a  better 
Catalogue.  Of  the  various  works  by  which  I  have  benefited 
in  my  own  rambles  through  London,  I  should  mention  with 
marked  gratitude  the  many  volumes  of  Mr.  John  Timbs, 
especially  his  "  Curiosities  of  London,"  enriched  by  "  Sixty 
Years'  Personal  Recollections,"  and  the  admirable  articles 


I 


PREFACE.  ix 

on  the  old  houses  and  churches  of  London  which,  for 
many  years,  have  from  time  to  time  appeared  in  "  The 
Builder." 

Some  of  the  chapters  in  "  Walks  in  London  "  have  been 
already  published,  in  a  condensed  form,  in ."  Good  Words  " 
for  1877.  The  illustrations,  with  two  or  three  exceptions, 
are  from  my  own  sketches  taken  on  the  spot,  and  carefully 
transferred  to  wood  by  the  skill  of  Mr.  T.  Sulman. 

I  shall  gladly,  and  gratefully  receive  any  corrections  of 
errors  found  in  my  work  by  those  who  follow  in  my  foot- 
steps. 

AUGUSTUS  J.  C.  HARE. 

Holmhurst,  Hastings. 


CONTENTS   OF  VOL.   I. 


-♦- 


CHAP.  PACE 

I.  THE   STRAND I 

II.  THE   INNS  OF  COURT 57 

III.  BY   FLEET   STREET  TO   ST.   FAUL'S IOI 

iv.  ST.  paul's  and  its  surroundings    ....  128 

v.  smithfield,  clerkenwell,  and  canonbury      .        .  172 

VI.    CHEAPSIDE 222 

VII.   ALDERSGATE  AND  CRIPPLEGATE 258 

VIII.   BISHOPSGATE 280 

IX.   IN   THE  HEART  OF  THE  CITY 321 

X.   THE  TOWER  AND   ITS   SURROUNDINGS  ....  363 

XI.   THAMES   STREET 420 

XII.   LONDON   BRIDGE  AND   SOUTHWARK        ....  445 


!i 


INTRODUCTORY. 


"  O IR,  the  happiness  of  London  is  not  to  be  conceived 
**-J  but  by  those  who  have  been  in  it.  I  will  venture 
to  say  there  is  more  learning  and  science  within  the  circum- 
ference of  ten  miles  from  where  we  sit  than  in  all  the  rest 
of  the  kingdom."  Such  was  the  dictum  of  Dr.  Johnson 
when  he  was  seated  with  Boswell  in  the  Mitre  Tavern  near 
Temple  Bar,  and  how  many  thousands  of  people  before  and 
since  have  felt  the  same  cat-like  attachment  as  the  old 
philosopher  to  the  vast  town  of  multitudinous  life  and 
ever-changing  aspects  ?     As  Cowper  says — 

**  Where  has  Pleasure  such  a  field, 
So  rich,  so  thronged,  so  drained,  so  well  supplied, 
As  London — opulent,  enlarged,  and  still 
Increasing  London." 

Macaulay  had  the  reputation  of  having  walked  through 
every  street  in  London,  but  if  we  consider  the  ever-growing 
size  of  the  town  we  cannot  believe  that  anyone  else  will 
ever  do  so:  for  more  people  live  in  London  already  than  in 
the  whole  of  Denmark  or  Switzerland,  more  than  twice  as 
many  as  in  Saxony  or  Norway,  and  nearly  as  many  as  in 
Scotland.     And,  if  we  trust  to  old  prophecies,  London  has 


xiv  INTRODUCTORY. 

still  to  be  doubled  in  circumference,  for  Mother  Shipton 
says  that  the  day  will  come  when  Highgate  Hill  shall  be  in 
the  middle  of  the  town.  Few  indeed  are  the  Londoners 
who  see  more  than  a  small  circuit  around  their  homes,  the 
main  arteries  of  mercantile  life,  and  some  of  the  principal 
sights.  It  is  very  easy  to  live  with  eyes  open,  but  it  is  more 
usual,  and  a  great  deal  more  fashionable,  to  live  with  eyes 
shut.  Scarcely  any  man  in  what  is  usually  called  "  society  " 
has  the  slightest  idea  of  what  there  is  to  be  seen  in  his 
own  great  metropolis,  because  he  never  looks,  or  still  more 
perhaps,  because  he  never  inquires,  and  the  architectural 
and  historical  treasures  of  the  City  are  almost  as  unknown 
to  the  West  End  as  the  buried  cities  of  Bashan  or  the  lost 
tombs  of  Etruria.  Strangers  also,  especially  foreigners, 
who  come  perhaps  with  the  very  object  of  seeing  London, 
are  inclined  to  judge  it  by  its  general  aspects,  and  do  not 
stay  long  enough  to  find  out  its  more  hidden  resources. 
They  never  find  out  that  the  London  of  Brook  Street  and 
Grosvenor  Street,  still  more  the  odious  London  of  Tyburnia, 
Belgiavia,  and  South  Kensington,  is  as  different  to  the 
London  of  our  great-grandfathers  as  modernised  Paris  is  to 
the  oldest  town  in  Brittany,  and  dwellers  in  the  West  End 
do  not  know  that  they  might  experience  almost  the  refresh- 
ment and  tonic  of  going  abroad  in  the  transition  from 
straight  streets  and  featureless  houses  to  the  crooked 
thoroughfares  half-an-hour  off,  where  every  street  has  a 
reminiscence,  and  every  turn  is  a  picture.  There  is  a 
passage  in  Heinrich  Heine  which  says,  "You  may  send  a 
philosopher  to  London,  but  by  no  means  a  poet.  The 
bare  earnestness  of  everything,  the  colossal  sameness,  the 
machinedike    movement,    oppresses   the   imagination    and 


•  INTRODUCTOR  V.  XV 

rends  the  heart  in  twain."  But  those  who  know  London 
well  will  think  that  Heine  must  have  stayed  at  an  hotel  in 
Wimpole  Street,  and  that  his  researches  can  never  have 
taken  him  much  beyond  Oxford  Street  and  its  surroundings'; 
and  that  a  poet  might  find  plenty  of  inspiration,  if  he  would 
do  what  is  so  easy,  and  breaic  the  ice  of  custom,  and  see 
London  as  it  really  is — in  its  strange  varieties  of  society,  in 
its  lights  and  shadows  of  working  life,  in  its  endless  old 
buildings  which  must  ever  have  a  hold  on  the  inmost  sym- 
pathies of  those  who  look  upon  them,  and  who,  while 
learning  the  story  they  tell  of  many  generations,  seem  to 
realise  that  they  are  "in  the  presence  of  their  lame  and  feel 
their  influence." 

An  artist,  after  a  time,  will  find  London  more  interesting 
than  any  other  place,  for  nowhere  are  there  such  atmo- 
spheric effects  on  fine  days,  and  nowhere  is  the  enormous 
power  of  blue  more  felt  in  the  picture ;  while  the  soot, 
which  puts  all  the  stones  into  mourning,  makes  everything 
look  old.  The  detractors  of  the  charms  of  London  always 
lay  their  strongest  emphasis  upon  its  fogs — 

*'  More  like  a  distillation  of  mud  than  anything  else  ;  the  ghost  of 
mud,— the  spiritualised  medium  of  departed  mud,  through  which  the 
dead  citizens  of  London  probably  tread,  in  the  Hades  whither  they  are 
translated." — Hawthorne.    Note-books. 

But  if  the  fogs  are  not  too  thick  an  artist  will  find  an 
additional  charm  in  them,  and  will  remember  with  pleasure 
the  beautiful  effects  upon  the  river,  when  only  the  grand 
features  remain,  and  the  ignominious  details  are  blotted 
out ;  or  when  "  the  eternal  mist  around  St.  Paul's  is  turned 
to  a  glittering  haze."  In  fact,  if  the  capitals  of  Europe  are 
considered,   London  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque — far 


XVI  INTRODUCTORY.  • 

more  so  than  Paris  or  Vienna  ;  incomparably  more  so  than 
St.  Petersburg,  Berlin,  Dresden,  Munich,  Brussels,  or 
Madrid. 

"  No  town  in  Europe  is  better  supplied  with  greenery  than 
London  :  even  in  the  City  almost  every  street  has  its  tree. 
And  pity  often  is  ill  bestowed  upon  Londoners  by  dwellers 
in  the  country,  for  the  fact  is  all  the  best  attributes  of  the 
country  are  to  be  found  in  the  town.  The  squares  of  the 
West  End,  with  their  high  railings,  and  ill-kept  gardens,  are 
certainly  ugly  enough,  but  the  parks  are  full  of  beauty,  and 
there  are  walks  in  Kensington  Gardens  which  in  early 
spring  present  a  maze  of  loveliness.  Lately  too,  since 
window  gardening  has  become  the  fashion,  each  house  has 
its  boxes  of  radiant  flowers,  enlivening  the  dusty  stonework 
or  smoke-blackened  bricks,  and  seeming  all  the  more  cheer- 
ful from  their  contrast.  Through  the  markets  too  all  that 
is  best  in  country  produce  flows  into  the  town :  the  straw- 
berries, the  cherries,  the  vegetables,  are  always  finer  there 
than  at  the  places  where  they  are  grown.  Milton,  who 
changed  his  house  oftener  than  anyone  else,  and  knew 
more  parts  of  the  metropolis  intimately,  thus  apostrophizes 
it— 

"  Oh  city,  founded  by  Dardanian  hands, 

Whose  towering  front  the  circling  realms  commands, 

Too  blest  abode  !  no  loveliness  we  see, 

In  all  the  earth,  but  it  abounds  in  thee." 

There  is  a  certain  class  of  minds,  and  a  large  one,  which 
stagnates  in  the  country,  and  which  finds  the  most  luxurious 
stimulant  in  the  ceaseless  variety  of  London,  where  there  is 
always  so  much  to  be  seen  and  so  much  to  be  heard,  and 
these  make  so  much  to  be  thought  of. 


INTRODUCTORY.  XVli 

"  I  have  passed  all  my  days  in  London,  until  I  have  formed  as  many 
and  as  intense  local  attachments,  as  any  of  you  mountaineers  can  have 
done  with  dead  nature.  The  lighted  shops  of  the  Strand  and  Fleet 
Street ;  the  innumerable  trades,  tradesmen,  and  customers,  coaches, 
waggons,  playhouses ;  all  the  bustle  and  wickedness  round  about 
Covent  Garden ;  the  watchmen,  drunken  scenes,  rattles ; — life  awake, 
if  you  awake,  at  all  hours  of  the  night ;  the  impossibility  of  being  dull 
in  Fleet  Street ;  the  crowds,  the  very  dirt  and  mud,  the  sun  shining 
upon  houses  and  pavements,  the  print-shops,  the  old  book-stalls, 
parsons  cheapening  books,  coffee-houses,  steams  of  soups  from 
kitchens,  the  pantomimes — London  itself  a  pantomime  and  a  mas- 
querade— all  these  things  work  themselves  into  my  mind,  and  feed  me 
without  a  power  of  satiating  me.  The  wonder  of  these  sights  impels 
me  into  night-walks  about  her  crowded  streets,  and  I  often  shed  tears  in 
the  motley  Strand  from  fulness  of  joy  at  so  much  life.  ...  I  con- 
sider the  clouds  above  me  but  as  a  roof  beautifully  painted,  but  unable 
to  satisfy  the  mind ;  and  at  last,  like  the  pictures  of  the  apartment  of  a 
connoisseur,  unable  to  afford  him  any  longer  a  pleasure.  So  fading 
upon  me,  from  disuse,  have  been  the  beauties  of  Nature,  as  they  have 
been  connnedly  called ;  so  ever  fresh,  and  green,  and  warm,  are  all  the 
inventions  of  men,  and  assemblies  of  men  in  this  great  city." — Charles 
Lamb  to  Wordsworth,  Jan.  30,  180 1. 

Many  derivations  are  given  for  the  name  London.  Some 
derive  it  from  Lhwn-dinas,  the  "  City  in  the  Wood ; "  others 
from  Llongdinas,  the  "  City  of  Ships ; "  others  from  Llyn- 
diin,  the  "  Hill  Fortress  by  the  Lake."  Geoffrey  of  Mon- 
mouth says  that  Brute  "builded  this  citie"  about  A.c.  1008. 
From  the  time  at  which  it  is  reported  to  have  been 
founded  by  Brute,  says  Brayley,  "even  fable  itself  is  silent 
in  regard  to  its  history,  until  the  century  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  Roman  invasion."  *  Then  King  Lud  is  said  to 
have  encircled  it  with  walls,  and  adorned  it  "  with  fayre 
buildings  and  towers."  The  remains  found  certainly  prove 
the  existence  of  a  British  city  on  the  site  before  the  Lon- 
dinium,  or    Colonia  Augusta,  spoken  of  by  Tacitus  and 

*  Lcmdiniana. 
VOL.    I.  .'' 


X  Vlll  1NTR  OD  UCTOR  Y. 

Ammianus  Marcellinus,  which  must  have  been  founded  by 
the  Roman  expedition  under  Aulus  Plautius  in  a.d.  43. 
Tacitus  mentions  that  it  was  already  the  great  "mart  of 
trade  and  commerce  "  and  the  "  chief  residence  of  mer- 
chants," when  the  revolt  of  the  Iceni  occurred  under 
Boadicea  in  a.d.  61,  in  which  it  was  laid  waste  with  fire 
and  sword.  It  had  however  risen  from  its  ashes  in  the 
time  of  Severus  (a.d.  193 — 21  r),  when  Tacitus  describes 
it  as  "  illustrious  for  the  vast  number  of  merchants  who 
resorted  to  it,  for  its  extensive  commerce,  and  for  the 
abundance  of  every  kind  of  commodity  which  it  could 
supply."  * 

Stow  says  that  the  walls  of  London  were  built  by  Helena, 
mother  of  Constantine  the  Great,  ''about  the  year  of  Christ 
306,"  at  any  rate  there  is  little  doubt  that  they  were  erected  in 
the  fourth  century.  They  were  rather  more  than  two  miles 
in  circumference,  defended  by  towers,  and  marked  at  the 
principal  points  by  the  great  gates,  Aldgate,  Bishopsgate, 
Cripplegate,  Aldersgate,  and  Ludgate.  The  best  fragments 
of  the  old  wall  remaining  are  to  be  seen  opposite  Sion  College, 
and  in  the  churchyard  of  St.  Giles,  Cripplegate  .  there  is  also 
a  fragment  in  St.  Martin's  Court  on  Ludgate  Hill.  Quantities 
of  Roman  antiquities,  tessellated  pavements,  urns,  vases, 
&c,  have  been  found  from  time  to  time  within  this  circuit, 
especially  in  digging  the  foundations  of  the  Goldsmiths1 
Hall,  and  of  the  Hall  of  Commerce  in  Threadneedle  Street. 
For  a  long  time  these  remains  were  carelessly  kept  or  not 
kept  at  all,  but  latterly  some  of  them  have  been  collected 
in  the  admirable  little  museum  under  the  Guildhall.  Several 
Roman  cemeteries  have  been  discovered,  one  of  them  by 

*  Annali.  Lib.  xiv.  c.  33. 


INTRCDUCTORY.  xix 

Sir  Christopher  Wren  when  he  was  laying  the  foundation 
of  the  new  St.  Paul's.  All  the  excavations  show  that 
modern  London  is  at  least  fifteen  feet  higher  than  the 
London  of  the  Romans,  which  has  been  buried  by  the  same 
inexplicable  process  which  entombed  the  Roman  Forum, 
and  covered  many  of  its  temples  with  earth  up  to  the 
capitals  of  the  columns. 

Very  little  is  known  of  London  in  Saxon  times  except 
that  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  was  founded  by  Ethelbert,  in  610, 
in   the  time  of  King  Sebert.     Bede,    who  mentions   this, 
describes  London  as  an  "  emporium  of  many  nations  who 
arrived  thither  by  land  and  sea."     London  was  the  strong- 
hold of  the  Danes,  but  was  successfully  besieged  by  Alfred, 
and  Athelstan  had  a  palace  here.     His  successor  Ethelred 
the  Unready  was  driven   out  again  by   the   Danes    under 
Sweyn.     On  the  death   of  Sveyn,  Ethelred  returned,  and 
his  son  Edmund  Ironside  was  the  first  monarch  crowned  in 
the    capital.      London   grew    greatly   in  importance  under 
Edward  the  Confessor,  who  built  the  Palace  and  Abbey  o* 
Westminster,  and  it  made  a  resistance  to  the  Conqueroi 
which  was  for  some  time  effectual,  though,,  on  the  submis 
sion  of  the  clergy,  he  was  presented  with  the  keys  of  th( 
City  and  crowned  at  the  Confessor's  tomb.  He  immediatel) 
tried  to  conciliate  the  citizens,  by  granting  them  the  charter 
which,  vritten  in  the  Saxon  language,  on  a  str;p  of  vellum, 
is  still  preserved  amongst  the  City  archives. 

"  William  the  King  greeteth  William  the  Bishop  ana  Godfrey  tht 
Portreve,  and  all  the  burgesses  within  London,  both  French  and 
English.  And  I  declare  that  1  grant  you  all  to  be  law-woi  t.Ly  -vsi  y. 
were  in  Kiug  Edward's  days.  And  I  will  that  every  chilrt  he  hv» 
father's  heir  after  his  father's  days.  And  I  will  not  suffer  thai  any  man 
do  you  wrong.     God  prcseive  you." 


XX  INTR  OD  UCTOR  Y. 

The  chief  events  in  the  after  story  of  London,  its 
insurrections,  its  pageants,  its  martyrdoms,  its  conspira- 
cies, its  pestilences,  its  Great  Fire,  its  religious  agitations, 
its  political  excitements,  are  all  noticed  in  describing 
those  parts  of  the  town  with  which  they  are  especially 
connected. 

Fuller  says  that  London  "  is  the  second  city  in  Christen- 
dome  for  greatnesse,  and  the  first  for  good  government." 
Its  chief  officer  under  the  Saxons  was  called  the  Portreeve. 
After  the  Conquest  the  French  word  Maire,  from  Major, 
was  introduced.  We  first  hear  of  a  Mayor  of  London  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  II.  His  necessary  qualifications  are, 
that  he  shall  be  free  of  one  of  the  City  Companies,  have 
served  as  Sheriff,  and  be  an  Alderman  at  the  time  of  his 
election.*  The  name  of  Alderman  is  derived  from  the  title 
of  a  Saxon  noble,  eald  meaning  old,  ealder  elder.  It 
is  applied  to  the  chief  officer  of  a  ward  or  guild  and  each 
Alderman  of  London  takes  his  name  from  a  ward.  The 
City  Companies  or  Merchant  Guilds,  though  branches  of  the 
Corporation,  have  each  a  distinct  government  and  peculiar 
liberties  and  immunities  granted  in  special  charters.  Each 
Company  has  a  Master  and  other  officers,  and  separate 
Halls  for  their  business  or  banquets.  The  oldest  of  the 
Companies  is  the  Weavers,  with  a  charter  of  1164.  Then 
come  the  Parish  Clerks,  instituted  in  1232,  and  the  Saddlers, 
in  1280.  The  Bakers,  Goldsmiths,  Skinners,  Grocers,  Car- 
penters, and  Fishmongers,  all  date  from  the  fourteenth 
century.  There  are  ninety-one  Companies,  but  of  these 
twelve  are  the  most  important,  viz. — 

*  The  Lord  Mayor  is  elected  on  Michaelmas  Day,  but  "  Lord  Mayoi'a  D*y  " 
is  November  9. 


INTR  OD  UCTOR  Y.  xxl 


Mercers 

Merchant  Tailors 

Grocers 

Haberdashers 

Drapers 

Salters 

Fishmongers 

Ironmongers 

Goldsmiths 

Vintners 

Skinners 

Clothworkers. 

In  the  second  year  of  Elizabeth  the  pictorial  map  of 
Ralph  Aggas  was  published,  which  shows  how  little  in  those 
days  London  had  increased  beyond  its  early  boundaries. 
Outside  Aldgate,  Bishopsgate,  and  Cripplegate,  all  was  still 
complete  country.  "  The  Spital  Fyeld  "  (Spitalfields)  and 
"  Finsburie  Fyeld  "  were  archery  grounds  :  Moorfields  was 
a  marsh.  St.  Giles,  Cripplegate,  was  the  church  of  a  little 
hamlet  beyond  the  walls.  Farther  west  a  few  houses  in 
"  Little  Britanne "  and  Cock  Lane  clustered  around  the 
open  space  of  "  Schmyt  Fyeld,"  black  with  the  fires  of 
recent  martyrdoms.  A  slender  thread  of  humble  dwellings 
straggled  along  the  road  which  led  by  Holbourne  Bridge 
across  the  Fleet  to  St.  Andrew's  Church  and  Ely  Place, 
but  ceased  altogether  after  "  Holbourne  Hill "  till  the  road 
reached  the  desolate  village  and  leper-hospital  of  St.  Giles- 
in-the-Fields.  A  wide  expanse  of  open  pasture-land,  only 
broken  by  Drury  House  and  the  Convent  Garden  of  West- 
minster, extended  southwards  from  St.  Giles's  to  the  Strand, 
where  the  houses  of  the  great  nobles  lined  the  passage  of 
the  sovereign  from  the  City  to  the  small  royal  city  and  great 
palace  of  Westminster.  From  Charing  Cross,  St.  Martin's 
Lane  and  the  Haymarket  were  hedge-girt  roads  leading 
into  a  solitude,  and  there  was  scarcely  any  house  westwards 
except  the  Hospital  of  St.  James,  recently  turned  into  a 
palace. 

After  the   time  of  Elizabeth,  London   began   to  grow 


xxil  INTR  OD  UCTOR  Y. 

rapidly,  though  Elizabeth  herself  and  her  immediate  suc- 
cessors, dreading  the  power  of  such  multitudes  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  Court,  did  all  they  could  to  check  it.  In 
July,  1580,  all  persons  were  prohibited  from  building  houses 
within  three  miles  of  any  of  the  City  gates,  and,  in  1602, 
a  proclamation  was  made  for  "  restraining  the  increase  of 
buildings,"  and  the  "  voyding  of  inmates  "  in  the  cities  of 
London  and  Westminster,  and  for  three  miles  round.  But 
in  spite  of  this,  in  spite  of  the  Plague  which  destroyed 
68,596  people,  and  the  Fire  which  destroyed  13,200  houses, 
the  great  city  continued  to  grow.  Latterly  it  has  increased 
so  rapidly  westwards,  that  it  is  impossible  to  define  the 
limits  of  the  town.  It  has  been  travelling  west  more  or  less 
ever  since  the  time  of  the  Plantagenets ; — from  the  City  to 
the  Strand,  and  to  Canonbury  and  Clerkenwell ;  then,  under 
the  Stuart  kings,  to  the  more  northern  parts  of  the  parish  of 
St.  Clement  Danes  and  to  Whitehall :  then,  under  William 
III.  and  Anne,  to  Bloomsbury  and  Soho  :  under  the  early 
Georges,  to  the  Portland  and  Portman  estates,  then  to  the 
Grosvenor  estates,  and  lastly  to  South  Kensington.  By  its  later 
increase  the  town  has  enormously  increased  the  wealth  of 
nine  peers,  to  whom  the  greater  portion  of  the  soil  upon 
which  it  has  been  built  belongs — i.e.  the  Dukes  of  Portland, 
Bedford,  and  Westminster;  the  Marquises  of  Exeter, 
Salisbury,  Northampton,  and  the  Marquis  Camden ;  the 
Earl  Craven  and  Lord  Portman.  No  one  can  tell  where 
the  West  End  will  be  next  year.  It  is  always  moving  into 
the  country  and  never  arriving  there.  Generally  Fashion 
"is  only  gentility  moving  away  from  vulgarity  and  afraid 
of  being  overtaken  by  it,"  but  in  this  case  it  is  also  a 
perpetual  flight  before  the  smoke,  which  still  always  drives 


INTR  OD  UCTOR  Y.  xxill 

westwards,  so  that  when  the  atmosphere  is  thickest  in 
Brompton,  the  sky  is  often  blue  and  the  air  pure  in  Ratcliff 
Highway. 

In  all  the  changes  of  generations  of  men  and  manners  in 
London,  the  truth  of  the  proverb,  "  Birds  of  a  feather  flock 
together,"  has  been  attested  by  the  way  in  which  the 
members  of  the  same  nationalities  and  those  who  have  fol- 
lowed the  same  occupations  have  inhabited  the  same 
district.  Thus,  French  live  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Leicester  Square  and  Soho,  Italians  in  Hatton  Garden,  and 
Germans  in  the  east  of  London.  Thus,  Lawyers  live  in 
Lincoln's  Inn  and  the  Temple ;  Surgeons  and  Dentists  in 
George  Street  and  Burlington  Street ;  Doctors  in  Harley 
Street;  and  retired  Indians  in  Cavendish  Square  and 
Portman  Square,  with  their  adjoining  streets,  which  have 
obtained  the  name  of  Little  Bengal.  Thus,_  too,  you 
would  go  to  look  for  Booksellers  in  Paternoster  Row, 
Clockmakers  in  Clerkenwell,  Butchers  in  Newgate  and 
Smithfield,  Furniture  Dealers  in  Tottenham  Court  Road, 
Hatmakers  in  Southwark,  Tanners  and  Leather-dressers 
in  Bermondsey,  Bird  and  Bird-cage  sellers  near  the  Seven 
Dials,  Statuaries  in  the  Euston  Road,  and  Artists  at  the 
Boltons. 

The  poorest  parts  of  London  also  have  always  been  its 
eastern  and  north-eastern  parishes,  and  the  district  about 
Soho  and  St.  Giles-in-the-Fields.  So  much  has  been  said 
and  written  of  the  appearance  of  poverty  and  crime  which 
these  streets  present,  that  those  who  visit  them  will  be  sur- 
prised to  find  at  least  outward  decency  and  a  tolerably 
thriving  population  though  of  course  the  words  of  Cowley 
are  true — 


XXIV  INTR  OD  irCTOR  K 

u  The  monster  London, 

*  *  *  •  « 

Let  but  thy  wicked  men  from  out  thee  go, 
And  all  the  fools  that  crowd  thee  so, 
Even  thou,  who  dost  thy  millions  boast, 
A  village  less  than  Islington  wilt  grow 
A  solitude  almost." 

The  great  landmarks  are  the  same  in  London  now  that  they 
were  in  the  time  of  the  Plantagenets  :  the  Tower  is  still  the 
great  fortress ;  London  Bridge  is  still  the  great  causeway 
for  traffic  across  the  river;  St.  Paul's  and  Westminster 
Abbey  are  still  the  great  churches  ;  and  Westminster  Palace 
is  only  transferred  from  the  sovereign  to  the  legislature.  The 
City  still  shows  by  its  hills — Ludgate  Hill,  Comhill,  and 
Tower  Hill — why  it  was  chosen  as  the  early  capital.  One 
feature  however  of  old  London  is  annihilated — all  the  smaller 
brooks  or  rivers  which  fed  the  Thames  are  buried  and  lost 
to  view.  The  Eye  Bourne,  the  Old  Bourne,  and  the  Wall 
Brook,  though  they  still  burrow  beneath  the  town,  seem  to 
have  left  nothing  but  their  names.  Even  the  Fleet,  of  which 
there  are  so  many  unflattering  descriptions  in  the  poets  of 
the  last  century,  is  entirely  arched  over,  and  it  is  difficult  to 
believe  that  there  can  ever  have  been  a  time  when  Londoners 
saw  ten  or  twelve  ships  at  once  sailing  up  to  Holborn 
Bridge,  or  still  more  that  they  can  have  gone  up  as  high  as 
Baggnigge  Wells  Road,  where  the  discovery  of  an  anchor 
seems  to  testify  to  their  presence.  Where  the  aspect  is 
entirely  changed  the  former  character  of  London  sites  is 
often  pleasantly  recorded  for  us  in  the  names  of  the  streets. 
"  Hatton  Garden,"  "  Baldwin's  Gardens,"  and  "  Whetstone 
Park  "  keep  up  a  reminiscence  of  the  rural  nature  of  a  dow 
crowded  district  as  late  as  the  time  of  the  Stuarts,  though 


INTR  OD  UCTOR  Y.  xx  v 

with  "Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,"  and  "  Great  and  Little  Turnstile." 
they  have  a  satirical  effect  as  applied  to  the  places  which 
now  belong  to  them.  In  the  West  End,  Brook  Street, 
Green  Street,  Farm  Street,  Hill  Street,  and  Hay  Hill, 
commemorate  the  time,  two  hundred  years  ago,  when  the 
Eye  Bourne  was  a  crystal  rivulet  running  down-hill  to  West- 
minster through  the  green  hay-fields  of  Miss  Mary  Davies. 

Few  would  re-echo  Malcolm's  exclamation,  "  Thank  God, 
old  London  was  burnt,"  even  if  it  were  quite  true,  which  it 
is  not.  The  Fire  destroyed  the  greater  part  of  London, 
but  gave  so  much  work  to  the  builders  that  the  small 
portiou  unburnt  remained  comparatively  untouched  till  the 
tide  ot  fashion  had  flowed  too  far  westwards  to  make  any 
systematic  rebuilding  worth  while.  It  is  over  the  City  of 
London,  as  the  oldest  part  of  the  town,  that  its  chief 
interest  still  hovers.  Those  who  go  there  in  search  of  its 
treasures  will  be  stunned  on  week-days  by  the  tourbillon  of 
its  movement,  and  the  constant  eddies  at  all  the  great  cross- 
ings in  the  whirlpool  of  its  business  life,  such  as  no  other 
town  in  Europe  can  show.  But  this  also  has  its  charms, 
and  no  one  has  seen  London  properly  who  has  not  watched 
the  excited  crowds  at  the  Stock  Exchange,  threaded  the 
labyrinth  of  the  Bank,  wondered  at  the  intricate  arrange- 
ments of  the  Post  Office,  attended  a  Charity  Children's 
service  at  St.  Paul's,  beheld  the  Lord  Mayor  drive  by  in  his 
coach ;  stood  amid  the  wigged  lawyers  and  whirling  pigeons 
of  the  Guildhall ;  and  struggled  through  Cheapside,  Corn- 
hill,  and  Great  Tower  Street  with  the  full  tide  of  a  week- 
day. 

But  no  one  can  see  the  City  properly  who  does  not  walk 
in  it,  and  no  one  can  walk  in  it  comfortably  except  on  a 


XS  VI  INTR  OD  UCTOR  Y. 

Sunday.  On  that  day  it  is  thoroughly  enjoyable.  The 
great  chimneys  have  ceased  smoking,  the  sky  is  blue,  the 
trees  look  green,  but  that  which  is  most  remarkable  is,  the 
streets  are  empty.  What  becomes  of  all  the  people  it  is 
impossible  to  imagine ;  there  are  not  only  no  carriages, 
there  are  scarcely  any  foot-passengers :  one  may  saunter 
along  the  pavement  with  no  chance  of  being  jostled,  and 
walk  down  the  middle  of  the  street  without  any  fear  of  being 
run  over.  Then  alone  can  the  external  features  of  the  City 
be  studied,  and  there  is  a  great  charm  in  the  oddity  of 
having  it  all  to  one's  self,  as  well  as  in  the  quietude.  Then 
we  see  how,  even  in  the  district  which  was  devastated  by 
the  Fire,  several  important  fragments  escaped,  and  how  the 
portion  which  was  unburnt  is  filled  with  precious  memorials 
of  an  earlier  time.  Scarcely  less  interesting  also,  and, 
though  not  always  beautiful,  of  a  character  exceedingly 
unusual  in  England,  are  the  numerous  buildings  erected 
immediately  after  the  Fire  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  The 
treasures  which  we  have  to  look  for  are  often  very  obscure 
— a  sculptured  gateway,  a  panelled  room,  a  storm-beaten 
tower,  or  an  incised  stone — and  in  themselves  might  scarcely 
be  worth  a  tour  of  inspection ;  but  in  a  city  where  so  many 
millions  of  inhabitants  have  lived  and  passed  away,  where 
so  many  great  events  of  the  world's  history  have  occurred, 
there  is  scarcely  one  of  these  long-lived  remnants  which  has 
not  some  strange  story  to  tell  in  which  it  bears  the  character 
of  the  only  existing  witness.  The  surroundings,  too,  are 
generally  picturesque,  and  only  those  who  study  them  and 
dwell  upon  them  can  realise  the  interest  of  the  desolate 
tombs  in  the  City  churches,  the  loveliness  of  the  plane- 
trees   in  their  fresh  spring  green  rising  amid   the  smoky 


INTR  ODUCTOR  Y.  xxvil 

houses  in  those  breathing  spaces  left  by  the  Fire  in  the  old 
City  churchyards  where  the  churches  were  never  rebuilt,  or 
the  soft  effects  of  aerial  perspective  from  the  wharfs  of  the 
Thames  or  amid  the  many-masted  shipping  in  the  still 
reaches  of  "  the  Pool,"  where  the  great  White  Tower  of  the 
Conqueror  still  frowns  at  the  beautiful  church  built  in 
honour  of  a  poor  ferry-woman, 

One  hundred  and  seven  churches  were  destroyed  in  the 
Fire,  and  only  twenty-two  were  preserved.  Of  these  many 
have  since  been  pulled  down,  and  there  are  now  only 
thirteen  churches  in  existence  which  date  before  the  time  of 
Charles  II.  Those  which  were  built  immediately  after  the 
Fire,  however,  are  scarcely  less  interesting,  for  though  Wren 
had  more  work  than  he  could  possibly  attend  to  properly, 
he  never  forgot  that  the  greatest  acquirement  of  architecture 
is  the  art  of  interesting,  and  the  inexhaustible  power  of  his 
imagination  displayed  in  his  parish  churches  is  not  less 
astonishing  than  his  genius  evinced  at  St.  Paul's.  He 
built  fifty-three  churches  in  London,  mostly  classic ;  in  one 
or  two,  as  St.  Mary  Aldermary  and  St.  Alban,  Wood  Street, 
he  has  attempted  Gothic,  and  in  these  he  has  failed.  Almost 
all  the  exteriors  depend  for  ornament  upon  their  towers, 
which  are  seldom  well  seen  individually  on  account  of  their 
confined  positions,  but  which  are  admirable  in  combination. 
The  best  is  undoubtedly  that  of  Bow  Church;  then  St. 
Magnus,  St.  Bride,  St.  Vedast,  and  St.  Martin  deserve 
attention.  The  saints  to  whom  the  old  City  churches  are 
dedicated  are  generally  the  old  English  saints  honoured 
before  the  Reformation,  whose  comparative  popularity  may 
be  gathered  from  the  number  of  buildings  placed  under  the 
protection  of  each.     Thus  there  were  four  churches  dedi 


xxvm  INTRODUCTORY. 

cated  to  St.  Botolph,  four  to  St.  Benet,  three  to  St.  Leonard, 
three  to  St.  Dunstan,  and  two  to  St.  Giles,  while  St.  Ethel- 
burga,  St.  Etheldreda,  St.  Alban,  St.  Vedast,  St.  Swithin, 
St.  Edmund,  and  St.  Bridget,  had  each  their  single  church. 
Twelve  of  the  City  churches  have  been  wantonly  destroyed 
in  our  own  time,  and,  though  perhaps  not  beautiful  in  them- 
selves, the  thinning  of  the  forest  of  towers  and  steeples, 
which  was  such  a  characteristic  of  ancient  London,  is 
greatly  to  be  deplored.  The  interiors  of  the  churches 
derive  their  chief  interest  from  their  monuments,  but  they 
are  also  often  rich  in  Renaissance  carvings  and  ironwork. 
They  almost  always  have  high  pews,  in  which  those  who 
wish  to  attend  the  service  may  share  the  feelings  of  the 
little  girl  who,  when  taken  to  church  for  the  first  time, 
complained  that  she  had  been  shut  up  in  a  closet,  and 
made  to  sit  upon  a  shelf. 

Interesting  specimens  of  domestic  architecture  before  the 
Fire  are  to  be  found  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Smithfield,  in 
Aldersgate,  Bishopsgate,  and  their  surroundings.  Crosby 
Hall  and  Sir  Paul  Pindar's  House  in  the  City ;  the  Water 
Gate  of  York  House  ;  and  Holland  House  in  Kensington, 
are  the  most  remarkable  examples  which  come  within  the 
limits  of  our  excursions. 

When  the  new  London  arose  after  the  Fire,  the  per- 
sistence of  the  citizens  who  jealously  clung  to  their  old 
landmarks  caused  the  configuration  of  the  former  city  to  be 
observed,  to  the  destruction  of  the  grand  designs  of  renova- 
tion proposed  by  Evelyn  and  Wren,  but  to  the  preservation 
of  many  old  associations,  and  the  rescuing  of  much  historic 
interest  from  oblivion.  The  domestic  buildings  which  were 
then    erected  are  no  less  interesting  than   the  churches. 


INTR  OD  UCTOR  V.  XXIX 

including  as  they  do  many  of  the  noble  old  Halls  of  the 
City  Companies,  and  private  houses  built  by  Wren.  With 
the  landing  of  William  III.  the  Dutch  style  of  regular 
windows  and  flat-topped  uniform  brick  fronts  was  intro- 
duced, which  gradually  deteriorated  from  the  comfortable 
quaint  houses  of  Anne's  time  with  the  carved  wooden 
porches  which  may  be  seen  in  Queen  Anne's  Gate,  to  the 
hideous  monotony  of  Wimpole  Street  and  Baker  Street. 
Under  the  brothers  Adam  and  their  followers  there  was 
a  brief  revival  of  good  taste,  and  all  their  works  are 
deserving  of  study — masterly  alike  in  proportion  and  in 
delicacy  of  detail.  In  fact,  though  the  buildings  of  the 
British  Classical  revival  were  often  cold  and  formal,  they 
were  never  bad. 

Some  people  maintain  that  Art  is  dead  in  England,  others 
that  it  lives  and  grows  daily.  Certainly  street  architec- 
ture appeared  to  be  in  a  hopeless  condition,  featureless, 
colourless,  almost  formless,  till  a  few  years  ago,  but, 
since  then,  there  has  been  an  unexpected  resurrection. 
Dorchester  House  is  a  noble  example  of  the  Florentine 
style,  really  grandiose  and  imposing,  and  the  admirable 
work  of  Norman  Shaw  at  Lowther  Lodge  seems  to  have 
given  an  impulse  to  brick  and  terra-cotta  decoration,  which 
has  been  capitally  followed  out  in  several  new  houses  in 
Cheapside,  Oxford  Street,  Bond  Street,  and  South  Audley 
Street,  and  which  is  the  beginning  of  a  school  of  architec- 
ture for  the  reign  of  Victoria,  as  distinctive  as  that  of  Inigo 
Jones  and  Wren  was  for  the  time  of  the  Stuarts.  The  more 
English  architects  study  the  brick  cities  of  Northern 
Italy  and  learn  that  the  best  results  are  brought  about  by 
the  simplest  means,  and  that  the  greatest  charm  of  a  street 


xxx  1NTR  OD  UCTOR  Y. 

is  its  irregularity,  the  more  beautiful  and   picturesque  will 
our  London  become. 

Besides  the  glorious  collection  in  its  National  Gallery, 
London  possesses  many  magnificent  pictures  in  the  great 
houses  of  its  nobles,  though  few  of  these  are  shown  to  the 
public  with  the  liberality  displayed  in  continental  cities.  In 
the  West  End,  however,  people  are  more  worth  seeing  than 
pittu  es,  and  foreigners  and  Americans  will  find  endless 
sources  of  amusement  in  Rotten  Row — in  the  Exhibitions — 
and  in  a  levee  at  St.  James's. 

"  The  Courts  of  two  countries  do  not  so  differ  from  one  another,  as 
the  Court  and  the  City,  in  their  peculiar  ways  oi  life  and  conversation. 
In  short,  the  inhabitants  of  St.  James's,  notwithstanding  they  live  under 
the  same  laws,  and  speak  the  same  language,  are  a  distinct  people 
from  those  of  Cheapside." — Addison. 

"In  the  wonderful  extent  and  variety  of  London,  men  of  curious 
inquiry  may  see  such  modes  of  life  as  very  few  could  ever  imagine.  .  .  . 
The  intellectual  man  is  struck  with  it  as  comprehending  the  whole 
of  human  life  in  all  its  variety,  the  contemplation  of  which  is  inex- 
haustible."— BoswelVs  Life  of  Johnson. 

If  a  stranger  wishes  at  once  to  gain  the  most  vivid  im- 
pression of  the  wealth,  the  variety,  and  the  splendour  of 
London,  he  should  follow  the  economical  course  of  "  taking 
a  penny  boat  " — embarking  in  a  steamer — at  Westminster 
Bridge,  descend  the  Thames  to  London  Bridge,  and  ascend 
the  Monument.  The  descent  of  the  river  through  London 
will  give  a  more  powerful  idea  of  its  constant  movement  of 
life  than  anything  else  can  :  the  water  covered  with  heavily 
laden  barges  and  churned  by  crowded  steamboats :  the 
trains  hissing  across  the  iron  railway  bridges :  the  numerous 
bridges  of  stone  with  their  concourse  of  traffic :  the  tall 
chimneys :  the  hundreds  of  church  towers  with  the  great 


1NTR  OD  UCTOR  Y.  *XX! 

dome  of  St.  Paul's  dominating  the  whole  :  the  magnificent 
embankment :  the  colossal  Somerset  House :  the  palaces 
on  the  shores  jostled  by  buildings  of  such  a  different 
nature,  weather-stained  wooden  sheds,  huge  warehouses 
from  whose  chasm-like  windows  great  cranes  are  discharg- 
ing merchandise,  or  raising  it  from  the  boats  beneath : 
and  each  side  artery  giving  a  fresh  glimpse  into  the  bustle 
of  a  street. 

Throughout  its  long  career,  London  has  owed  its  chief 
prosperity,  as  it  probably  owed  its  existence,  to  the  Thames, 
no  longer  here  the  "  fishful  river "  of  the  old  records,  but 
ever  the  great  inlet  and  outlet  of  the  life  of  London,  "  which 
easeth,  adorneth,  inricheth,  feedeth,  and  fortifieth  it." 

"Asa  wise  king  first  settles  fruitful  peace 
In  his  own  realms  ;  and  with  their  rich  increase 
Seeks  wars  abroad,  and  then  in  triumph  brings, 
The  spoils  of  kingdoms  and  the  crown  of  kings, 
So  Thames  to  London." 

Sir  y.  Denham. 

The  Thames  is  still  the  greatest  highway  in  London, 
formerly  it  was  the  only  highway ;  for  even  the  best  streets 
were  comparatively  mere  byeways,  where  the  men  rode 
upon  horseback,  and  the  ladies  were  carried  in  horse- 
litters.  It  is  a  proof  of  the  constant  use  of  the  river  even 
in  the  time  of  Charles  II.,  that  Pepys  makes  a  point  o/ 
mentioning  in  his  Diary  whenever  he  went  to  a  place  by 
land.  The  Watermen  then  used  to  keep  time  with  their 
oars  to  songs,  with  the  chorus — 

"  Heave  and  how,  rumbelow," 

like  the  gondoliers  at  Venice.  Howell,  writing  in  1645, 
says  that  the  river  Thames  has  not  her  fellow  "  if  regard  be 


XXXll  INTRODUCTORY. 

had  to  those  forests  of  masts  that  are  perpetually  upon  her ; 
the  variety  of  smaller  wooden  bottoms  playing  up  and 
down ;  the  stately  palaces  that  are  built  upon  both  sides  of 
her  banks  so  thick ;  which  made  divers  foreign  ambassadors 
affirm  that  the  most  glorious  sight,  take  land  and  water 
together,  was  to  come  upon  a  high  tide  from  Gravesend, 
and  shoot  the  bridge  to  Westminster."  It  is  a  proof  of  the 
little  need  there  was  to  provide  for  any  except  water  traffic, 
that  except  London  Bridge  there  was  no  bridge  over  the 
river  in  London  until  Westminster  Bridge  was  built  in  the 
middle  of  the  last  century.  All  the  existing  bridges  date 
from  the  present  century.  Hackney  coaches  were  not 
invented  till  the  seventeenth  century,  and  these  excited  the 
utmost  fury  in  the  minds  of  the  Watermen,  who  had  hitherto 
had  the  monopoly  of  all  means  of  public  locomotion. 
Taylor,  the  Water  Poet,  who  died  in  1654,  writes — 

"  After  a  mask  or  a  play  at  the  Court,  even  the  very  earth  quakes 
and  trembles,  the  casements  shatter,  tatter,  and  clatter,  and  such  a  con- 
fused noise  is  made,  so  that  a  man  can  neither  sleep,  speak,  hear,  write, 
or  eat  his  dinner  or  supper  quiet  for  them." 

The  first  Hackney  Coach  stand,  which  existed  till  1853, 
was  established  in  front  of  St.  Mary-le-Strand  by  Captain 
Baily  in  1634,  in  which  year  also  Strafford's  Letters  relate 
that  "  sometimes  there  are  twenty  of  them  together,  which 
disperse  up  and  down,"  and  that  "  they  and  others  are  to 
be  had  everywhere  as  Watermen  are  to  be  had  at  the  water- 
side." In  the  same  year  the  Watermen  complained  vehe- 
mently to  the  king  that  the  hackney  coaches  were  "  not 
confined  to  going  north  and  south,  but  that  their  plying 
and  carrying  of  people  east  and  west,  to  and  fro,  in  the 
streetes  and  places  abutting  upon  the  river  doth  utterly 


INTR  OD  UCTOR  Y.  XXXill 

ruinate  your  petitioners."  In  1635  the  hackney-coaches 
were  limited.  In  June  1636  the  coachmen  petitioned  to 
be  made  into  a  corporation,  so  that  one  hundred  might 
have  coaches  and  pay  the  king  a  hundred  a  year  for  the 
right.  This  number  gradually  increased,  bat  has  only  been 
unlimited  since  1833.  . 

In  their  early  existence  hackney-coaches  had  not  only 
the  Watermen  to  contend  with.  Prince  Chailes  and  the 
Duke  of  Buckingham  had  brought  back  with  them  from 
Spain  several  Sedan  chairs,  and,  though  these  at  first  excited 
the  utmost  contempt,  people  "  loathing  that  men  should  be 
brought  to  as  servile  a  condition  as  horses,"  their  compara- 
tive safety  on  such  rugged  pavements  as  the  streets  were 
afflicted  with  in  those  days  soon  made  them  popular,  and 
they  continued  to  be  the  fashion  for  a  century  and  a  half. 
They  were  not,  however,  without  their  disadvantages. 
Swift  describes  the  position  of  a  London  dandy  in  a 
shower — 

"  Box'd  in  a  chair  the  beau  impatient  sits, 
While  spouts  run  clattering  o'er  the  roof  by  fits  ; 
And  ever  and  anon  with  frightful  din 
The  leather  sounds  ; — he  trembles  from  within." 

The  discomforts  of  the  streets,  however,  then  made  all 
means  of  locomotion  unpleasant :  thus  Gay  says — 

"  Let  others  in  the  jolting  coach  confide, 
Or  in  the  leaky  boat  the  Thames  divide, 
Or,  box'd  within  the  chair,  contemn  the  street, 
And  trust  their  safety  to  another's  feet : 
Still  let  me  walk." 

Not  only  are  the  pavements  improved,  and  the  streets 
lighted  by  gas,  but  we  have  now  every  facility  of  transport. 

VOL.    I.  C 


xxxiv  INTK  OD  UCTOR  Y. 

Cabs  are  unlimited,  and  Hansom-cabs,  so  named  from  theii 
inventor.  Omnibuses,  only  introduced  from  Paris  in  1830, 
now  run  in  every  direction,  and  transport  those  who  are 
not  above  using  them,  for  immense  distances  and  very  small 
fares.  More  expensive,  and  more  disagreeable,  but  still 
very  convenient  for  those  who  are  in  a  hurry,  is  the  under- 
ground Metropolitan  Railway,  which  makes  a  circle  round 
London  from  Cannon  Street  (the  "Mansion  House")  to 
Aldgate,  with  stations  at  all  the  principal  points  upon  the 
way. 

A  pleasant  way  of  learning  one's  London,  as  of  seeing 
Rome,  is  to  follow  some  consecutive  guiding  thread,  such 
as  the  life  of  a  particular  person,  and  seeing  what  it  shows 
us.  The  life  of  Milton,  for  example,  would  lead  from  his 
birthplace  in  Bread  Street  and  his  school  at  St.  Paul's, 
to  the  sites  of  his  houses  in  St.  Bride's  Churchyard, 
Holborn,  Spring  Gardens,  Scotland  Yard,  Petty  France, 
Bartholomew  Close,  and  Jewin  Street,  and  so  by  the  place 
of  his  death  in  Bunhill  Fields  to  his  grave  at  St.  Giles's, 
Cripplegate. 

No  one  can  consider  the  subject  without  regretting  that 
no  official  ca:e-taker  is  appointed  for  the  historical 
memorials  of  London,  without  whose  consent  the  house  of 
Milton  in  Petty  France  could  not  have  been  swept  away, 
and  whose  influence  might  be  exerted  to  save  at  least  the 
picturesque  tower  of  the  church  which  commemorates  his 
baptism,  with  Dryden's  inscription  ;  who  might  have  inter- 
posed to  save  the  Tabard  Inn,  and  have  prevented  the 
unnecessary  destruction  of  St.  Antholin's  Tower  :  who, 
when  a  time-honoured  burial-ground  is  turned  into  a  recrea- 
tion-ground, might  suggest  that,  as  in  France,  advantage 


INTRODUCTORY.  xxxv 

should  be  taken  of  all  the  sinuosities  and  irregularities  which 
gave  the  place  its  picturesqueness,  instead  of  levelling  them, 
and  overlaying  them  with  yellow  gravel  and  imitation  rock- 
work,  ruthlessly  tearing  up  tombstones  from  the  graves  to 
which  they  belong,  and  planting  paltry  flowers  and  stunted 
evergreens  in  their  place,  as  in  the  historic  though  now 
ruined  burial-ground  of  St.  Pancras.  "  Les  Monuments 
sont  les  crampons  qui  unissent  une  generation  a  une  autre ; 
conservez  ce  qu'ont  vu  vos  peres,"  is  well  said  by  Joubert 
in  his  "  Pensees." 

Dwellers  in  the  West  End  never  cease  to  regret  the  need 
of  the  street  scavengers,  who  in  even  the  smaller  towns  of 
France  and  Germany  would  be  employed  daily  to  gather 
up  and  carry  away  the  endless  litter  of  orange-peel  and 
paper  which  is  allowed  to  lie  neglected  for  months,  hope 
lessly  vulgarising  the  grass  and  flowers  of  London  parks 
and  squares, — a  small  but  contemptible  disgrace  to  our  city, 
which  is  much  commented  upon  by  foreigners. 

Another  point  which  greatly  requires  a  competent  and 
well  informed  supervision  is  the  nomenclature  of  the  streets. 
Almost  all  the  older  blocks  of  houses  have  possessed  an 
inmate  or  seen  an  event  they  might  commemorate,  and  new 
streets  are  usually  built  on  land  connected  with  something 
which  might  give  them  a  name  ;  so  that  it  is  simply  con- 
temptible that  there  should  be  95  streets  in  London  called 
King  ;  99  Queen  ;  78  Princes;  109  George;  119  John  ;  91 
Charles  ;  87  James ;  58  Thomas ;  47  Henry ;  54  Alfred  ; 
88  William  ;  57  Elizabeth;  151  Church;  69  Chapel;  129 
Union;  166  New;  90  North  and  South;  50  East  and 
West;  1.77  York;  87  Gloucester;  56  Cambridge;  76 
Biunsvvick  ;  70  Devonshire  ;  60  Norfolk;  50  Richmond,  &c 


xxxvi  INTRODUCTORY. 

The  Artist  in  London  will  find  much  less  difficulty  than 
he  anticipates  in  sketching  in  the  streets,  as  people  are 
generally  too  busy  to  stop  to  look  at  him.  But,  if  accus- 
tomed to  the  facilities  and  liberality  met  with  in  Continental 
cities,  he  will  be  quite  wearied  out  with  the  petty  obstacles 
thrown  in  his  way  by  every  one  who  can  make  an  obstacle 
to  throw.  From  the  Benchers  of  the  Temple  to  the  humblest 
churchwarden,  each  official  demands  to  the  utmost,  orders 
signed  and  countersigned,  so  that  no  jot  of  the  little  meed 
of  homage  to  their  individual  self-importance  can  by  any 
possibility  be  overlooked. 

There  are  many  who,  amid  the  fatigues  of  society,  might 
find  the  utmost  refreshment  of  mind  and  body  in  mornings 
spent  amid  the  tombs  at  Westminster  ;  the  pictures  of  the 
City  Companies,  the  Learned  Societies  or  the  great  houses 
of  the  West  End ;  but  most  of  all  in  rambles  through  the 
ancient  bye-ways  of  the  City.  There  are  many  more,  espe- 
cially young  men,  for  whom  time  in  London  hangs  very 
heavy,  and  to  whom  the  perpetual  lounge  in  the  Park  must 
end  by  becoming  wearisome  and  monotonous,  and  for  these 
a  new  mine  of  interest  and  pleasure  is  only  waiting  to  be 
worked.  If  they  will  take  even  the  Walks  indicated  in 
these  volumes,  they  can  scarcely  fail  to  end  them  by  agree- 
ing with  Dr.  Johnson  that  "  he  who  is  tired  of  London  is 
tired  of  existence."  To  them  especially  the  author  would 
say,  in  the  words  of  Shakspeare — 

"  I  pray  you,  let  us  satisfy  our  eyes 
With  the  memorials,  and  the  things  of  fame, 
That  do  renown  this  city." 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    STRAND. 

DR.  JOHNSON  said,  "  I  think  the  full  tide  of  existence 
is  at  Charing  Cross."  It  is  the  first  point  which 
meets  the  eyes  of  the  traveller  on  arriving  from  the  Con- 
tinent, and  it  may  well  be  taken  as  a  centre  in  an  explana- 
tion of  London. 

In  1266  a  village  on  this  site  was  spoken  of  as  Cher- 
ringe,  where  William  of  Radnor,  Bishop  of  Landaff,  asked 
permission  of  Henry  III.  to  take  up  his  abode  in  a 
hermitage  during  his  visits  to  London.  This  earlier 
mention  of  the  name  unfortunately  renders  it  impossible  to 
derive  it,  as  has  been  often  done,  from  La  Chere  Heine, 
Eleanor,  wife  of  Edward  I.,  "  mulier  pia,  modesta,  miseri- 
cors,  Anglicorum  omnium  amatrix,"  to  whom  her  husband 
erected  here  the  last  of  the  nine  crosses  which  marked  the 
resting-places  of  the  beloved  corpse  in  1291  on  its  way  from 
Lincoln  to  Westminster.  More  probably  the  name  is 
derived  from  the  Saxon  word  Charan,  to  turn,  both  the  road 
and  river  making  a  bend  here.  The  other  crosses  in  memory 
of  Eleanor  were  at  Lincoln,  Northampton,  Stoney  Stratford, 
Woburn,  Dunstable,  St.  Albans,  Waltham,  and  Cheap ;  and 

vol.  1.  B 


*  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

of  these  only  those  of  Northampton  and  Waltham  remain. 
That  of  Charing  was  the  most  magnificent  of  all :  it  was  de- 
signed by  Richard  and  Roger  de  Coverdale,  with  figures  Dy 
Alexander  of  Abingdon.  The  modern  cross  erected  in 
front  of  Charing  Cross  Railway  Station  is  intended  as  a 
reproduction  of  it.  The  old  cross  was  pulled  down  in 
1647  by  the  Puritans,  amid  great  lamentations  from  the 
Opposite  party. 

"  Methinks  the  common-council  should 
Of  it  have  taken  pity, 
'Cause  good  old  Cross,  it  always  stood 

So  firmly  to  the  City. 
Since  crosses  you  so  much  disdain, 

Faith,  if  I  were  as  you, 
For  fear  the  king  should  rule  again, 
I'd  pull  down  Tyburn  too." 

The  Dounefall  of  Charing  Crass* 

The  site  of  the  cross  was  the  spot  chosen  in  1660 
for  the  execution  of  the  Regicides.  Hither  (October  13) 
Major-General  Thomas  Harrison  was  brought  to  the 
gallows  in  a  sledge,  "  with  a  sweet  smiling  countenance," 
saying  that  he  was  going  to  suffer  for  "  the  most  glorious 
cause  that  ever  was  in  the  world."  "  As  he  was  about  to 
die,"  having  his  face  towards  the  Banqueting  House  at 
Whitehall,  "  one,  in  derision,  called  to  him,  and  said, '  Where 
is  your  good  old  cause  ? '  He,  with  a  cheerful  smile,  clapt 
his  hand  on  his  breast,  and  said, '  Here  it  is,  and  I  am  going 
to  seal  it  with  my  blood.'"  Three  days  after,  Hugh  Peters, 
who  had  preached  against  Charles  I.  at  St.  Margaret's  as 
"  the  great  Barabbas  at  Windsor,"  with  Cook  the  republican 
counsel,  suffered  on  the  same  spot,  and  afterwards  eight 
other  of  the   regicides.       Here,  where  his  murderers  had 


STATUE   OF  CHARLES  I.  3 

perished,  the  Statue  of  Charles  I.*  the  noblest  statue  in 
London,  was  set  up  in  1674.  The  figure  of  the  king  is 
what  it  professes  to  be — royal,  and  gains  by  being  attired, 
not  in  the  conventional  Roman  costume,  but  in  a  dress 
such  as  he  wore,  and  by  being  seated  on  a  saddle  such 
as  he  used.  It  is  the  work  of  Hubert  Le  Sueur,  and  was 
originally  ordered  by  the  Lord  Treasurer  Weston  for  his' 


At  Charing  Cross. 


gardens  at  Roehampton.  Walpole  narrates  that  it  was 
sold  by  the  Parliament  to  one  John  Rivet,  a  brazier, 
living  at  the  Dial  near  Holborn  Conduit,  with  strict  orders 
to  break  it  to  pieces.  Instead  of  doing  this  he  con- 
cealed it  in  the  vaults  under  the  Church  of  St.  Paul,  Covent 
Garden,  and  making  some  brass  handles  for  knives,  and  pro- 
ducing them  as  fragments  of  the  statue,  realised  a  large  sum 

*  Only  the  names  of  still  existing  (1877)  monuments  and  buildings  are  printed  in 
italics. 


4  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

by  their  sale,  as  well  to  royalists  who  bought  them  from  love 
of  the  king,  as  to  rebels  who  saw  in  them  a  mark  of  their 
triumph.  At  the  Restoration  the  statue  was  mounted  upon 
its  present  beautiful  pedestal,  which  is  the  work  of  Joshua 
Marshall,  Master  Mason  to  the  Crown,  and  which,  till 
recently,  was  always  wreathed  with  oak  on  the  29th  of  May, 
the  anniversary  of  the  Restoration.  The  metal  round 
i:he  fore-foot  of  the  horse  bears  the  inscription  HVBER(T) 
LE  SVEVR  (FE)CIT.  1633.  On  the  erection  of  the  statue, 
Waller  wrote  the  lines — 

"  That  the  first  Charles  does  here  in  triumph  ride ; 
See  his  son  reign,  where  he  a  martyr  died  ; 
And  people  pay  that  reverence,  as  they  pass 
(Which  then  he  wanted  !),  to  the  sacred  brass  ; 
Is  not  the  effect  of  gratitude  alone. 
To  which  we  owe  the  statue  and  the  stone. 
But  heaven  this  lasting  monument  has  wrought, 
That  mortalls  may  eternally  be  taught, 
Rebellion,  though  successful,  is  but  vain  ; 
And  kings,  so  killed,  rise  conquerors  again. 
This  truth  the  royal  image  does  proclaim, 
Loud  as  the  trumpet  of  surviving  fame." 

Close  beside  the  statue  was  the  pillory  where  Edmund 
Curll  the  bookseller,  "  embalmed  in  the  bitter  herbs  of  the 
Dunciad,"*  was  punished.  We  may  also  give  a  thought  to  the 
brave  old  Bal merino  as  asking  here  from  his  guards  the 
indulgence  of  being  allowed  to  stop  to  buy  "  honey-blobs," 
as  the  Scotch  call  gooseberries,  on  his  last  journey  to  the 
Tower  after  his  condemnation.! 

Harry  Vane  the  Younger  lived  at  Charing  Cross,  next 
door  to  Northumberland  House.     Isaac  Barrow,  the  mathe- 

*  Alibone,  "  Dictionary  of  English  and  American  Authors." 
t  'Walpole  to  Montague,  August  2,  1746. 


CHARING  CROSS.  5 

matician  and  divine,  called  by  Charles  II.  "an  unfair 
preacher,  because  he  exhausted  every  subject,"  died  here 
over  a  saddler's  shop  (1677)  in  his  forty-seventh  year.  In 
Hartshorn  Lane,  close  by,  lived  the  mother  of  Ben  Jonson, 
and  hence  she  sent  her  boy  "  to  a  private  school  in  the 
Church  of  St.  Martin  in  the  Fields."* 

"Though  I  cannot  with  all  my  industrious  inquiry  find  him  in  his 
cradle,  I  can  fetch  him  from  long-coats.  When  a  little  child  he  lived 
m  Hartshorn  Lane  near  Charing  Cross,  where  his  mother  married  a 
bricklayer  for  her  second  husband." — Fuller's  Worthies. 

The  Swan  at  Charing  Cross  was  the  scene  of  Ben  Jon- 
?on's  droll  extempore  grace  before  James  I.,  for  which  the 
king  gave  him  a  hundred  pounds.  The  fact  that  proclama- 
tions were  formerly  made  at  Charing  Cross,  giving  rise  to 
the  allusion  in  Swift — 

"  Where  all  that  passes  inter  nos 
May  be  proclaimed  at  Charing  Cross," 

has  passed  into  a  byword. 


The  most  interesting  approach  to  the  City  of  London  is 
by  that  which  leads  to  it  from  Charing  Cross — the  great 
highway  of  the  Strand,  "  down  which  the  tide  of  labour 
flows  daily  to  the  City,"  +  and  where  Charles  Lamb  says  that 
he  "  often  shed  tears  for  fulness  of  joy  at  such  multitude  of 
life."  To  us,  when  we  think  of  it,  the  Strand  is  only  a  vast 
thoroughfare  crowded  with  traffic,  and  the  place  whither  we 
go  to  find  Exeter  Hall,  or  the  Adelphi  or  Gaiety  theatres, 

•  Sir  Thomas  Pope  Klunt's  "  Censura  Autborum." 
t  Blanchard  Jerrold. 


6  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

as  our  taste  may  guide  us.  But  the  name  which  the  street 
still  bears  will  remind  us  of  its  position,  following  the  strand, 
the  shore,  of  the  Thames.  This  was  the  first  cause  of  its 
popularity,  and  of  its  becoming  for  three  hundred  years 
what  the  Corso  is  to  Rome,  and  the  Via  Nuova  to  Genoa, 
a  street  of  palaces.  The  rise  of  these  palaces  was  very 
gradual.  As  late  as  the  reign  of  Edward  II.  (1315)  a 
petition  was  presented  complaining  that  the  road  from 
Temple  Bar  to  Westminster  was  so  infamously  bad  that  it 
was  ruinous  to  the  feet  both  of  men  and  horses,  and  more- 
over that  it  was  overgrown  with  thickets  and  bushes.  In 
the  time  of  Edward  III.  the  rapid  watercourses  which 
crossed  that  road  and  fell  into  the  Thames  were  traversed 
by  bridges,  of  which  there  were  three  between  Charing  Cross 
and  Temple  Bar.  Of  two  of  these  bridges  the  names  are 
still  preserved  to  us  in  the  names  of  two  existing  streets — 
Ivy  Bridge  Lane  and  Strand  Bridge  Lane ;  the  third  bridge 
has  itself  been  seen  by  many  living  persons.  It  was  dis- 
covered in  1802,  buried  deep  beneath  the  soil  near  St. 
Clement's  Church,  and  was  laid  bare  during  the  formation 
of  some  new  sewers.  In  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  "the 
road  of  the  Strand  was  still  described  as  full  of  pits  and 
sloughs,  very  perilous  and  noisome."  But  the  Strand  was 
the  highway  from  the  royal  palace  at  Westminster  to  the 
royal  palace  on  the  Fleet,  and  so  became  popular  with  the 
aristocracy.  Gradually  great  houses  had  sprung  up  along 
its  course,  the  earliest  being  Essex  House,  Durham  House, 
and  the  Palace  of  the  Bishops  of  Norwich,  afterwards  called 
York  House  ;  though  even  in  Elizabeth's  time  the  succession 
was  rather  one  of  country  palaces  than  of  town  residences, 
for  all  the  great  houses  looked  into  fields  upon  the  north, 


THE  STRAND.  7 

and  on  the  south  had  large  and  pleasant  gardens  sloping 
towards  the  river. 

Till  the  Great  Fire  drove  the  impulse  of  building  west- 
wards and  the  open  ground  of  Drury  Lane  and  its  neigh- 
bourhood was  built  upon,  the  Strand  was  scarcely  a  street 
in  its  present  sense ;  but  it  was  already  crowded  as  a 
thoroughfare.  Even  in  1628  George  Wither,  the  Puritan 
Poet,  in  his  "  Britain's  Remembrancer,"  speaks  of— 

*'  The  Strand,  that  goodly  throw-fare  betweene 
The  Court  and  City  :  and  where  I  have  seene 
Well-nigh  a  million  passing  in  one  day." 

It  was  in  the  Strand  that  (May  29,  1660)  Evelyn  "  stood 
and  beheld  and  blessed  God  "  for  the  triumphal  entry  of 
Charles  II. 

As  the  houses  closed  in  two  hundred  years  ago  and  the 
Strand  became  a  regular  street,  it  was  enlivened  by  every 
house  and  shop  having  its  own  sign,  which  long  took  the 
place  of  the  numbers  now  attached  to  them.  Chaucer  and 
Shakspeare  when  in  London  would  have  been  directed  to 
at  the  sign  of  the  Dog,  or  the  Golden  Unicorn,  or  the 
Three  Crowns,  or  whatever  the  emblem  of  the  house  might 
be  at  which  they  were  residing.  The  signs  were  all  swept 
away  in  the  reign  of  George  III.,  both  because  they  had 
then  acquired  so  great  a  size,  and  projected  so  far  over  the 
street,  and  because  on  a  windy  day  they  were  blown  to  and 
fro  with  horrible  creaking  and  groaning,  and  were  often  torn 
off  and  thrown  down,  killing  the  foot-passengers  in  their  fall. 
Many  old  London  signs  are  preserved  in  the  City  Museum 
of  the  Guildhall,  and  are  very  curious.  The  persons  who 
lived  in  the  houses  so  distinguished  were  frequently  sur- 


8  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

named  from  their  signs.  Thus  the  famous  Thomas  a  Becket 
was  in  his  youth  called  "  Thomas  of  the  Snipe,"  from  the 
emblem  of  the  house  where  he  was  born. 

One  only  of  the  great  Strand  palaces  has  survived  entire 
to  our  own  time.  We  have  all  of  us  seen  and  mourned  over 
Northumberland  House,  one  of  the  noblest  Jacobean  build- 
ings in  England,  and  the  most  picturesque  feature  of  London. 
The  original  design  was  by  Jansen,  but  it  was  altered  by 
Inigo  Jones,  and  from  the  plans  of  the  latter  the  house 
was  begun  (in  1603)  by  Henry  Howard,  Earl  of  Northamp- 
ton, who  was  ridiculed  for  building  so  large  a  residence 
in  the  then  country  village  of  Charing.  He  bequeathed  it 
to  his  nephew,  the  Earl  of  Suffolk,  who  was  the  builder  of 
Audley  End,  and  who  finished  the  garden  side  of  the  house. 
It  was  then  called  Suffolk  House,  but  changed  its  name 
(in  1642)  when  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  the  second  Earl  of 
Suffolk,  married  Algernon  Percy,  tenth  Earl  of  Northumber- 
land. On  his  death  it  passed  to  his  daughter,  Lady  Eliza- 
beth Percy,  who  was  twice  a  widow  and  three  times  a  wife 
before  she  was  seventeen.  Her  third  husband  was  Charles 
Seymour,  commonly  called  the  proud  Duke  of  Somerset, 
who  was  one  of  the  chief  figures  in  the  pageants  and 
politics  of  six  reigns,  having  supported  the  chief  mourner 
at  the  funeral  of  Charles  II.,  and  carried  the  orb  at  the 
coronation  of  George  II.  It  was  this  Duke  who  never 
allowed  his  daughters  to  sit  down  in  his  presence,  even 
when  they  were  nursing  him  for  days  and  weeks  together, 
in  his  eighty-seventh  year  at  Northumberland  House,  and 
who  omitted  one  of  his  daughters  in  his  will  because  he 
caught  her  involuntarily  napping  by  his  bedside.  In  his 
last  years  his  punctiliousness  so  little  decreased  that  when 


NORTHUMBERLAND  HOUSE.  o 

his  second  wife,  Lady  Charlotte  Finch,  once  ventured 
to  pat  him  playfully  on  the  shoulder,  he  turned  round 
upon  her  with,  "  Madam,  my  first  wife  was  a  Percy,  and 
she  would  never  have  taken  such  a  liberty."  It  was  a 
son  of  this  proud  Duke  who  was  created  Earl  of  Northum- 
berland, with  remainder  to  his  only  daughter,  who  married 
Sii  Hugh  Smithson,  created  Duke  of  Northumberland  in 
1766.  Added  to,  and  altered  at  different  periods,  the 
greater  part  of  the  house,  though  charming  as  a  residence, 
was  architecturally  unimportant.  But  when  it  was  partially 
rebuilt,  the  original  features  of  the  Strand  front  had  always 
been  pieserved — and  as  we  saw  its  beautiful  gateway,  so 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  additional  ornaments,  Inigo 
Jones  designed  it.  The  balustrade  was  originally  formed 
by  an  inscription  in  capital  letters,  as  at  Audley  End  and 
Temple  Newsam,  and  it  is  recorded  that  the  fall  of  one  of 
these  letters  killed  a  spectator  as  the  funeral  of  Anne  of 
Denmark  was  passing.  High  above  the  porch  stood  for  a 
hundred  and  twenty-five  years  a  leaden  lion,  the  crest  of  the 
Percies  (now  removed  to  Syon  House) ;  and  it  was  a  favour- 
ite question,  which  few  could  answer  right,  which  way  the 
tamiliar  animal's  tail  pointed.  Of  all  the  barbarous  and 
ridiculous  injuries  by  which  London  has  been  wantonly 
mutilated  within  the  last  few  years,  the  destruction  of 
Northumberland  House  has  been  the  greatest.  The  re- 
moval of  some  ugly  houses  on  the  west,  and  the  sacrifice 
of  a  corner  of  the  garden,  might  have  given  a  better  turn  to 
the  street  now  called  Northumberland  Avenue,  and  have 
saved  the  finest  great  historical  house  in  London,  "  com- 
menced by  a  Howard,  continued  by  a  Percy,  and  completed 
by  a  Seymour  " — the  house  in  which  the  restoration  of  the 


10  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

monarchy  was  successfully  planned  in   1660  in  the   secre 
conferences  of  General  Monk. 

It  is  just  beyond  the  now  melancholy  site  of  Northumber- 
land House  that  we  enter  upon  what  is  still  called  "  the 
Strand."  If  we  could  linger,  as  we  might  in  the  early 
morning,  when  there  would  be  no  great  traffic  to  hinder  us, 
we  should  see  that,  even  now,  the  great  street  is  far  from 
un picturesque.  Its  houses,  projecting,  receding,  still  orna- 
mented here  and  there  with  bow-windows,  sometimes  with 
a  little  sculpture  or  pargetting  work,  present  a  very  broken 
outline  to  the  sky ;  and,  at  the  end,  in  the  blue  haze  which 
is  so  beautiful  on  a  fine  day  in  London,  rises  the  Flemish- 
looking  steeple  of  St.  Mary  le  Strand  with  the  light  stream- 
ing through  its  open  pillars. 

The  Strand  palaces  are  gone  now.  In  Italian  cities, 
which  love  their  reminiscences  and  guard  them,  their  sites 
would  be  marked  by  inscribed  tablets  let  into  the  later 
houses.  This  is  not  the  way  with  Englishmen  ;  yet,  even 
in  England,  they  have  their  own  commemoration,  and  in 
the  Strand  the  old  houses  and  the  old  residents  have  their 
record  in  the  names  of  the  adjoining  streets  on  either  side 
the  way.  Gay,  calling  upon  his  friend  Fortescue  to  walk 
west  with  him  from  Temple  Bar,  thus  alludes  to  them  :• — 

•'  Come,  Fortescue,  sincere,  experienced  friend, 
Thy  briefs,  thy  deeds,  and  e'en  thy  fees  suspend ; 
Come,  let  us  leave  the  Temple's  silent  walls ; 
Me  business  to  my  distant  lodging  calls; 
Through  the  long  Strand  together  let  us  stray. 
With  thee  conversing,  I  forget  the  way. 
Behold  that  narrow  street  which  steep  descends, 
"Whose  building  to  the  slimy  shore  extends ; 
Here  Arundel's  famed  structure  rear'd  its  frame, 
The  street  alone  retains  the  empty  name. 


YORK  HOUSE.  H 

Where  Titian's  glowing  paint  the  canva«  wamiM. 

And  Raphael's  fair  design  with  judgment  charm'd, 

Now  hangs  the  bellman's  song,  and  pasted  here 

The  colour'd  prints  of  Overton  appear. 

Where  statues  breathed,  the  works  of  Phidias'  hands. 

A  wooden  pump,  or  lonely  watchhouse  stands. 

There  Essex'  stately  pile  adorn'd  the  shore, 

There  Cecil's,  Bedford's,  Villiers's,— now  no  more." 

Charing  Cross  Railway  Station,  in  front  of  which  a  copy 
of  the  ancient  Cross  of  Queen  Eleanor  has  been  recently 
erected  by  E.  Barry,  occupies  the  site  of  the  mans'on  of 
Sir  Edward  Hungerford  (created  Knight  of  the  Bath  at  the 
coronation  of  Charles  II.),  which  was  burnt  in  April,  1669. 
On  the  ground  thus  accidentally  cleared  Hungerford 
Market  was  erected,  which  was  decorated  with  a  bust  of  Sir 
Edward  Hungerford  "the  Spendthrift,"  who  died  in  1711, 
and  was  represented  here  in  the  wig  for  which  he  gave 
500  guineas.  The  Hungerford  Suspension  Bridge  which 
here  crossed  the  Thames  now  spans  the  tremendous  chasm 
beneath  St.  Vincent's  Rocks  at  Clifton. 

We  must  turn  to  the  right,  immediately  beyond  the  station, 
to  visit  the  remnants  of  the  famous  palace  known  as  York 
House.  The  Archbishops  of  York  had  been  without  any 
town  house  after  York  Place,  now  Whitehall,  was  taken 
away  from  them  by  Wolsey,  and  this  site,  previously  occu- 
pied by  the  Inn  of  the  Bishops  of  Norwich,  was  given  to 
them  by  Mary.  The  Archbishops,  however,  scarcely  ever 
lived  here.  They  let  it  to  the  Lords  Keepers  of  the  Great 
Seal,  and  thus  '?  was  that  Sir  Nicholas  Bacon  came  to  reside 
at  York  House,  and  that  his  son,  the  great  Lord  Bacon,  was 
born  here  in  1560.  He  in  his  turn  lived  here  as  Chancellor, 
and  was  greatly  attached  to  the  place;  for  when  the  Duke 


12  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

of  Lennox  wished  him  to  sell  his  interest  in  it,  he  answered 
"For  this  you  will  pardon  me,  York  House  is  the  house 
where  my  father  died,  and  where  I  first  breathed,  and  there 
I  will  yield  my  last  breath,  please  God  and  the  king." 

"  Lord  Bacon  being  in  Yorke  house  garden,  looking  on  fishers,  as 
they  were  throwing  their  nett,  asked  them  what  they  would  take  for 
their  draught ;  they  answered  so  much  :  his  lordship  would  offer  them 
no  more  but  so  muck.  They  drew  up  their  nett,  and  it  were  only  2  or 
3  little  fishes.  His  lordship  then  told  them,  it  had  been  better  for 
them  to  have  taken  his  offer.  They  replied,  they  hoped  to  have  had  a 
better  draught ;  but,  said  his  lordship,  '  Hope  is  a  good  breakfast,  but 
an  ill  supper?  '" — Aubrey  s  Lives. 

Steenie,  James  I.'s  Duke  of  Buckingham,  obtained  York 
Place  by  exchange,  and  formed  plans  for  sumptuously  re- 
building it,  but  only  the  Watergate  was  completely  carried 
out  to  show  how  great  were  his  intentions. 

"  There  was  a  costly  magnificence  in  the  fetes  at  York  House,  the 
residence  of  Buckingham,  of  which  few  but  curious  researchers  are 
aware ;  they  eclipsed  the  splendours  of  the  French  Court ;  for  Bassom- 
pierre,  in  one  of  his  despatches,  declares  that  he  never  witnessed 
similar  magnificence.  He  describes  the  vaulted  apartments,  the  ballets 
at  supper,  which  were  proceeding  between  the  services,  with  various 
representations,  theatrical  changes,  and  those  of  the  tables,  and  the 
music  ;  the  duke's  own  contrivance,  to  prevent  the  inconvenience  of 
pressure,  by  having  a  turning  door  like  that  of  the  monasteries,  which 
admitted  only  one  person  at  a  time."  —  D' Israeli.  Curiosities  of 
Literature. 

The  Parliament  gave  the  house  to  their  General, 
Fairfax,  but  when  his  daughter  married  George  Villiers, 
the  second  Duke  of  Buckingham,  it  brought  the  property 
back  into  that  family.  Cromwell  was  exceedingly  angry 
at  this  marriage.  The  Duke  was  permitted  to  reside 
at  York  House  with  his  wife,  but  on  his  venturing  to  go 
without    leave    to    Cobham    to    \isit     his    sister,    he    was 


york  house.  13 

arrested    and    sent    to    the    Tower,    where    he    remained 
till  the  Protector's  death.     It  was  this  Duke — 

"Who,  in  the  course  of  one  revolving  moon, 
Was  chemist,  fiddler,  statesman,  and  buffoon ; 
Then  all  for  women,  painting,  rhyming,  drinking, 
Besides  ten  thousand  freaks  that  died  in  thinking." 

Pope. 

He  sold  York  House  and  its  gardens  for  building  purposes,  at 
the  same  time  buying  property  in  Dowgate,  but  insisted  as 
a  condition  of  purchase  that  he  should  be  commemorated  in 
the  names  of  the  streets  erected  on  his  former  property,  and 
this  quaint  memorial  of  him  still  remains  in  the  names  of 
George  Street,  Villiers  Street,  with  Duke  Street  and  Buck- 
ingham Street,  formerly  connected  by  Of  Lane — George 
Villiers,  Duke  of  Buckingham.  This  nomenclature  was 
much  laughed  at  at  the  time,  and  gave  rise  to  the  satire 
called  "  The  Litany  of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham,"  containing 
the  lines — 

"  From  damning  whatever  we  don't  understand, 
From  purchasing  at  Dowgate,  and  selling  in  the  Strand, 
Calling  streets  by  our  name  when  we  have  sold  the  land, 

Libera  nos  Domine  !  " 

Villiers  Street,  where  John  Evelyn  tells  us  that  he  lived 
1 583-4.  "having  many  important  causes  to  despatch,  and 
for  the  education  of  my  daughters,"  leads  by  the  side  of 
Charing  Cross  Railway  Station  to  the  pretty  gardens  on  the 
Thames  Embankment,  where  we  may  visit  the  principal 
remnant  of  York  House — and  a  grand  one  it  is— the  stately 
Watergate,  built  for  Duke  Steenie,  and  perhaps  the  most 
perfect  piece  of  building  which  does  honour  to  the  name 
of  Inigo  Jones.*      On   the  side  towards  the  river  are  the 

•  See  Ralph's  "  Critical  Review  of  Public  Buildings." 


14 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


Duke's  arms,  and  on  the  side  towards  Buckingham  Street 
the  Villiers  motto,  "  Fidei  coticula  Crux  " — "  The  Cross 
is  the  Touchstone  of  Faith."  The  steps,  known  as  York 
Stairs,  and  the  bases  of  its  columns,  haye  been  buried 
since  the  river  has  been  driven  back  by  the  Embankment, 
and  the  "Watergate"  lias  now  lost  its  meaning  ;  but  since 
it  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  best  architectural  monuments 


The  "Watergate  of  York  House. 


in  London,  perfect  alike  in  its  proportions  and  its  details, 
it  is  a  great  pity  that  a  large  fountain  or  tank  is  not  made 
in  front  of  it,  so  that  its  steps  might  still  descend  upon 
water.  At  present  it  only  serves  curiously  to  mark  the 
height  to  which  the  Embankment  has  been  raised.  In 
ancient  days  the  river  was  fordable  at  low-water  opposite 
York  Stairs. 


DURHAM  HOUSE.  15 

Immediately  behind  the  gate  is,  at  the  end  of  Bucking- 
ham Street  on  the  left,  the  only  remaining  portion  of  the 
house  of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham.  It  is  now  used  for 
the  Clniity  Organization  Society,  but  retains  its  old 
ceilings,  decorated  with  roses  and  apples  magnificently 
raised  in  stucco  of  extraordinary  bold  design  ;  and,  in  the 
centre,  pictures,  perhaps  by  Verrio,  of  Spring  and  Summer, 
l'eter  the  Great  lived  in  the  upper  part  of  this  house  when 
he  was  in  England,  and  used  to  spend  his  evenings  here 
with  Lord  Caermarthen,  drinking  hot  brandy  with  pepper 
in  it;  and  here  also  Dickens,  who  lived  here  for  some  time 
himself,  makes  his  David  Copperfield  reside  in  "a singularly 
desirable,  compact  set  of  chambers,  forming  a  genteel 
residence  for  a  young  gentleman."  The  house  on  the 
other  side  t1  e  way,  upon  which  the  windows  of  this  old 
house  looked  out,  was  occupied  by  Samuel  Pepys.  York 
House  itself  contained  a  fine  picture  gallery  in  the  time 
of  Charles  I.,  and  the  Cain  and  Abel  of  John  of  Bologna 
was  amongst  the  decorations  of  its  garden. 

Beyond  the  gardens  of  York  House,  on  the  same  side  ot 
the  Strand,  the  houses  of  the  great  nobles  once  ranged 
along  the  Thames  bank,  as  the  Venetian  palaces  do  along 
the  Grand  Canal.  First  came  Durham  House,  with  great 
round  towers,  battlemented  like  a  castle  towards  the  river. 
The  Earls  of  Leicester  had  a  palace  here,  at  the  water-gate 
of  which  Simon  de  Montfort  hospitably  received  his  enemy, 
Henry  III.,  when  he  was  driven  on  shore  by  a  tempest  to 
which  his  boat  was  unequal.  The  Bishop  of  Durham  first 
possessed  it  under  Bishop  Beck,  in  the  time  of  Edward  I., 
but  it  was  rebuilt  by  Bi.diop  Hatfield  in  1345.  Edward  VI. 
gavt  ii  to   us  -ister  Elizabeth.     Afterwards  it  was  inhabited 


to  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

by  John  Dudley,  Duke  of  Northumberland,  and  here,  says 
Holinshed,  were  celebrated  in  May,  1553,  three  marriages 
— that  of  Lord  Guildford  Dudley,  fourth  son  of  Northum- 
berland, with  Lady  Jane  Grey;  that  of  her  sister  Katherine. 
with  Lord  Pembroke ;  and  that  of  Katherine  Dudley, 
youngest  daughter  of  Northumberland,  with  Lord  Hastings. 
Lady  Jane's  marriage  was  intended  as  a  prelude  to  placing 
her  on  the  throne,  and  from  hence  she  set  forth  upon  her 
unhappy  progress  to  the  Tower  to  be  received  as  Queen. 
Elizabeth  afterwards  granted  the  house  to  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh. 

"  I  well  remember  his  study,  which  was  on  a  little  turret,  that  looked 
into  and  over  the  Thames,  and  had  the  prospect,  which  is  as  pleasant, 
perhaps,  as  any  in  the  world,  and  which  not  only  refreshes  the  eie-sigbi, 
but  cheers  the  spirits,  and  (to  speake  my  mind)  I  believe  enlarges  a^i 
ingeniose  man's  thoughts." — Aubrey^s  Lives. 

But,  on  the  death  of  Elizabeth,  the  Bishops  of  Durham 
reasserted  their  claims  to  their  palace,  and  Raleigh  was 
turned  out.  On  part  of  the  site  of  Durham  House  was 
built,  in  1 60S,  the  New  Exchange,  called  "  the  Bursse  of 
Britain  "  by  James  I.  It  was  here  that  the  wife  of  Monk, 
Duke  of  Albemarle,  sold  gloves  and  washballs,  at  the  sign 
of  "  The  Three  Spanish  Gypsies,"  when  married  to  her  first 
husband,  Thomas  Radlord  the  farrier  ;  and  here  that  "  La 
Belle  Jennings,"  the  heroic  widow  of  Richard  Talbjt,  Duke 
of  Tyrconnel,  ruined  by  the  fall  of  James  II.,  sate  working 
in  a  white  mask  and  was  known  as  "  the  White  Milliner," 
under  which  name  she  appears  in  a  drama  by  Douglas 
Jerrold. 

Part  of  the  site  of  Durham  House  and  its  gardens  is  now 
occupied  by  Adeiphi    Terrace,  approached  by  streets  with 


SOCIETY  OF  ARTS.  17 

names  which  commemorate  each  of  its  founders,  the  four 
enterprising  brothers,  John,  Robert,  James,  and  William 
Adam  (176S);  while  the  name  Adelphi,  from  the  Greek 
word  ttSe\<£oi  (brothers),  commemorates  them  collectively. 
David  Garrick,  whose  "  death  eclipsed  the  gaiety  of 
nations,"*  expired  (1779)  in  the  centre  house  of  the 
Terrace,  which  has  a  ceiling  by  Antonio  Zucchi,  and  hence 
he  was  borne  with  the  utmost  pomp,  followed  by  most  of 
the  noble  coaches  in  London,  to  Westminster  Abbey.  The 
witty  Topham  Beauclerk  also  died  in  the  Terrace,  and 
Boswell  narrates  how  he  "  stopped  a  little  while  by  the 
railings,  looking  on  the  Thames,"  and  mourned  with  John- 
son over  the  two  friends  they  had  lost,  who  once  lived  in 
the  buildings  behind  them.  In  John  Street,  Adelphi,  poor 
King  Kamehameha  II.,  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  his 
Queen  both  died  of  the  measles,  July,  1C24.  Here  is  the 
Hall  of  the  Society  for  the  Encouragement  of  Arts,  Manu- 
factures, and  Commerce. 

Free  admission  is  granted  to  visitors  every  day  between  10  and  4, 
except  on  Wednesdays  and  Saturdays. 

The  Committee  Room  contains  the  six  great  pictures  of 
James  Barry  (1741 — 1806)  which  were  intended  to  illustrate 
the  maxim  that  the  attainment  of  happiness,  individual  as 
well  as  public,  depends  on  the  development,  proper  cultiva- 
tion, and  perfection  of  the  human  faculties,  physical  and 
moral.  The  artist  was  employed  upon  them  for  seven  years. 
They  represent — 

1.  Orpheus,  as  the  founder  of  Grecian  theology,  instructing  the 
savage  natives  of  a  savage  country. 

2.  A  Grecian  Harvest  Home,  as  pourtraying  a  state  of  happiness 
and  simplicity. 

•  Dr.  Johnson. 
VOL.  I.  C 


18  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

3.  Crowning  the  Victors  at  Olympia.  The  finest  portion  of  this 
immense  picture  represents  the  sons  of  Diagoras  of  Rhodes  carrying 
their  father  in  triumph  round  the  stadium.  He  is  said  to  have  died  of 
joy  on  beholding  his  three  sons  victors  on  the  same  day. 

4.  Commerce,  or  the  Triumph  of  the  Thames.  The  figures  of  Drake, 
Raleigh,  Sebastian  Cabot,  and  Captain  Cook  are  absurdly  introduced 
as  Tritons ! 

5.  The  Distribution  of  Rewards  by  the  Society  of  Arts.  This  pic- 
ture is  interesting  as  containing  a  number  of  contemporary  portraits — 
Dr.  Johnson,  Edmund  Burke,  Mrs.  Montagu,  the  Duchesses  of  Devon- 
shire, Rutland,  Northumberland,  &c. 

6.  Elysium,  or  the  State  of  Final  Retribution,  being  an  apotheosis 
of  those  whom  the  artist  considered  to  be  the  chief  cultivators  and 
benefactors  of  mankind. 

"  Whatever  the  hand  may  have  done,  the  mind  (in  these  pictures)  has 
done  its  part ;  there  is  a  grasp  of  mind  here  which  you  will  find 
nowhere  else." — Dr.  Johnson. 

"  The  audacious  honesty  of  this  eminent  man  conspired  against  his 
success  in  art;  he  talked  and  wrote  down  the  impressions  of  his  pencil. 
The  history  of  his  life  is  the  tale  of  splendid  works  contemplated  and 
seldom  begun,  of  theories  of  art,  exhibiting  the  confidence  of  genius 
and  learning,  and  of  a  constant  warfare  waged  against  a  coterie  of 
connoisseurs,  artists,  and  antiquarians,  who  ruled  the  realm  of  taste." — 
Allan  Cunningham. 

In  the  Anteroom  is  a  good  portrait,  by  R.  Cosway,  of 
William  Shipley,  brother  of  Jonathan  Shipley,  Bishop  of 
St.  Asaph,  by  whom  the  Society  was  founded  in  1754. 

Returning  to  the  Strand,  we  may  notice  that  at  Coutts's 
Bank  (between  Buckingham  Street  and  Durham  Street) 
the  royal  family  have  banked  since  the  reign  of  Queen 
Anne. 

On  the  right  of  the  Strand  is  Ivy  Bridge  Lane,  where,  says 
Pennant,  "  the  Earl  of  Rutland  had  a  house  in  which 
several  of  that  noble  family  breathed  their  last.''  It  was  in 
a  house  opposite  the  entrance  of  this  lane  that  "  that  olde, 
olde  man,"  Thomas  Parr,  died,  having  done  penance  in 
Alderbury  Church  for  being  the  father  of  an  illegitimate 


COVE  NT  GARDEN.  19 

child  when  he  was  above  an  hundred  years  old.  Salisbury 
Street  and  Cecil  Street  now  commemorate  Salisbury  House, 
the  town  residence  of  Sir  Robert  Cecil,  Earl  of  Salisbury, 
Lord  High  Treasurer  in  the  time  of  James  I.  No  trace 
of  it  is  left  except  in  the  names. 

The  district  to  the  north  of  the  Strand,  where  the  palaces 
we  have  been  describing  looked  into  the  open  country, 
belonged  to  the  Dukes  of  Bedford,  and  is  known  as  Bed- 
fordbury.  Brydges  Street  and  Chcindos  Street  here  commemo- 
rate the  marriage  of  the  4th  Earl  of  Bedford  with  Catherine, 
daughter  and  co-heiress  of  Giles  Brydges,  3rd  Lord  Chandos, 
whose  mansion  once  occupied  their  site.  The  title  of  the 
5th  Earl,  created  Marquis  of  Tavistock  at  the  Restoration, 
remains  in  Tavistock  Street.  His  eldest  son,  the  famous 
William,  Lord  Russell,  married  Lady  Rachel  Wriothesley, 
second  daughter  of  Thomas,  Earl  of  Southampton,  whence 
Southampton  Street.  Here  the  "  Bedford  Head "  was 
situated,  where  Paul  Whitehead  gave  his  supper  parties, 
and  which  is  celebrated  in  the  lines  of  Pope — 

"  When  sharp  with  hunger,  scorn  you  to  be  fed, 
Except  on  pea-chicks — at  the  Bedford  Head." 

Southampton  Street — where  phosphorus  was  first  manufac- 
tured in  England — leads  into  Covent  Garden,  a  space  which, 
as  early  as  1222,  under  the  name  of  Frere  Pye  Garden,  was 
the  convent  garden  of  Westminster,  and  which  through  all 
the  changes  of  time  and  place  has  ever  remained  sacred  to 
the  fruits  and  flowers  of  its  early  existence,  so  that,  though 
they  are  no  longer  growing,  it  has  never  lost  its  old  name 
of  "garden."  At  the  Dissolution  Edward  VI.  granted  the 
garden  to  his  urcle  the  Protector  Somerset,  but,  reverting 


x>  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

to  the  crown  on  his  attainder,  it  was  afterwards  granted, 
with  the  seven  acres  called  Long  Acre,  to  John,  Earl  of 
Bedford,  who  built  his  town-house  on  the  site  now  occupied 
by  Southampton  Street.  It  was  not  till  1621  that  the  houses 
around  the  square  were  built  from  designs  of  Inigo  Jones, 
but  then,  and  long  afterwards,  the  market  continued  to  be 
held  under  the  shade  of  what  Stow  calls  "a  grotto  of  trees," 
hanging  over  the  wall  of  the  grounds  of  Bedford  House 
(now  commemorated  in  Bedford  Street),  which  bounded 
Covent  Garden  on  the  south.  Many  allusions  in  the  works 
of  the  poets  of  Charles  II. 's  time  show  that  this,  which 
Sydney  Smith  calls  "the  amorous  and  herbivorous  parish 
of  Covent  Garden,"  was  then  one  of  the  most  fashionable 
quarters  of  London — in  fact,  that  it  was  the  Belgrave  Square 
of  the  Stuarts,  and  it  will  always  be  classic  ground  from  its 
association  with  the  authors  and  wits  of  the  last  century. 
When  Bedford  House  was  pulled  down  in  1704,  the  market 
gradually,  by  the  increasing  traffic,  became  pushed  into  the 
middle  of  the  area,  and  finally  has  usurped  the  whole, 
though  a  print  by  Sutton  Nichols  shows  that  as  late  as 
1810  it  only  consisted  of  a  few  sheds. 

The  north  and  east  sides  of  the  market  are  still  occupied 
by  the  arcade,  first  called  "  the  Portico  Walk,"  but  which 
has  long  borne  the  quaint  name  of  Piazza,  an  open  cor- 
ridor like  those  which  line  the  streets  of  Italian  towns. 
It  is  common-place  enough  now  with  ugly  plastered 
columns,  but  when  originally  built  by  Inigo  Jones,  was 
highly  picturesque,  with  its  carved  grey  stone  pillars  re- 
lieved upon  a  red  brick  front.  There  is  an  odd  evidence 
of  the  popularity  of  the  piazza  in  the  time  of  Charles  II., 
James  II.,  and  William  III.,  in  the  fact  that  "piazza"  was 


CO  VENT  GARDEN.  21 

chosen  as  the  favourite  name  for  the  foundling  children  of 
the  parish.  The  registers  abound  in  such  names  as  Peter 
Piazza,  Mary  Piazza,  and  Paul  Piazza.  It  was  the  custom 
in  those  days  to  lay  all  foundling  children  at  the  doors  of 
the  unfortunate  Bishop  of  Durham,  and  leave  them  there. 
In  the  last  century  the  square  was  used  for  the  football 
matches,  which  are  described  by  Gay: — 

"  Where  Covent  Garden's  famous  temple  stands, 
That  boasts  the  work  of  Jones'  immortal  hands, 
Columns  with  plain  magnificence  appear, 
And  graceful  porches  lead  along  the  square  ; 
Here  oft  my  course  I  bend,  when  lo  !  from  far 
I  spy  the  furies  of  the  football  war  ; 
The  'prentice  quits  his  shop  to  join  the  crew, 
Increasing  crowds  the  flying  game  pursue. 
O  whither  shall  I  run  ?  the  throng  draws  nigh ; 
The  ball  now  skims  the  street,  now  soars  on  high ; 
The  dexterous  glazier  strong  returns  the  bound, 
And  jingling  sashes  on  the  pent-house  sound." 

Attention  was  much  drawn  to  Covent  Garden  in  1799, 
by  the  murder  of  Miss  Reay,  who  was  shot  in  the  Piazza 
by  Mr.  Hackman,  a  clergyman  (from  jealousy  of  Lord 
Sandwich),  as  she  was  coming  from  Covent  Garden  Theatre. 
In  the  Old  Hummums  Tavern  died  Parson  Ford,  whose 
ghost-story,  of  his  twofold  appearance  in  the  cellar  of  that 
house,  is  told  in  Boswell's  Life  of  Johnson. 

It  was  in  Covent  Garden  that  the  famous  "Beefsteak 
Club  "  was  founded  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  and  meeting 
every  Saturday  in  "  a  noble  room  at  the  top  of  Covent  Garden 
Theatre,  would  never  suffer  any  dish  except  Beef  Steaks  to 
appear."  *  The  Club  was  composed  "  of  the  chief  wits  and 
illustrious  men  of  the  nation  ;  "   the  badge  worn   by    the 

•  The  Connoisseur,  No.  XXIX. 


22  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

members  being  a  golden  gridiron  suspended  round  the 
neck  by  a  green  riband.*  The  Club  was  burnt  in  1808, 
and  Handel's  organ  and  the  manuscript  of  Sheridan's 
Comedies  were  destroyed  in  the  fire.  Amongst  those  who 
lived  in  the  square  were  Sir  P.  Lely  and  Sir  Godfrey 
Kueller. 

When  St.  Martin-in-the-Felds  became  too  small  for  its 
parishioners,  Francis,  fifth  Earl  of  Bedford,  to  whom 
all  this  neighbourhood  belonged,  desired  Inigo  Jones  to 
build  him  a  chapel  in  Covent  Garden,  but  said  that  he 
would  not  go  to  any  expense  about  it — in  short,  that  it 
must  be  little  better  than  a  barn.  "  Then  it  shall  be  the 
handsomest  barn  in  England,"  said  Inigo  Jones,  and  he 
built  St.  PauPs,  Covent  Garden  (always  interesting  as  the 
first  important  Protestant  church  raised  in  England),  which 
exactly  fulfils  his  promise.  Bare,  uncouth,  and  featureless 
in  its  general  forms,  it  nevertheless  becomes  really  pic- 
turesque from  the  noble  play  of  light  and  shade  caused  by 
its  boldly  projecting  roof,  and  the  deeply  receding  portico 
behind  its  two  pillars.  The  most  serious  defect  is  that  this 
portico  leads  to  nothing,  for,  in  order  to  have  the  altar  to 
the  east,  the  entrance  is  at  the  side,  and  the  altar  behind 
the  portico.  The  interior  is  a  miserable,  featureless  paral- 
lelogram. The  portico  alone  escaped  a  fire  in  1795,  all  the 
rest,  which  was  originally  of  brick,  perished,  together  with 
the  tomb  of  Sir  P.  Lely  (whose  real  name  was  Vandervaes), 
and  his  famous  picture  of  Charles  I.  as  a  martyr,  kneeling 
with  a  crown  of  thorns  in  his  hand,  having  cast  his  royal 
crown  aside.  Southerne  the  dramatist,  the  friend  of 
Dryden,  (ob.  1746)  used  regularly  to  attend  evening  prayers 

•  Chetwood's  "  Hist,  ol  the  Stage." 


ST.   PAUL'S,    CO  VENT  GARDEN.  2J 

here  ;  a  "  venerable  old  gentleman,  always  neatly  dressed 
in  black,  with  his  silver  sword  and  silver  locks."  * 

A  great  number  of  eminent  persons  besides  Lely  were 
buried  here  when  Covent  Garden  was  in  fashion.  They 
include  Robert  Carr,  Earl  of  Somerset  (1645), trte  notorious 
favourite  of  James  I.,  who  lived  hard  by  in  Russell  Street ; 
Tom  Taylor — "  the  Water  Poet  " — whose  endless  works  do 
so  much  to  illustrate  the  manner  of  his  age  (1654);  Dr. 
John  Donne,  son  of  the  famous  poet-dean  of  St.  Paul's,  but 
himself  described  by  Wood  as  "an  atheistical  buffoon,  a 
banterer,  and  a  person  of  over-free  thought"  (1662);  Sir 
Henry  Herbert,  Master  of  the  Revels  to  Charles  I.  (1673); 
Richard  Wiseman,  the  companion  of  Charles  II.  in  exile, 
and  his  serjeant-surgeon  after  the  Restoration,  whose  works 
attest  the  cures  worked  "by  his  Majesty's  touch  alone" 
(1676);  Sir  Edward  Greaves,  physician  of  Charles  II. 
(16S0) ;  Dick  Estcourt  the  actor,  whose  death  is  described 
by  Steele  in  No.  468  of  the  Spectator  (1711-12);  Edward 
Kynaston  the  famous  actor  of  female  parts,  who  kept 
Charles  II.  waiting  because  "  the  queen  was  not  shaved 
yet,"*  and  who  left  his  name  to  "Kynaston's  Alley"  (17 12); 
William  Wycherley  the  dramatist  (17 15) ;  Grinling  Gibbons 
the  sculptor  (1721);  Mrs.  Susannah  Centlivre  the  dramatist 
(1723);  Robert  Wilks  the  comedian  (1731),  Dr.  John 
Armstrong  the  physician  and  poet,  attacked  by  Churchill 
(1779);  Tom  Davies  the  bookseller,  the  friend  of  Boswell, 
who  introduced  him  to  Johnson  (1785);  Sir  Robert  Strangef 

•   Oltlvs. 

+  Knighted,  in  spite  of  his  having  fought  for  Prince  Charles  Edward,  and 
having  narrowly  escaped  from  arrest  and  execution  by  being  concealed  from  his 
puisuers  under  the  wide-spreading  hoop  of  a  young  lady  from  whom  he  implored 
protection,  and  whom  he  afterwards  married. 


24  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

the  engraver  (1792) ;  Charles  Macklin  the  actor,  who 
appeared  in  his  hundredth  year  in  the  character  of 
Shylock  (1797);  Thomas  Girtin  the  "Father  of  Water- 
colour  painting"  (1802) ;  Thomas  King  the  actor  (1805); 
and  Dr.  John  Walcott— "  Peter  Pindar"  (1819).  Under 
the  north-west  wall  of  the  church  rests  Samuel  Butler,  the 
author  of  "  Hudibras"  (1680). 

"  His  feet  touch  the  wall.  His  grave  2  yards  distant  from  the 
pilaster  of  the  dore,  (by  his  desire)  6  foot  deepe." — Aubrey. 

"  In  the  midst  of  obscurity  passed  the  life  of  Butler,  a  man  whose 
name  can  only  perish  with  his  language.  The  mode  and  place  of  his 
education  are  unknown ;  the  events  of  his  life  are  variously  related ; 
and  all  that  can  be  told  with  certainty  is,  that  he  was  poor." — Dr. 
Johnson. 

Amongst  the  grave-stones  in  the  miserable  churchyard  is 
that  of  James  Worsdale,  the  painter  (1767),  which  bore  the 
lines  (removed  in  1848)  by  himself — 

"  Eager  to  get,  but  not  to  keep,  the  pelf, 
A  friend  to  all  mankind  except  himself;" 

and  that  of  Henry  Jerningham,  goldsmith  (1761),  with  the 
lines  by  Aaron  Hill — 

"  All  that  accomplish'd  body  lends  mankind 
From  earth  receiving,  he  to  earth  resign'd  ; 
All  that  e'er  graced  a  soul  from  Heaven  he  drew, 
And  took  back  with  him,  as  an  angel's  due." 

On  Tuesdays,  Thursdays,  and  Saturdays,  its  especial 
market-days,  Covent  Garden  should  be  visited.  It  is  really 
one  of  the  prettiest  sights  in  London,  and  it  is  difficult  to 
say  whether  the  porch  given  up  to  flowers,  or  the  avenue 
devoted  to  fruit,  is  most  radiant  in  freshness  and  colour. 
How  many  London  painters,  unable  to  go  farther  afield, 
have   come   hither   with  profit  to  study  effects  of  colour, 


COVENT  GARDEN.  a3 

which  the  piles  of  fruit  give,  as  nothing  else  can  !  Turner's 
early  love  for  the  oranges,  which  he  knew  so  well  in  his 
home  near  Covent  Garden,  comes  out  in  his  later  life,  in  his 
"  Wreck  of  the  Orange  Vessel,"  in  which  the  fruits  of  his 
boyish  study  are  seen  tossing  and  reeling  on  the  waves. 

The  later  existence  of  Covent  Garden  has  become 
associated  with  actors  and  actresses,  from  its  neighbour- 
hood to  the  Cock-pit,  Drury  Lane,  and  Covent  Garden 
Theatres. 

"The  convent  becomes  a  playhouse;  monks  and  nuns  turn  actors 
and  actresses.  The  garden,  formal  and  quiet,  where  a  salad  was  cut 
for  a  lady  abbess,  and  flowers  were  ga'hered  to  adorn  images,  becomes 
a  market,  noisy  and  full  of  life,  distributing  thousands  of  fruits  and 
flowers  to  a  vicious  metropolis." — W.  S.  Landor. 

Thackeray  has  left  a  vivid  description  of  Covenf  Garden 
in  its  present  state  : — 

"  The  two  great  national  theatres  on  one  side,  a  churchyard  full  ol 
mouldy  but  undying  celebrities  on  the  other;  a  fringe  of  houses 
studded  m  every  part  with  anecdote  or  history;  an  arcade  often  more 
gloomv  and  deserted  than  a  cathedral  aisle ;  a  rich  cluster  of  brown 
old  taverns — one  of  them  filled  with  the  counterfeit  presentments  of 
many  actors  long  since  silent ;  who  scowl  and  smile  once  more  from  the 
canvas  upon  the  grandsons  of  their  dead  admirers ;  a  something  in  the 
air  which  breathes  of  old  books,  old  painters,  and  old  authors;  a  place 
beyond  all  other  places  one  would  choose  in  which  to  hear  the  chimes 
at  midnight,  a  crystal  palace — the  representative  of  the  present — 
which  presses  in  timidly  from  a  corner  upon  many  things  of  the 
past ;  a  withered  bank  that  has  been  sucked  dry  by  a  felonious 
clerk,  a  squat  building  with  a  hundred  columns,  and  chapel-looking 
fronts,  which  always  stands  knee-deep  in  baskets,  flowers,  and  scattcrei 
vegetables  ;  a  common  centre  into  which  Nature  showers  her  choicest 
gifts,  and  where  the  kindly  fruits  of  the  earth  citen  nearly  choke  the 
narrow  thoroughfares ;  a  population  that  never  seems  to  sleep,  and  that 
does  all  in  its  power  to  prevent  others  sleeping ;  a  place  where  the  very 
lsie.-t  suppers  and  the  earliest  breakfasts  jostle  each  ether  over  the 
footways." 


at)  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

The  names  of  the  greater  part  of  the  streets  around 
Coven t  Garden,  bear  evidence  to  the  r;me  of  their  erection. 
Besides  those  called  after  the  noble  family  which  owned 
them,  we  have  King  Street,  Charles  Street,  and  Henrietta 
Street,  called  after  Charles  I.  and  his  Queen  ;  James  Street 
and  York  Street  from  the  Duke  of  York  ;  Catherine  Street 
from  Catherine  of  Braganza.  Some  of  the  doors  in  King 
Street  are  of  mahogany,  for  here  lived  the  lady  by  whom 
that  wood  was  first  introduced.  That  Btnu  Street,  on  the 
west  of  Covent  Garden,  was  once  fashionable,  we  learn  from 
the  epilogue  of  one  of  Dryden's  plays — ■ 

"  I've  had  to-day  a  dozen  billets  doux 
From  fops,  and  wits,  and  cits,  and  Bow  Street  beaux ; " 

but,  as  Sir  Walter  Scott  observes,  "a  billet  doux  from  Bow 

Street,"   which    has   been    associated    with    the    principal 

police-courts  of  London  for  more  than  a  century,  "  would 

now  be  more  alarming  than  flattering."     Edmund  Waller 

the  poet,  and    Grinling  Gibbons  the  sculptor,  lived  in  this 

street,    and,    at    one    time,    while   he    was    writing   "  Tom 

Jones,"  Fielding  the  novelist.     It  was  to  this  street  also 

that   Charles    II.    came   to  visit  Wycherley  when  he  was 

ill,  and  gave   him  ^"500  that  he  might  go  to  the  south 

of  France  for  his  health.     Bow  Street  became  famous  in 

the   last  century  as  containing    Will's — the   "Wits'  Coffee 

House,"  described  in  Prior's  "  Town  and  Country  Mouse," 

where  you  might 

"  see 
Priests  sipping  coffee,  sparks  and  poets,  tea." 

It   was   brought  into   fashion  by  its  being   the   resort    of 
Dryden.     Hither   Pope,    at   twelve   years   old,    persuaded 


COFFEE  HOUSES  OF  CO  VENT  GARDEN.  *7 

his  friends  to  bring  him  that  he  might  look  upon  the  great 
poet  of  his  childish  veneration,  whom  he  afterwards 
described  as  "a  plump  man,  with  a  down  look,  and  not 
very  conversable." 

"  Will's "  continued  to  be  the  Wits'  Coffee  House  till 
Addison  drew  them  to  "  Button's "  (who  had  been  a 
servant  of  his),*  in  the  neighbouring  Great  Russell  Street. 
Here  Pope  describes  him  as  coming  to  dine  daily,  and 
remaining  for  five  or  six  hours  afterwards.  At  "  Tom's 
Coffee  House,"  at  No.  17  in  the  same  street,  Dr.  Mead, 
the  most  famous  of  English  physicians  from  the  reign  of 
Queen  Anne  to  that  of  George  II.,  used  to  sit  daily,  pre- 
scribing for  his  patients  upon  written  or  oral  statements 
from  their  apothecaries.  This  was  the  favourite  resort  of 
Johnson  and  Garrick ;  here  also  was  daily  to  be  seen  the 
familiar  figure  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  with  his  spectacles 
on  his  nose,  his  trumpet  always  in  his  ear,  and  his  silver 
snuff-box  ever  in  his  hand.  It  was  at  No.  8  in  this  street 
that  Bosweil  first  saw  Dr.  Johnson. 

In  Maiden  Lane,  which  runs  parallel  with  the  Strand  to 
the  south  of  Covent  Garden,  the  great  artist  Turner  was 
born  in  May,  1775,  in  the  shop  of  his  father,  who  was  a 
hairdresser.  Maiden  Lane  leads  into  Chandos  Street, 
where  Claude  Duval  was  taken,  at  the  tavern  called  "  the 
Hole  in  the  Wall,"  in  1669. 

Returning  to  the  Strand,  Burleigh  Street  and  Exeter  Street 
commemorate  Exeter  House,  where  the  great  Lord  Burleigh 
lived  and  died.  Elizabeth  came  here  to  see  him  when  he 
was  ill,  in  a  headdress  so  high  that  she  could  not  enter  the 
door.     The  groom  of  the  chambers  ventured  to  urge  her  to 

•  Pope  in  "  Spence's  Anecdotes." 


28  WALKS  IN  LCXDON. 

stoop.  "  I  will  stoop  for  your  master,"  she  said,  "  but  not 
for  the  King  of  Spain  j"  and  when  Lord  Burleigh  himself 
apologized  for  not  being  able  to  stand  up  to  receive  her  on 
account  of  the  badness  of  his  legs,  she  replied,  "  My  lord, 
we  do  not  make  use  of  you  for  the  badness  of  your 
legs  but  for  the  goodness  of  your  head."  The  site  of 
the  house  was  afterwards  occupied  by  the  Exeter  Change, 
which  contained  a  famous  menagerie,  of  which  the  ele- 
phant Chunee,  whose  skeleton  is  now  at  the  College  of 
Surgeons,  was  a  distinctive  feature.  Between  the  two 
streets  now  stands  Exeter  Hall  (built  in  1831  by  Deering), 
celebrated  for  its  concerts  and  its  religious"  May  meetings." 

On  the  right,  on  the  site  of  Beaufort  Buildings,  stood 
Worcester  House,  once  the  palace  of  the  Bishops  of 
Carlisle,  afterwards  rented  from  the  Marquis  of  Worcester 
by  ths  Lord  Chancellor  Hyde.  Here  it  was  that,  with 
outward  reluctance  and  secret  glee,  he  connived  at  the 
strange  marriage  of  his  daughter  Anne,  which  was  celebrated 
in  the  middle  of  the  night  of  September  3,  1662,  with  the 
Duke  of  York,  afterwards  James  II.  The  house  was  pulled 
down  when  the  Duke  of  Beaufort  bought  Buckingham 
House  in  Chelsea.  In  Beaufort  Buildings  lived  Fielding 
the  novelist,  and  it  was  here  that,  having  given  away  to  a 
needy  friend  the  money  which  had  been  advanced  to  him 
in  his  poverty  by  Jacob  Tonson  the  publisher,  for  the  pay- 
ment of  his  taxes,  he  said  coolly  to  the  astonished  collector, 
"  Friendship  has  called  for  the  money,  and  had  it,  let  the 
tax-gatherer  call  again." 

We  must  now  turn  aside  by  a  narrow  street  upon  the  right 
of  the  Strand,  and  it  will  be  with  a  sense  of  almost  surprise 
as  well  as  relief  that  we  find  ourselves  transported  from  the 


THE   SAVOY.  2q 

noise  and  bustle  of  the  crowded  thoroughfare  to  the 
peaceful  quietude  of  a  sunny  churchyard,  where  the  old 
grey  tombstones  are  shaded  by  a  grove  of  plane-trees  and 
lilacs,  and  where  an  ancient  church  stands  upon  a  height, 
with  an  open  view  towards  the  gleaming  river  with  its  busy 
Embankment,  and  Westminster  Abbey  and  the  Houses  of 
Parliament  rising  in  the  stillness  of  the  purple  haze  beyond. 
We  are  "  completely  out  of  the  world,  although  on  the  very 
skirt,  and  verge,  and  hem  of  the  roaring  world  of  London."* 
In  this  churchyard,  and  on  the  ground  now  occupied  by  all  the 
neighbouring  courts  and  warehouses,  once  stood  the  famous 
Savoy  Palace.  Having  been  built  by  Peter,  brother  of  Arch- 
bishop Boniface,  and  uncle  of  Eleanor  of  Provence,  wife  of 
Henry  III.,  when  he  came  over  on  a  visit  to  his  niece,  it 
became  a  centre  for  all  the  princes,  ecclesiastics,  and  artists 
who  flowed  into  London  in  consequence  of  her  marriage.  He 
bequeathed  it  to  the  monks  of  Montjoy  at  Havering  at  the 
Bower,  from  whom  it  was  bought  by  Queen  Eleanor  for  her 
second  son  Edmund,  Earl  of  Lancaster.  It  continued  in  the 
hands  of  his  descendants,  and,  after  the  battle  of  Poitiers,  in 
1356,  became  the  residence  of  the  captive  King  John  of 
France.  John  was  set  free  in  October,  1360,  but  being 
unable  to  fulfil  the  conditions  of  his  release,  and  unwilling 
to  cede  to  his  captor  the  Black  Prince  in  chivalry  and 
honour,  voluntarily  returned,  and  being  again  assigned  a 
residence  in  the  Savoy,  died  there  April  9,  1364,  at  which, 
says  Eroissart,  °  the  King,  Queen,  and  princes  of  the  blood, 
and  all  the  nobles  of  England,  were  exceedingly  concerned, 
from  the  great  love  and  affection  King  John  had  shown  them 
since  the  conclusion  of  peace." 

•U.A-SaU. 


3o  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

While  the  Savoy  was  the  London  residence  of  John  of 
Gaunt,  the  poet  Chaucer  was  married  here  to  Philippa  de 
Ruet,  a  lady  in  the  household  of  Blanche,  Duchess  of  Lan- 
caster, and  sister  of  Catherine  Swyneford,  who  became  the 
Duke's  second  wife.  In  1381  "the  Duke  of  Lancaster's 
house  of  the  Savoy,  to  the  which,"  says  Stow,  "there  was 
none  in  the  realrae  to  be  compared  in  beauty  and  stateii- 
nesse,"  was  pillaged  and  burnt  by  the  rebels  under  Wat 
Tyler,  to  punish  the  Duke  for  the  protection  he  had  afforded 
to  the  followers  of  Wickliffe.  Thirty-two  of  the  assailants 
lingered  so  long  drinking  up  the  sweet  wine  in  the  cellars, 
that  they  were  walled  in,  and  "were  heard  crying  and 
calling  seven  daies  after,  but  none  came  to  helpe  them  out 
till  they  were  dead."  Hardyng's  Chronicle  commemorates 
the  flight  of  John  of  Gaunt  from  the  Savoy  : — 

"The  comons  brent  the  Sauoye  a  place  fayre 
For  evill  wyll  the  hand  vnto  Duke  John  : 
Wherefore  he  fled  northwarde  in  great  dispayre 
Into  Scotlande ;  for  socoure  had  he  none 
In  Englande  then,  to  who  he  durste  make  moane ; 
And  there  abode  tyll  commons  all  were  ceased 
In  Englande  hole,  and  all  the  land  well  peased." 

The  Savoy  was  never  restored  as  a  palace,  but  Henry 
VII.  rebuilt  it  as  a  hospital  in  honour  of  John  the  Baptist, 
and  endowed  it  by  his  will.  The  hospital  was  suppressed 
by  Edward  VI.,  but  refounded  by  Mary,  and  only  finally 
dissolved  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  Over  its  gate,  of  1505, 
were  the  lines — 

"  Hospitium  hoc  inopi  turbe  Savoia  vocatum, 
Septimus  Henricus  fundavit  ab  imo  solo." 

Soon  after  the  Restoration  the  Conference  of  the  Savoy 


ST.   MARY  LE  SAVOY. 


3' 


was  held  here  for  the  revision  of  the  Liturgy  so  as  to  meet 
the  feelings  of  the  Nonconformists,  in  which  twelve  bishops 
of  the  Church  of  England  met  an  equal  number  of  Non- 
conformists in  discussion.  Richard  Baxter,  who  had 
already  published  his  most  popular  books,  was  one  of 
the  commissioners,  and  here  drew  up  in  a  fortnight  that 
reformed    liturgy   which    Dr.   Johnson   pronounced    "  one 


The  Churchyard  of  the  Savoy. 


of  the   finest   compositions    of  the  ritual   kind    which  he 
had  ever  seen." 

The  remains  of  the  Savoy  palace  were  all  swept  away 
when  Waterloo  Bridge  was  built.  Originally  dedicated  to 
St.  John  the  Baptist,  it  was  called  S/.  Mary  le  Savoy,  be- 
cause it  served  as  a  church  for  the  parish  of  St.  Mary  le 
Strand.  The  church  was  the  chapel,  not  of  the  palace, 
but   of  Henry   VII. 's  hospital.     There   is  a  tradition   that 


32  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

the  Liturgy  restored  by  Elizabeth  was  first  read  in  this 
chapel  in  the  vernacular  tongue.  It  is  of  Perpendicular 
architecture  (1505),  with  a  quaint  low  belfry  like  those 
of  many  small  churches  in  Northumberland.  The  inte- 
rior was  entirely  destroyed  by  fire  in  i860,  and  was 
for  the  second  time  renewed  by  the  munificence  of  the 
Queen  as  Duchess  of  Lancaster.  It  has  a  rich  coloured 
roof,  and  resembles  a  college  chapel ;  but  the  tombs  which 
formerly  made  it  so  interesting  perished  in  the  flames. 
Only  one  small  figure  from  Lady  Dalhousie's  monument 
is  preserved,  and  the  brass  of  Gavin  Douglas,  the  Bishop 
of  Dunkeld,  son  of  Archibald  Bell  the  Cat,  Earl  of  Angus, 
who  is  represented  in  "  M  arm  ion  "  as  celebrating  the 
wedding  of  De  Wilton  and  Clare: — ■ 


■t> 


"  A  bishop  at  the  altar  stood, 
A  noble  lord  of  Douglas  blood, 
"With  mitre  sheen,  and  rocquet  white. 
Yet  shoVd  his  meek  and  thoughtful  eye 
But  little  pride  of  prelacy  ; 
More  pleased  that,  in  a  barbarous  age, 
He  gave  rude  Scotland  Virgil's  page, 
Than  that  beneath  his  rule  he  held 
The  bishopric  of  fair  Dunkeld." 

Over  the  *ont  is  preserved  the  central  compartment  of  a 
triptych,  painted  for  the  Savoy  in  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, stolen  in  the  seventeenth,  and  recovered  in  1876. 
Among  the  lost  monuments  were  an  Elizabethan  tomb, 
wrongfully  ascribed  to  the  famous  Countess  of  Nottingham 
shaken  in  her  bed  by  Elizabeth ;  that  of  Sir  Robert 
and  Lady  Douglas ;  of  the  Countess  of  Dalhousie,  sister 
of  Mrs.  Hutchinson  and  daughter  of  Sir  Allan  Apsley, 
Lieutenant  of  the  Tower;  of  Mrs.  Anne  Killigrew  (1685), 


SOMERSET  HOUSE.  33 

daughter  of  a  Master  of  the  Hospital,  described  by  Dryden 
as — 

"  A  grace  for  beauty,  and  a  muse  for  wit ;  " 

and  of  Richard  Lander,  the  African  traveller,  who  died 
(1834)  of  a  wound  received  from  the  natives  while  explor- 
ing the  Niger.  Amongst  the  most  remarkable  persons 
buried  here  without  a  monument,  "  within  the  east  door  of 
the  church,"  says  Aubrey,  was  George  Wither  (1607),  a 
voluminous  poet  of  the  Commonwealth,  author  of  "The 
Shepherds.  Hunting,"  and  "  The  Matchless  Orinta,"  but 
best  known  by  the  lines — 

"  Shall  I,  wasting  in  despair, 
Die  because  a  woman's  fair.'* 

This  historic  corner  of  the  Savoy  has  been  left  untouched 
amid  the  turmoil  of  the  town,  and  is  still  one  of  the  quietest 
spots  in  London. 

"  So  run  the  sands  of  life  through  this  quiet  hourglass.  So  glides 
the  life  away  in  the  Old  Precinct.  At  its  base,  a  river  runs  for  all  the 
world  ;  at  its  summit,  is  the  brawling,  raging  Strand  ;  on  either  side, 
are  darkness  and  poverty  and  vice;  the  gloomy  Adelphi  Arches,  the 
Bridge  of  Sighs,  that  men  call  Waterloo.  But  the  Precinct  troubles 
itself  little  with  the  noise  and  tumult,  and  sleeps  well  through  life, 
without  its  fitful  fever."—  G.  A.  Sala. 

Beyond  the  wide  opening  of  Wellington  Street  are  the 
buildings  of  Somerset  House,  erected  from  the  stately  plans  of 
Sir  William  Chambers,  1776 — $6.  The  river  front  is  six 
hundred  feet  in  length.  This  building,  now  of  little  interest, 
occupies  the  site  of  one  of  the  most  historic  houses  in  Lon- 
don, which  was  only  destroyed  when  the  present  house  was 
raised.  The  old  Somerset  House  was  built  in  1549  on  the 
site    of   the    town    houses    of   the    Bishops    of   Worcester, 

vol.  i.  n 


34  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Lichfield,  and  Landaff,  by  Edward  Seymour,  the  Lord 
Protector,  brother  of  Queen  Jane,  and  uncle  of  Edward 
VI.  Its  architecture  was  attributed  to  John  of  Padua, 
"  devizer  of  his  Majesty's  buildings  "  to  Henry  VIII. 
The  tower  and  the  greater  part  of  the  Church  of  St.  John's, 
Clerkenwell,  the  cloister  (called  Pardon  Churchyard)  of  St. 
Paul's,  and  the  chapel  of  Pardon  Churchyard  near  the 
Charterhouse,  were  unscrupulously  pulled  down,  and  their 
materials  used  in  its  erection.  But  long  before  it  was 
finished  (1552)  the  Protector  had  been  beheaded  on  Tower 
Hill,  and  his  house  was  bestowed  upon  the  Princess 
Elizabeth.  James  I.  gave  it  to  Anne  of  Denmark,  and 
desired  that  it  might  be  called  Denmark  House,  and  here 
that  Queen  lay  in  state  in  1616,  and  James  I.  in  1625. 
Charles  I.  then  gave  the  house  to  his  Queen,  Henrietta 
Maria,  and  caused  a  Roman  Catholic  chapel  to  be  built 
here  for  her  use,  which  was  served  by  Capuchin  monks, 
and  in  which  many  of  her  French  attendants  were  buried. 
Their  vaults  still  exist  undei  the  present  courtyard.  The 
time  of  the  Commonwealth  was  marked  for  Somerset 
House  by  the  death  of  Inigc  Jones  within  its  walls  (1652)  \ 
and  here  Cromwell  lay  in  state,  his  "effigies  .being  ap- 
parelled in  a  rich  suit  of  uncut  velvet,"  bearing  "  in  the 
right  hand  the  golden  sceptre,  representing  Government ; 
in  his  left  the  globe,  representing  Principality ;  upon 
his  head  the  cap  of  Regality  of  purple  velvet,  furred 
with  ermins."*  The  magnificence  of  expenditure  on  this 
occasion  made  people  collect  outside  the  gates  and  throw 
dirt  upon  the  Protector's  escutcheon  at  night. 

Wilh  the  Restoration,  Henrietta  Maria,  then  called  "the 

«   The  Gazette,  Sept.  9,  1658. 


SOMERSET  HOUSE.  35 

Queen-Mother,"  returned  to  Somerset  House,  where  the 
young  Duke  of  Gloucester  died  in  1660,  and  was  taken 
"  down  Somerset  stairs,"  to  be  buried  at  Westminster. 
When  Henrietta  Maria  left  England,  in  1665,  she  was 
succeeded  by  the  Portuguese  Queen,  Catherine  of  Braganza, 
wife  of  Charles  II.,  who  used  to  spend  her  days  in  playing 
at  Ombre,  a  game  which  she  first  introduced  into  England, 
and  who  trembled  here  in  her  chapel  as  she  heard  the 
frenzied  people  shouting  round  the  effigy  of  the  Pope  as 
they  burnt  it  before  Temple  Bar,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
Duke  of  York's  marriage  with  Mary  of  Modena.  Catherine 
restored  the  old  palace,  which  had  become  greatly  neg- 
lected, with  a  magnificence  which  is  commemorated  by 
Cowley,  who  extols  its  position  : — 

"  Before  my  gate  a  street's  broad  channel  goes, 
Which  still  with  waves  of  crowding  people  flows ; 
And  every  day  there  passes  by  my  side, 
Up  to  its  western  reach,  the  London  tide, 
The  spring-tides  of  the  term  :  my  front  looks  down 
On  all  the  pride  and  business  of  the  town. 

My  other  fair  and  more  majestic  face 

(Who  can  the  fair  to  more  advantage  place  ? ) 

For  ever  gazes  on  itself  below, 

In  the  best  mirror  that  the  world  can  show." 

General  Monk,  Duke  of  Albemarle,  lay  in  state  at  Somer- 
set House  in  January,  1669,  when  his  waxwork  figure,  after- 
wards preserved  in  Westminster  Abbey,  was  made,  to  lie 
upon  his  coffin. 

The  formal  gardens  of  old  Somerset  House  extended 
far  along  the  river-bank,  and  it  was  near  their  "  water-gate  " 
that  Sir  Edmund  Berry  Godfrey  was  declared  to  have  been 
strangled  (167S)   by  the   falbe-witnesses  who  invented  the 


3b  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

story  of  his  death.  Three  men  were  executed  for  the 
murder,  with  which  an  attempt  was  made  to  connect  the 
name  of  Catherine  of  Braganza,  but  Charles  II.  refused  to 
listen,  telling  Burnet  that  she  was  "  a  weak  woman,  and 
had  some  disagreeable  humours,  but  was  not  capable  of  a 
wicked  thing." 

After  Catherine  left  England  for  Portugal  in  1692,  this 
old  Strand  palace  continued  to  be  regarded  as  the  dower 
house  of  the  queens  of  England,  but  as  there  were  no 
queens-dowager  to  inhabit  it,  it  was  used  as  Hampton 
Court  is  now,  as  lodgings  for  needy  nobility.  By  an  Act 
of  1775,  Buckingham  House  was  settled  on  Queen  Charlotte 
instead  of  Somerset  House,  and  the  old  palace  of  the 
queens  of  England  was  then  destroyed.  The  buildings 
of  modern  Somerset  House  are  used  for  the  Audit 
Office,  where  the  accounts  of  the  kingdom  and  colonies  are 
audited;  the  Office  of  the  Registrar- General  of  Births, 
Deaths,  and  Marriages;  and  the  In/and  Revenue  Office, 
where  taxes  and  legacy  and  excise  duties  are  received. 
The  centre  of  the  south  front  is  occupied  by  the  Will 
Office*  removed  from  Doctors'  Commons  in  1874.  The 
courtyard  has  a  well-proportioned  and  stately  gloominess. 
In  the  centre  is  the  great  allegorical  figure  of  the  Thames, 
by  John  Bacon.  Queen  Charlotte,  whose  feeling  has  been 
shared  by  thousands  since,  said  to  the  sculptor  when  she 
saw  it,  "  Why  did  you  make  so  frightful  a  figure?"  "  Art," 
replied  the  bowing  artist,   "  cannot  always  effect  what  is 

•  In  the  Registry  of the  Court  of  Probate  at  Somerset  House,  all  Wills  are 
preserved  in  a  fire-proof  room.  Any  Will  inquired  after  can  be  found  in  a  short 
time,  and  any  one  may  peruse  a  Will,  who  obtains  a  shilling  probate  stamp.  No 
copies  or  even  memoranda  may  be  made  from  a  Will,  without  a  separate  Order, 
for  which  a  fixed  payment  is  demanded,  in  proportion  to  the  length  of  the  copy 
required. 


THE  ROMAN  BATH  IN  THE  STRAND.  37 

ever  within  the  reach  of  Nature — the  union  of  beauty  and 
majesty."  It  is  amusing  to  see  the  impression  which 
Somerset  House  makes  on  a  foreigner. 

"  If  you  would  see  something  quite  dreadful,  go  to  the  enormous 
palace  in  the  Strand,  called  Somerset  House.  Massive,  heavy  archi- 
tecture, of  which  the  recesses  seem  dipped  in  ink,  the  porticos  smeared 
with  soot.  There  is  the  ghost  of  a  waterless  fountain  in  a  hole  in  the 
midst  of  an  empty  quadrangle,  pools  of  water  on  the  flags,  long  tiers 
of  closed  windows.  What  can  men  do  in  such  a  catacomb  ?" — Taine. 
Notes  sur  VAngUterre. 

Beyond  the  east  wing  of  Somerset  House,  occupied  by 
King's  Colkge  and  school,  runs  the  narrow  alley  called 
Strand  Lane,  which  formerly  ended  at  the  landing-place, 
called  Strand  Bridge,  where  we  read  in  the  Spectator  that 
Addison  "  landed  with  ten  sail  of  apricot-boats."  On  the 
left  of  the  winding  paved  lane  a  sign  directs  us  to  the 
Old  Roman  Spring  Bath,  and  in  this  quiet  corner  we  find 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  relics  of  Roman  London — 
a  vaulted  room  containing,  enclosed  in  brick-work  and 
masonry,  apparently  Roman,  a  beautiful  bath  of  crystal 
water,  thirteen  feet  long,  six  feet  broad,  and  four  feet  six 
inches  deep.  It  is  believed  that  the  wonderfully  cold, 
clear  water  comes  from  the  miraculous  well  of  St.  Clement, 
which  gave  a  name  to  the  neighbouring  Holywell  Street, 
and  was  once  greatly  resorted  to  for  its  cures.  A  second 
bath,  in  the  same  building,  still  used,  and  with  chalybeate 
properties,  is  shown  as  having  been  constructed  by  Eliza- 
beth's Earl  of  Essex,  when  he  was  residing  hard  by  in  Essex 
House.  It  is  said  that  it  was  in  a  house  in  this  neighbour- 
hood that  Guy  Fawkes  and  his  comrades  took  the  oath  of 
secrecy  and  received  the  sacrament  before  attempting  to 
carry  out  the  Gunpowder  Plot. 


38  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Here,  in  the  midst  of  the  street,  rises  the  Church  of  St. 
Mary-le-Sirand,  which  is  of  interest  as  being  the  first  of  the 
fifty  new  churches  whose  erection  was  ordained  in  Queen 
Anne's  reign,  the  original  St.  Mary's  having  been  destroyed 
by  the  Protector  Somerset  when  he  was  building  Somerset 
House,  which  covers  its  site.  Gibbs  was  the  architect  of 
the  present  church,  but  its  steeple,  so  beautiful  in  spite 
of  having  the  fault  of  appearing  to  stand  upon  the  roof 
of  the  church,  was  not  part  of  the  original  design.  The 
church  was  to  have  been  towerless,  but  a  stately  column 
250  feet  high  {i.e.  105  feet  higher  than  the  Nolson  column 
in  Trafalgar  Square)  was  to  have  riser  beside  it,  crowned 
by  a  statue  of  Queen  Anne.  But  the  Queen  died  before 
the  plan  was  carried  out,  and  flattery  being  no  longer 
necessary,  the  church  had  its  steeple.  It  occupies  the  site 
of  the  famous  May-pole,  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  feet 
high,  which  was  destroyed  in  the  Commonwealth  as  "a 
last  remnant  of  vile  heathenism,  an  idol  of  the  people." 
It  was  re-erected  with  great  pomp  under  Charles  II., 
by  Clarges,  the  Drury  Lane  farrier,  to  commemorate 
the  good  fortune  of  his  daughter  in  becoming  a  duchess 
by  having  married  General  Monk  when  he  was  a  private 
gentleman.  The  tract  called  "The  Citie's  Loyaltie  Dis- 
played" relates  how  it  was  set  up  by  seamen  under  the 
command  of  James,  Duke  of  York,  Lord  High  Admiral, 
no  landsmen  being  able  to  raise  it,  and  how,  as  it  rose, 
"  the  little  children  did  much  rejoice,  and  ancient  people 
did  clap  their  hands,  saying  golden  days  began  to 
appear."  Gathered  around  the  last  May-pole  on  this 
spot,  four  thousand  London  school -children  sang  a 
hymn  as  Queen  Anne  passed  in  triumphant  procession  to 


HOLYWELL   STREET.  39 

take  part  in  the  public  thanksgiving  at  St.  Paul'?  for  the 
Peace  of  Utrecht.  The  May-pole  was  finally  removed  in 
17 17,  and,  being  given  to  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  was  set  up  in 
Sir  Richard  Child's  park  at  AVanstead  in  Essex,  where  it 
was  used  for  raising  a  telescope.  The  London  May-pole 
was  long  commemorated  in  May-pole  Lane,  the  old  name 
of  Newcastle  Street.  The  exchange  for  the  church  is 
mentioned  by  Pope  in  the  "  Dunciad" — 

u  Amid  that  area  wide  they  took  their  stand, 
Where  the  tall  Maypole  once  o'erlooked  the  Strand, 
But  now  (so  Anne  and  Piety  ordain), 
A  church  collects  the  saints  of  Drury  Lane." 

According  to  Hume,  Prince  Charles  Edward's  renuncia- 
tion of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith  took  place  in  this  church. 
Where  an  ugly  little  fountain  now  stands  before  its 
western  front,  the  first  Hackney  Coach  stand  in  London 
was  set  up  by  Captain  Baily  in  1634  :  it  existed  till  1853. 

Drury  Court,  facing  the  east  side  of  St.  Mary-le-Strand, 
was  formerly  May-pole  Alley,  where  Nell  Gwynne  lodged, 
and  stood  watching  the  dancing  round  the  May-pole. 

"  1st  May,  1667. — To  Westminster,  in  the  way  meeting  many  milk- 
maids with  their  garlands  upon  their  pails,  dancing,  with  a  fiddler 
before  them ;  and  saw  pretty  Nelly  standing  at  her  lodging-door,  in 
Drury  Court,  in  her  smock-sleeves  and  bodice,  looking  upon  me  :  she 
seemed  a  mighty  pretty  creature." — Pepy:'  Diary. 

Holywell  Street  has  nothing  now  which  recalls  Fitz- 
Stephen's  description  of  its  well — "  sweete,  wholesome,  and 
cleere ;  and  much  frequented  by  schollers  and  youths  ot 
the  citi  in  summer  evenings,  when  they  walk  forth  to  take 
the  aire."     It  is  full  of  book  shops,  chiefly  of  the  lowest 


4o 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


description.  On  its  south  side  (at  No.  36)  may  be  seen 
an  ancient  mercer's  sign,  the  last  of  the  old  shop  signs 
in  situ — a  crescent  moon,  with  the  traditional  face  in  the 
centre.  The  corner  post  of  the  entry  beside  it,  adorned 
with  a  lion's  head  and  paws  in  bold  relief,  was  (in  1C77) 


The  Last  Remnant  of  Lyon's  Inn. 


the  last  relic  of  Lyon's  Inn,  destroyed  in  1863,  which  was 
here  entered  from  the  Strand.  It  stood  between  Wych 
Street  and  Holywell  Street,  and  was  once  a  hostelry,  but 
from  the  reign  of  Henry  IV.  an  Inn  of  Chancery — an 
ancient  nursery  of  lawyers,  where  Sir  Edward  Coke  was 
brought  up,  and  where    "his  learned   lectures   so    spread 


ST.    CLEMENT  DANES.  4» 

forth  his  fame  that  crowds  of  clients  came  to  him  for 
counsel."*  In  the  south-east  corner  of  the  Inn  lived 
William  Weare,  the  gambler,  murdered  (1828)  by  Thurtell 
at   Elstree   in  Hertfordshire,  and   commemorated    in   the 

ballad — 

"They  cut  his  throat  from  ear  to  ear, 

His  brains  they  battered  in ; 

His  name  was  Mr.  William  Weare, 

He  dwelt  in  Lyon's  Inn." 

Holywell  Street  formerly  ended  in  Butchers'  Row,  where, 
covered  with  roses,  fleurs-de-lis,  and  dragons,  was  the  old 
timber  house  of  the  French  ambassadors. 

We  have  arrived — 

**  Where  the  fair  columns  of  Saint  Clement  stand, 
Whose  straiten'd  oounds  encroach  upon  the  Strand." 

Gay.     Trivia. 

The  Church  of  St.  Clement  Danes  was  erected  in  1680  by 
Edward  Pierce,  under  the  superintendence  of  Wren.  In  the 
old  church,  from  its  vicinity  to  Exeter  House,  were  buried 
John  Booth,  Bishop  of  Exeter  (1478),  and  his  brother,  Sir 
William,  who  died  in  the  same  year  ;  and  John  Arundell, 
Bishop  of  Exeter  (1503).  Here  also  was  a  monument  to 
the  first  wife  of  Dr.  John  Donne,  the  poet-dean  of  St.  Paul's, 
who  preached  in  the  church  soon  after  her  death  on  the 
words,  "  Lo,  I  am  the  man  that  hathseen  affliction."  And 
"  indeed  his  very  words  and  looks  testified  him  to  be  truly 
such  a  man."  It  was  this  wife  whose  spirit  he  saw  twice 
pass  through  his  room  at  Paris,  bearing  the  dead  child  to 
which  she  was  then  giving  birth.  Like  all  Wren's  parish 
churches,  the  existing  building  depends  entirely  upon  its 

•  Lloyd's  "  State  Worthies." 


42  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

steeple,  which  is  built  in  several  stories,  for  its  reputation. 
Its  bells  chime  merrily,  even  to  a  proverb — 

"  Oranges  and  lemons, 
Say  the  bells  of  St.  Clement's ; " 

but  the  chimes  can  also  play  the  Old  Hundredth  Psalm 
and  other  tunes.  Here  Dr.  Johnson  sate  in  church, 
"  repeating,"  as  Boswell  says,  "  the  responses  in  the  Litany 
with  tremulous  energy,"  and  here  in  his  seventy-fifth  year 
(1784)  he  returned  public  thanks  for  a  recovery  from 
dangerous  illness.  A  brass  plate  now  appropriately  marks 
the  pew  (No.  18)  in  the  north  gallery  whither  the  old  man, 
who  was  so  vehement  in  discussion  and  fierce  in  argument 
on  week-days,  never  failed  to  come  humbly  on  Sundays,  to 
seek,  in  his  own  words,  "  how  to  purify  and  fortify  his  soul, 
and  hold  real  communion  with  the  Highest."  It  was  in  this 
church  that,  on  October  n,  1676,  Sir  Thomas  Grosvenor 
was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Davies,  the  humble  heiress  of 
the  farm  now  occupied  by  Grosvenor  Square  and  its  sur- 
roundings, which  have  brought  such  enormous  wealth  to 
his  family.  In  the  vestry  house  is  a  painting  executed  for 
the  church  as  an  altar-piece,  by  Kent  the  landscape 
gardener,  intended  to  represent  a  choir  of  angels  playing  in 
chorus.  In  1725  an  order  was  issued  by  Bishop  Gibson 
for  its  removal  on  account  of  its  being  supposed  to  contain 
surreptitious  portraits  of  the  Pretender's  wife  and  children. 
It  was  removed  to  a  neighbouring  tavern — the  Crown  and 
Anchor — celebrated  for  the  meetings  of  "  the  Whittington 
Club."  Here  it  was  parodied  in  an  engraving  by  Hogarth, 
with  a  comic  description  which  caused  intense  amusement 
at  the  time.  After  some  years  it  was  restored  to  the  parish, 
L  tit  not  to  the  church. 


CLEMENT'S  INN.  43 

Of  the  strange  name,  St.  Clement  Danes,  various  explana- 
tions are  given.  Stow  tells  how  the  body  of  Harold,  the 
illegitimate  son  of  King  Canute,  buried  at  Westminster 
after  a  reign  of  three  years,  was  exhumed  by  his  successor, 
the  legitimate  Hardicanute,  and  thrown  ignominiously  into 
the  Thames,  ami  how  a  fisherman,  seeing  it  floating  upon 
the  river,  took  it  up  and  buried  it  reverently  on  this  spot. 
This  is  the  more  picturesque  story;  but  perhaps  that  of 
Strype  is  more  likely,  who  says  that  when  Alfred  expelled 
the  remnant  of  the  Danish  nation  in  886,  those  who  had 
married  English  wives  were  still  permitted  to  live  here, 
whence  the  name — St.  Clement  Danes. 

The  "  fair  fountain,"  formerly  called  St.  Clement's  Well, 
after  becoming  a  pump,  was  finally  destroyed  in  1874,  but  is 
commemorated  in  Clement's  Inn — to  the  left,  at  the  entrance 
of  Wych  Street,  now  an  Inn  "of  Court  dependent  on  the 
Temple,  but  originally  intended  for   the  use  of  patients 
coming  to  the  miraculous  waters  of  the  well.     Shakespeare 
introduces  it  in  his  Henry  IV.  as  the  home  of  "  Master 
Shallow."      We  should  walk   through  its  quiet   red-brick 
courts,  by  the  quaint  chapel,  where  an  anchor  commemo- 
rates the  martyrdom  of  the  sainted  Pope  Clement,  who  was 
tied  to  an  anchor  and  thrown  into  the  sea.    Hence,  through 
a  brick  archway,  we  have  a  pleasant  glimpse  of  trees  and 
flowers,  and  enter  a  garden  square,  in  the  centre  of  which, 
in   front  of  "  the   Garden   House,"  a  picturesque  relic  o( 
Queen  Anne's  time,  is  a  curious  kneeling  figure  of  a  Moor 
supporting  a  sun-dial,  brought  from  Italy  by  Holies,  Lord 
Clare.     At  the  time  when  these  examples  of  "  God's  image 
carved  in  ebony"  were  popular  in  ancient  eardens.*  a  clever 

*  There  are  similar  figures  at  Knowsley,  and  at  Arley  m  Cheshire. 


44 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


squib  upon  its  owners  was  once  found  attached  to  the  Moor 
of  Clement's  Inn  : — 

"  From  cannibals  thou  fled'st  in  vain ; 
Lawyers  less  quarter  give ; 
The  first  won't  eat  you  till  you're  slain, 
The  last  will  do't  alive." 

A  further   archway  leads   into   the   poor  and   crowded 
district  of  Clare  Market,  named,  as  is  told  by  a  tablet  on 


j  h  ■  Moor  of  Clement's  Inn. 


one  of  the  houses,  "  by  Gilbert  Earl  of  Clare,  in  memory  of 
his  uncle  Denzil,  Lord  Holies,  who  died  in  1679,  a  great 
honour  to  name,  and  the  exact  paturne  of  his  father's  great 
meritt,  John,  Earl  of  Clare."  From  the  same  person  the 
neighbouring  Denzil  Street  takes  its  name,  which  became 
notorious  as  the  resort  of  the  thieves  known  as  the  "  Denzil 
Street  Gang,"  while  Houghton  Street  marks  the  residence 
of  William  Holies,  created  Baron  Houghton  in  16 16,  and 
Holies  Street,  built  1647,  is  associated  with  the  second  Earl, 


WYCH  STREET.  45 

who  lived  on  the  site  of  Clare  House  Court.  In  Pope's  time 
Clare  Market  was  famous  for  the  lectures  of  the  insolent 
"  Orator  Henley,"  commemorated  in  the  "  Dunciad." 

"  Imbrowned  with  native  brass,  lo  !  Henley  stands, 
Tuning  his  voice  and  balancing  his  hands. 

Still  break  the  benches,  Henley,  with  thy  strain, 
While  Sherlock,  Hare,  and  Gibson  preach  in  vain." 

Wych  Street  (Via  de  Aldwych),  which  opens  behind 
Holywell  Street,  close  to  the  entrance  of  Clement's  Inn, 
contains  some  curious  old  houses  and  is  excessively  narrow. 
Theodore  Hook  said  he  "  never  passed  through  Wych 
Street  in  a  hackney  coach,  without  being  blocked  up  by  a 
hearse  and  coal-waggon  in  the  van,  and  a  mud  cart  and  the 
Lord  Mayor's  carriage  in  the  rear."  This  street  is  famous  in 
the  annals  of  London  thieving  for  the  exploits  of  Jack  Shep- 
pard,  who  gave  rendezvous  to  his  boon  companions  at  the 
White  Lion  (now  pulled  down)  in  White  Lion  Passage.  It 
was  from  the  Angel  Inn  in  Wych  Street  that  Bishop  Hooper, 
in  1554,  was  taken  to  die  for  his  faith  at  Gloucester. 

A  hosier's  shop,  which  occupies  one  of  three  picturesque 
houses  built  in  the  time  of  Charles  I.  in  the  Strand  parallel 
with  Holywell  Street,  has  an  old  street  sign  of  the 
Golden  Lamb  swinging  over  its  door.  The  streets  which 
debouch  here  from  the  Strand — Surrey  Street,  Norfolk 
Street,  and  Howard  Street — mark  the  site  of  Arundel 
House,  originally  the  palace  of  the  Bishops  of  Bath  and 
Wells,  in  which,  according  to  the  parish  register  of  Chelsea, 
died  (February  25th,  1603)  Catherine,  Countess  of  Notting- 
ham, who  yielded  to  her  husband's  solicitation  in  not  send- 
ing the  ring  intrusted  to  her  by  Lord  Essex  for  Elizabeth, 


46 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


and  confessing  this  to  the  Queen  upon  her  deathbed,  was 
answered  by  "God  may  forgive  you,  but  I  never  can." 
The  house  was  sold  by  Edward  VI.  to  his  uncle,  Lord 
Thomas  Seymour,  described  by  Latimer  as  "  a  man  the 
furthest  from  the  fear  of  God  that  ever  he  knew  or  heard 


of  in  England."  Here  he  married  and  greatly  ill-treated 
the  Queen-Dowager  Katherine  Parr,  and  incurred  much 
censure  for  his  impertinent  familiarities  with  the  Princess 
Elizabeth,  who  was  living  under  her  protection.  After  the 
execution  of  Seymour  for  treason  the  house  was  sold  to  the 
Earl  of  Arundel,  and  being  thenceforth  called  Arundel  House, 


NORFOLK  STREET.  47 

became  the  receptacle  of  his  busts  and  statues,  a  portion 
of  which,  now  at  Oxford,  are  still  known  as  the  "  Arundel 
Marbles."  It  was  Lord  Arundel  who  brought  up  "  Old 
Parr"  to  London  from  Shropshire  to  make  acquaintance  with 
Charles  I.,  when  far  advanced  in  his  hundred  and  fifty-third 
year.  The  Earl's  good  fare  killed  him,  and  he  was  buried 
in  Westminster  Abbey,  where  his  epitaph  narrates  how  he 
lived  in  the  reign  of  ten  sovereigns,  and  had  a  sen  by  his 
second  wife  when  he  was  a  hundred  and  twenty  years  old. 
After  the  Great  Fire,  Henry  Howard,  Earl  of  Arundel,  gave 
a  shelter  at  Arundel  House  to  the  Royal  Society,  who  were 
driven  out  of  Gresham  College,  which  was  temporarily 
needed  as  a  Royal  Exchange. 

Norfolk  Street  will  recall  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley,  who 
there,  "by  doubling  the  corner,  threw  out  the  Mohocks," 
who  "attacked  all  that  were  so  unfortunate  as  to  walk 
through  the  streets  which  they  parade."*  Peter  the  Great 
was  lodged  here,  "  in  a  house  prepared  for  him  near  the 
water-side,"  on  his  first  arrival  in  England  in  the  reign  of 
William  III.,  and  in  the  same  house — that  nearest  the 
river — lived  William  Penn,  the  founder  of  Pennsylvania. 
He  had  a  peeping-hole  at  the  entrance,  through  which  he 
surveyed  every  one  who  came  to  see  him  before  they  were 
admitted.  One  of  these  having  been  made  to  wait  for  a 
long  time,  asked  the  servant  impatiently  if  his  master 
would  not  see  him.  "  Friend,"  said  the  servant,  "  he 
hath  seen  thee,  but  he  doth  not  like  thee."t  The  fact  was 
he  had  discovered  him  to  be  a  creditor. 


•The  follies  and  cruelties  perpetrated  liy  the  Mohocks  are  described  in  tb« 
Sfctalor,  No.  524,  332,  335,  347. 
Hawkius'  Life  oi  Johnson, 


48  fVALKS  IN  LONDON. 

In  Hcnvard  Street,  which  connects  Norfolk  Street  with 
Surrey  Street,  Mr.  Mountfort  was  killed  (December  g, 
1692)  by  Captain  Richard  Hill,  in  a  duel  fought  for  the 
sake  of  the  beautiful  and  virtuous  actress,  Mrs.  Bracegirdle, 
"  the  Diana  of  the  stage."  Lord  Mohun,  afterwards  him- 
self killed  in  a  duel  with  the  Duke  of  Hamilton,  was  Hill's 
second  in  this  quarrel. 

William  Congreve  (1666—1729),  in  whose  licentious  plays 
the  immaculate  Mrs.  Bracegirdle  obtained  her  greatest  suc- 
cesses, lived  and  died  in  Surrey  Street.  Condemned  now, 
no  English  author  was  more  praised  by  his  contemporaries ; 
Pope  dedicated  his  Iliad  to  him,  Dr.  Johnson  lauded  his 
merit  "  as  of  the  highest  kind,"  and  Dryden  wrote — 

"  Heaven,  that  but  once  was  prodigal  before, 
To  Shakspeare  gave  so  much,  he  could  not  give  him  more." 

Perhaps  the  only  snub  which  Congreve  received  was  from 
Voltaire,  who  came  to  visit  him  here,  and  being  received 
with  the  airs  of  a  fine  gentleman,  announced  that  if  he  had 
thought  he  was  only  a  gentleman,  he  should  not  have  come 
thither  to  see  him. 

Mi/ford  Lane  (right)  takes  its  name  from  a  corn-mill  aad 
from  a  famous  ford  which  once  existed  across  the  river  here. 
It  leads  to  Milford  stairs,  where  Pepys  used  "  to  take  boat ;" 
and  is  commemorated  by  Gay  in  the  unflattering  lines — 

"  Behold  that  narrow  street,  which  steep  descends, 
Whose  building  to  the  slimy  shore  extends." 

Trivia. 

We  now  come  to  Essex  Street,  where  Dr.  King  in  his 
Anecdotes  of  his  own  Time  describes  his  presentation  to 
Prince  Charles  Edward  in  September  1750,  at  the  house 


ESSEX  HOUSE.  49 

of  1  -ady  Primrose.  Jt  was  the  Prince's  only  visit  to  London, 
and  he  was  only  there  five  days.  The  same  Lady  Primrose 
(daughter  of  Drelincourt,  Dean  of  Armagh,  and  widow  of 
Hugh,  3rd  Viscount  Primrose)  gave  a  home  in  1747  to 
Flora  Macdonald  after  her  release  by  the  government. 
Essex  Street  occupies  the  site  of  Exeter  House,  which 
was  built  by  Walter  Stapleton,  Bishop  of  Exeter.  Here 
he  was  besieged  by  the  people  when  he  was  holding  London 
for  Edward  II.,  and,  having  fled  to  take  sanctuary  at 
St.  Paul's,  was  beheaded,  and  brought  back  to  be  buried 
under  a  dust-heap  by  his  own  gateway.  After  the  Relor- 
mation,  Exeter  House  was  inhabited  by  the  Earl  of 
Leicester,  and  then  by  Elizabeth's  latest  favourite,  the 
Earl  of  Essex  (whose  Countess  was  the  widow  of  Sir 
Philip  Sidney),  when  the  name  was  changed  to  Es^ex 
House.  It  was  here  that  the  handsome  earl  tried  to 
rouse  the  people  against  Sir  R.  Cecil,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
and  other  reigning  court  favourites  whom  he  believed  to 
have  been  the  cause  of  lvs  losing  his  ascendancy  over 
the  Queen.  Here  he  was  blockaded,  cannon  being  pointed 
at  Essex  House  from  the  roofs  of  the  neighbouring  houses 
and  the  tower  of  St.  Clement  Danes,  and  hence,  having 
surrendered,  he  was  taken  away  to  the  Tower,  where  he 
was  beheaded.  It  is  to  Essex  House  that  Spenser  alludes, 
after  describing  the  Temple,  in  the  Prothalamion  : — 

"  Next  whereunto  there  standes  a  stately  place, 
Where  oft  I  gayned  giftes  and  goodly  grace 
Of  that  great  lord,  which  therein  wont  to  dwell, 
Whose  want  too  well  now  feels  my  fxeendles  case." 

A  pair  of  stone  pillars  at  the  end  of  the    street,  which 
perhaps  belonged  to  its  water-gate,  are  the  only  existing 

VOL.  I.  E 


5° 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


remains  of  the  old  house.  But  in  Devereux  Court  (on  the 
left  of  Essex  Street),  high  up  on  a  wall,  is  a  bust  of  Lord 
Essex,  attributed  to  Cibber.  It  marks  the  celebrated 
Grecian  coffee-house,  where  the  wits  of  the  last  century- 
loved  to  congregate,  and  whence  Steele,  in  the  first  number 
of  the  Tatler,  says  that  he  shall  date  all  his  learned  articles. 


The  Water-gate  of  Essex  House. 


The  dandyism  and  affectation  displayed  by  the  yourg 
students  of  the  Inns  of  Court  frequenting  the  Grecian 
excited  the  contempt  of  Addison  {Spectator,  491),  who  says, 
"  I  do  not  know  that  I  meet  in  any  of  my  walks  objects 
which  move  both  my  spleen  and  laughter  so  effectually  as 
those  young  fellows  at  the  Grecian,  Squire's,  Searle's,  and 
all  other  coffee-houses  adjacent  to  the  law,  who  rise  early 


TEMPLE  BAR.  51 

tor  no  other  purpose  but  to  publish  their  laziness.  One 
would  think  these  young  virtuosos  take  a  gay  cap  and 
slippers,  with  a  scarf  and  party-coloured  gown,  to  be  the 
ensigns  of  dignity  ;  for  the  vain  things  approach  each  other 
with  an  air  which  shows  they  regard  one  another  for  their 
vestments." 

Palsgrave's  Place,  the  next  entry  on  the  right  of  the 
Strand,  marks  the  site  of  the  "Palsgrave's  Head  Tavern," 
which  commemorated  the  marriage  of  Frederick,  Palsgrave 
of  the  Rhine,  with  Elizabeth,  eldest  daughter  of  James  I. 
Ship  Yard,  opposite,  destroyed  in  building  the  Law  Courts, 
was  a  relic  of  Sir  Francis  Drake,  as  containing  the  Tavern 
which  took  as  its  sign  the  ship  in  which  he  circumnavigated 
the  world. 

We  now  arrive  where,  black  and  grimy,  in  much  sooty  dig- 
nity, Temple  Bar  (till  1878)  ended  the  Strand,  and  marked 
the  division  between  the  City  of  London  and  the  Liberty  of 
Westminster.  It  was  never  a  city  gate,  but  as  defining  the 
City  bounds,  was,  according  to  ancient  custom,  invariably 
closed,  and  only  then,  when  a  sovereign  approached  the 
City  on  some  public  occasion.  When  the  monarch  arrived, 
one  herald  sounded  a  trumpet,  another  herald  knocked,  a 
parley  ensued,  the  gates  were  flung  open,  and  the  Lord 
Mayor  presented  the  sword  of  the  City  to  the  sovereign, 
who  returned  it  to  him  again.  Thus  it  was  at  the  old 
Temple  Bar  with  Elizabeth  when  she  went  to  return  thanks 
at  St.  Paul's  for  the  destruction  of  the  Armada ;  so  it  was 
with  Cromwell  when  he  went  to  dine  in  state  in  the  City  in 
1649  >  so  witn  Queen  Anne  after  the  battle  of  Blenheim  ;  so 
with  Queen  Victoria  when  she  has  gone  to  the  City  in  state. 

Strype  says  that  "  anciently  there  were  only  posts,  rails, 


$2  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

and  a  chain"  at  Temple  Bar.  It  is  first  mentioned  as 
Barram  Novi  Templi  in  a  grant  of  1301  (29,  Edward  I.),  but 
we  have  no  definite  idea  of  it  till  the  sixteenth  century. 
In  the  time  of  Henry  VII.  it  is  believed  that  a  wooden 
edifice  was  erected,  and  was  the  gate  beneath  which  the 
bier  of  Elizabeth  of  York,  on  its  way  from  the  Tower  to 
Westminster,  was  sprinkled  with  holy  water  by  the  abbots 
of  Bermondsey  and  Westminster.  We  know  that  it  was 
"  newly  paynted  and  repayred  "  for  the  coronation  of  Anne 
Boleyn  (1533),  and  that  it  was  "painted  and  fashioned 
with  battlements  and  buttresses  of  various  colours,  richly 
hung  with  cloth  of  arras,  and  garnished  with  fourteen 
standards  of  flags  "  (1547)  for  the  coronation  of  Edward  VI  * 
It  was  by  this  "  Tempull  Barre  "  that  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt 
was  taken  prisoner.  Being  summoned  to  surrender,  he 
said  he  would  do  so  to  a  gentleman,  when  Sir  Maurice 
Berkeley  rode  up,  and  "  bade  him  lepe  up  behind  him,  and 
so  he  was  carried  to  Westminster." 

The  last  Temple  Bar  was  built  in  1670.  Charles  II. 
promised  (but  never  paid)  a  large  contribution  towards  it 
from  the  revenue  he  received  from  licensing  the  then 
newly  invented  hackney  coaches.  Sir  Christopher  Wren 
was  the  architect  and  Joshua  Marshall  the  mason.  Bushed, 
a  sculptor  who  died  mad  in  1701,  was  employed  to  adorn 
it  with  four  feeble  statues,  those  on  the  west  representing 
Charles  I.  and  Charles  II.,  those  on  the  east  Elizabeth 
and  James  I. 

The  statue  of  the  popular  Elizabeth  used  annually  to 
receive  an  ovation  on  the  anniversary  of  her  accession, 
which  was  kept  as  the  chief  festival  of  Protestantism,  till  after 

•Stow 


TEMPLE  BAR.  53 

the  coming  of  William  III.,  when  Protestant  ardour  was 
transferred  to  Guy  Fawkes'  day.  Roger  North,  in  his  "  Ex- 
amen,"  describes  how  the  statue  was  provided  every  17th 
ot  November  with  a  wreath  of  gilded  laurel  and  a  golden 
shield  with  the  motto — "The  Protestant  Religion  and 
Magna  Charta,"  and  how,  while  the  figure  of  the  Pope  was 
burnt  beneath  it,  the  people  shouted  and  sang — - 

"Your  popish  plot  and  Smithfield  threat 
We  do  not  fear  at  all, 
For  lo  !  beneath  Queen  Bess's  feet, 

You  fall !    You  fall !    You  fall ! 
O  Queen  Bess  !    Queen  Bess  !    Queen  Bess  ! " 

It  was  on  the  occasion  of  a  tumult  which  arose  at  one  of 
these  anti-papal  demonstrations  (1680)  that  the  Archbishop 
of  York  going  to  Lord  Chief  Justice  North,  and  asking 
what  was  to  be  done,  received  the  answer — "  My  Lord, 
fear  God,  and  don't  fear  the  people." 

Within  the  arch  hung  the  heavy  oaken  panelled  gates, 
festooned  with  fruits  and  flowers,  which  opened  to  receive 
Charles  II.,  James  II.,  and  every  succeeding  sovereign. 
In  1769  these  gates  were  forcibly  closed  in  "  the  Battle  of 
Temple  Bar,"  by  the  partisans  of  "  Wilkes  and  Liberty," 
against  the  civic  procession  which  was  on  its  way  to 
George  III.  The  whole  of  the  gateway  was  hung  with 
black  for  the  funeral  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington. 

No  one  saw  Temple  Bar  without  connecting  it  with 
the  human  remains — dried  by  summer  heats,  and  beaten 
and  occasionally  hurled  to  the  ground  by  winter  storms 
— by  which  it  was  so  long  surmounted.  The  first  ghastly 
ornament  of  the  Bar  was  one  of  the  quarters  of  Sir  Wil- 
liam Armstrong,  Master  of  the  Horse  to  Charles  II.,  who 


54 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


was  concerned  in  the  Rye  House  Plot,  and  who,  after 
his  execution  (16S4),  was  boiled  in  pitch  and  divided 
into  four  parts.  The  head  and  quarters  of  Sir  Wil- 
liam Perkins  and  the  quarters  of  Sir  John  Friend,  who 
had  conspired  to  assassinate  William  III.,  "  from  love  to 


£  !)fj , 


Temple  Bar  from  the  Strand. 


King  James  and  the  Prince  of  Wales,"  were  next  exhibited, 
"a  dismal  sight,"  says  Evelyn,  "which  many  pitied."  The 
next  head  raised  here  was  that  of  Joseph  Sullivan,  executed 
for  high  treason  in  17 15.  Henry  Osprey  followed,  who 
died  for  love  of  Prince  Charlie  in  1716;  and  Christopher 
Layer,  executed  for  a  plot  to  seize   the  king's  person  in 


TEMPLE   BAR,  55 

1723.  The  last  heads  which  were  exposed  on  the  Bar  were 
those  which  were  concerned  in  the  "  rebellion  of  '45."  It  is 
difficult  to  believe  that  it  is  scarcely  more  than  a  hundred 
and  twenty  years  since  Colonel  Francis  Townley,  George 
Fletcher,  and  seven  other  Jacobites  were  so  barbarously 
dealt  with — hanged  on  K.ennington  Common,  cut  down, 
disembowelled,  beheaded,  quartered,  their  hearts  tossed 
into  a  fire,  from  which  one  of  them  was  snatched  by  a 
bystander,  who  devoured  it  to  show  his  loyalty.  Walpole 
afterwards  saw  their  heads  on  Temple  Bar,  and  says  that 
people  used  to  make  a  trade  of  letting  out  spy-glasses  to 
look  at  them  at  a  halfpenny  a  look.  The  spikes  which  sup- 
ported the  heads  were  only  removed  in  the  present  century. 
It  was  in  front  of  the  Bar  that  the  miserable  Titus  Oates 
stood  in  the  pillory,  pelted  with  dead  cats  and  rotten  eggs, 
and  that  De  Foe,  placed  in  the  pillory  for  a  libel  on  the 
Government,  stood  there  enjoying  a  perfect  ovation  from 
the  people,  who  drank  his  health  as  they  hung  the  pillory 
with  flowers. 

"I  remember  once  being  with  Goldsmith  in  "Westminster  Abbey. 
While  we  surveyed  the  Poets'  Corner,  1  said  to  him,  '  Forsitau  et 
nostrum  noinen  miscebitur  istis.'  When  we  got  to  Temple  liar  he 
stopped  me,  pointed  to  the  heads  upon  it,  and  slyly  whispered,  'For- 
sitan et  nostrum  nomen  miscebitur  istis." — Dr.  Johnson. 

With  the  removal  of  Temple  Bar  an  immensity  of  the 
associations  of  the  past  has  been  swept  away.  Almost  all 
the  well-known  authors  of  the  last  two  centuries  have  some- 
how had  occasion  to  mention  it.  Fleet  Street,  just  within 
its  bounds,  is  still  the  centre  for  the  offices  of  nearly  all  the 
leading  newspapers  and  magazines,  and  those  who  stood 
beneath  the  soot-begrimed  arches  had  to  the  last  somewhat 


56  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

of  the  experience  which  Dr.  Johnson  describes  in  his  "  Pro- 
ject for  the  Employment  of  Authors"  (1756). 

"It  is  my  practice,  when  I  am  in  want  of  amusement,  to  place 
myself  for  an  hour  at  Temple  Bar,  and  examine  one  by  one  the  looks  of 
the  passengers ;  and  I  have  commonly  found  that  between  the  hours  of 
eleven  and  four  every  sixth  man  is  an  author.  They  are  seldom  to  be 
seen  very  early  in  the  morning  or  late  in  the  evening,  but  about  dinner- 
time they  are  all  in  motion,  and  have  one  uniform  eagerness  in  their 
faces,  which  gives  little  opportunity  of  discovering  their  hopes  or  fears, 
their  pleasures  or  their  pains.  But  in  the  afternoon,  when  they  have 
all  dined,  or  composed  themselves  to  pass  the  day  without  a  dinner, 
their  passions  have  full  play,  and  I  can  perceive  one  man  wondering  at 
the  stupidity  of  the  public,  by  which  his  new  book  has  been  totally 
neglected;  another  cursing  the  French,  who  fight  away  literary 
curiosity  by  their  threat  of  an  invasion ;  another  swearing  at  his  book- 
seller, who  will  advance  no  money  without  copy ;  another  perusing  as 
he  walks  his  publisher's  bill ;  another  murmuring  at  an  unanswerable 
criticism  ;  another  determining  to  write  no  more  to  a  generation  of 
barbarians ;  and  another  wishing  to  try  once  again  whether  he  cannot 
awaken  a  drowsy  world  to  a  sense  of  his  merit." 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  INNS  OF  COURT. 

JUST  beyond  the  site  of  Temple  Bar  we  may  turn  aside 
into  the  repose  of  the  first  of  the  four  Inns  of  Court 
(Middle  Temple,  Inner  Temple,  Lincoln's  Inn,  and  Gray's 
Inn),  which  Ben  Jonson  calls  "the  noblest  nurseries  of 
humanity  and  liberty  in  the  kingdom."  Here,  beside  the 
bustle  of  Fleet  Street,  yet  utterly  removed  from  it,  are  the 
groups  of  ancient  buildings  described  by  Spenser  :  — 

"  — those  bricky  towers, 
The  which  on  Thames'  broad  aged  back  doe  ride, 
Where  now  the  studious  lawyers  have  their  bowers, 
There  whilom  wont  the  Temple  knights  to  bide, 
Till  they  decayed  through  pride." 

The  earliest  residence  of  the  Knights  Templar  was  in 
Holborn,  but  they  removed  hither  in  1184.  After  their 
suppression  in  1313  Edward  I.  gave  the  property  to  Aymer 
de  Valence.  At  his  death  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
Knights  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  but  was  leased  to  the 
Inns  of  Court,  so  called  because  their  inhabitants,  who 
were  students  of  the  law,  belonged  to  "  the  King's  Court." 
It  is  interesting  to  notice  how  many  of  the  peculiar  terms 
used  by  the  Templars  seem  to  have  descended   with   the 


58  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

place  to  their  legal  successors.  Thus  the  s^nennts-at-law 
represent  the  jratres  servie'ntes — "  freres  serjens  "  of  the 
Templars  ;  and  the  title  of  Knight  reappears  in  that  of 
the  Judges.  The  waiters  were,  and  are  still,  called  pan- 
niers, from  the  panarii,  bread-beare.s,  of  the  Templars; 
and  the  scullions  are  still  called  wash-pots.  The  register  of 
the  Temple  is  full  of  such  entries  as  "  On  March  28th  died 
William  Brown,  wash-pot  of  the  Temple." 

Before  the  Temple  was  leased  by  the  lawyers,  the  laws 
were  taught  in  hostels — hospitia  airice,  of  which  there  were  a 
great  number  in  the  metropolis,  especially  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Holborn,  but  afterwards  the  Inns  of  Court  and 
Chancery  increased  in  prosperity  till  they  formed  what  Stow 
describes  as  "  a  whole  university  of  students,  practisers  or 
pleaders,  and  judges  of  the  laws  of  this  realm,  not  living  on 
common  stipends,  as  in  the  other  universities  it  is  for  the 
most  part  done,  but  of  their  owne  private  maintenance." 
The  name  of  Hostel  was  continued  in  that  of  Inn.     Butler, 

playing  on  the  latter,  speaks  of 

" — the  hostess 
Of  the  Inns  of  Court  and  Chancery — Justice." 

The  prosperity  of  the  lawyers,  however,  was  not  without 
its  reverses,  and  such  was  their  unpopularity  at  the  time  of 
Jack  Cade's  rebellion  that  they  were  chosen  as  his  first 
victims.  Thus,  in  Shakespeare's  He?iry  VI.  (Pt.  11.  Act  iv. 
sc.  2),  Dick,  the  Butcher  of  Ashford,  is  introduced  as  say- 
ing, "  The  first  thing  we  do,  let's  kill  all  the  lawyers  ; "  to 
which  Cade  replies,  "  Nay,  that  I  mean  to  do.  Is  l.ot  this 
a  lamentable  thing,  that  of  the  skin  of  an  innocent  lamb 
should  be  made  parchment?  that  parchment,  being  scrib- 
bled over,  should  undo  a   man  ?  "     And   in   scene  7  Cade 


THE   TEMPLE.  59 

says,  "  Now  go  some  and  pull  down  the  Savoy ;  others  to 
the  Inns  of  Court ;  down  with  them  all !  " 

In  the  end,  Jack  Cade  really  did  the  lawyers  no  harm, 
but  their  houses  were  pulled  down  in  the  invasion  of  Wat 
Tyler,  and  their  books  burnt  in  Fleet  Street.  Nevertheless 
the  Inns  of  the  Temple  continued  to  increase  in  importance 
till  the  reign  of  Mary  I.,  when  the  young  lawyers  had  be- 
come such  notorious  fops  that  it  was  actually  necessary  to 
pass  an  Act  of  Parliament  to  restrain  them.  Henceforth 
they  were  not  to  wear  beards  of  more  than  three  weeks' 
growth  upon  pain  of  a  fine  of  forty  shillings  ;  and  they  must 
restrain  their  passion  for  Spanish  cloaks,  swords,  bucklers, 
rapiers,  gowns,  hats,  or  daggers  at  their  girdles.  Only 
Knights  and  Benchers  might  luxuriate  in  doublets  or  hose 
of  bright  colours,  except  scarlet  or  crimson  ;  and  they  were 
forbidden  to  wear  velvet  caps,  scarf-wings  to  their  gowns, 
white  jerkins,  buskins,  velvet  shoes,  double  shirt-cuffs,  or 
feathers  and  ribbons  in  their  caps. 

The  Temple  was  not  finally  conferred  upon  the  lawyers 
till  the  time  of  James  I.,  who  declared  in  one  of  his 
speeches  in  the  Star  Chamber  that  "  there  were  only  three 
classes  of  people  who  had  any  right  to  settle  in  London — 
the  courtiers,  the  citizens,  and  the  gentlemen  of  the  Inns  of 
Court."  The  division  into  two  Halls  dates  from  the  time 
of  Henry  VI.,  when  the  number  of  students  who  frequented 
the  Temple  first  made  it  necessary,  and  the  two  Halls  have 
ever  since  maintained  a  distinct  individuality.  Though 
their  gateways  rise  almost  side  by  side  on  the  right  of  Fleet 
Street,  and  their  courts  and  passages  join,  the  utmost  dis- 
tinction exists  in  the  minds  of  the  inmates. 

Before  any  student  can  be  admitted  to  either  of  the  loui 


OC  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Societies  of  the  Inns  of  Court,  he  must  obtain  the  certifi- 
cate of  two  barristers,  and  in  the  case  of  the  Middle  Temple 
that  of  a  bencher,  to  show  he  is  "  aptus,  habilis,  et  idoneus 
moribus  et  scientia."  On  his  admission,  he  has  the  use  of 
the  library,  may  claim  a  seat  in  the  church  or  chapel  of  the 
Inn,  and  can  have  his  name  set  down  for  chambers.  He 
must  then  keep  commons,  by  dining  in  hall  for  twelve 
terms,  of  which  there  are  four  in  each  year.  Before  keeping 
terms,  he  must  also  deposit  ^ioo  with  the  treasurer, 
to  be  returned,  without  interest,  when  he  is  called  to 
the  Bar. 

No  student  can  be  called  till  he  is  of  three  years'  standing, 
and  twenty-one  years  of  age  :  after  he  is  called,  he  becomes 
a  Barrister.  The  call  is  made  by  the  Benchers,  the  govern- 
ing body  of  seniors,  chosen  for  their  "  honest  behaviour 
and  good  disposition,"  and  "  such  as  from  their  experience 
are  of  best  note  and  ability  to  serve  the  kingdom." 

Lectures  are  given  at  each  of  the  Inns,  which  are  open 
to  all  its  students ;  examinations  take  place  and  scholar- 
ships are  awarded  :  but  a  man  may  be  called  to  the  Bar 
who  has  not  attended  lectures  or  passed  examinations, 
though  keeping  commons  by  dining  in  hall  is  an  indispensable 
qualification. 

"  The  Inns  of  Court  are  interesting  to  others  besides  lawyers,  for 
they  are  the  last  working  institutions  in  the  nature  of  the  old  trade 
guilds.  It  is  no  longer  necessary  that  a  shoemaker  should  be  approved 
by  the  company  of  the  craft  before  he  can  apply  himself  to  making 
shoes  for  his  customers,  and  a  man  may  keep  an  oyster-stall  without 
being  forced  to  serve  an  apprenticeship  and  be  admitted  to  the 
Livery  of  the  great  Whig  Company ;  but  the  lawyers'  guilds  guard  the 
entrance  to  the  law,  and  prescribe  the  rules  under  which  it  shall  be 
practised.  There  are  obvious  advantages  in  having  some  authority  to 
povern  such  a  profession  as  the  Bar,  but  it  is  sufficiently  remarkable 


THE   TEMPLE.  61 

thai  the    voluntary  societies  of   barristers    themselves    should    have 
managed  to  engross  and  preserve  it." — Times  Journal. 

A  dull  red-brick  Gate-way,  by  Wren  (1684),  forms  the 
entrance  to  Middle  Temple  Lane.  The  site  was  formerly 
occupied  by  a  gate  decorated  with  the  arms  of  Cardinal 
Wolsey,  which  was  erected  by  Sir  Amias  Paulet  while  he 
was  the  cardinal'^  prisoner  in  the  other  Temple  Gate-house, 
in  the  hope  of  appeasing  his  displeasure. 

The  second  Gate  house  belonging  to  the  Inner  Temple 
was  once  surmounted  by  gables  and  annexed  to  very 
picturesque  buildings  of  great  extent.  Only  a  fragment  of 
the  ornamental  portion  remains,  adorned  with  the  feathers 
of  Henry,  Prince  of  Wales.  A  hairdresser  of  lively  ima- 
gination has  set  up  an  inscription  declaring  it  to  have 
been  the  palace  of  Henry  VI II.  and  Cardinal  Wolsey, 
but  it  was  really  bi*lt  in  the  time  of  James  I.,  when 
it  was  the  office  for  the  Duchy  of  Cornwall.  Afterwards 
it  became  "  Nando's,"  a  coffee-house,  where  the  foundation 
of  Lord  Thurlow's  fortunes  was  laid.  Some  lawyers  over- 
heard him  here  arguing  cleverly  about  some  famous  cause, 
and  the  next  day  he  received  his  first  important  brief. 
The  sides  of  this  gate  are  adorned  with  the  arms  of  the 
Inner  Temple,  as  that  of  the  Middle  Temple  is  with 
the  lamb  bearing  the  banner  of  Innocence  and  the  red 
cross,  which  was  the  original  badge  of  the  Templars.  Here 
the  shields  bear  a  horse,  now  representing  Pegasus,  with 
the  motto,  "  Volat  ad  astera  virtus,"  but  when  this  emblem 
was  originally  chosen  it  was  a  horse  with  two  men  upon  it, 
the  two  men  on  one  horse  being  intended  to  indicate  the 
poverty  of  the  Templars.  The  men  gradually  became  worn 
lrom  the  shield,  and  when  it  was  restored  they  were  mis- 


6a  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

taken  for  wings ;   hence  the  winged  horse.     A   wit    once 
wrote  here : — 

"  As  by  the  Templars'  hold  you  go, 

The  horse  and  lamb  display'd 
In  emblematic  figures  show 
The  merits  of  their  trade. 

The  clients  may  infer  from  therce 

How  just  is  their  profession  ; 
The  lamb  sets  torth  their  innocence, 

The  horse  their  expedition. 

Oh  !  happy  Britons,  happy  isle  ! 

Let  foreign  nations  say, 
Where  you  get  justice  without  guile, 

And  law  without  delay." 

But  veiy  soon  another  inscription  appeared  from  another 
witty  hand  : — 

"Deluded  men,  these  holds  forego, 

Nor  trust  such  cunning  elves  ; 
These  artful  emblems  tend  to  show 
The  clients — not  themselves. 

Tis  all.  a  trick  ;  these  all  are  shams 
By  which  they  mean  to  cheat  you  : 

But  have  a  care — for  you're  the  lambs. 
And  they  the  wolves  that  eat  you. 

Nor  let  the  thought  of  'no  delay' 
To  these  their  courts  misguide  you  : 

'Tis  you're  the  showy  horse,  and  they 
The  jockeys  that  will  ride  you." 

It  was  at  No.  i  on  the  right  of  the  Inner  Temple  Lane 

(now  rebuilt  as  Johnson's  Buildings)  that  Dr.  Johnson  lived 

from  1760  to    1765.     Boswell   describes   his  visit  to   him 

there. 

"  His  brown  suit  of  clothes  looked  very  rusty ;  he  had  on  a  little  old 
shrivelled  unpowdered  wig,  which  was  too  small  for  his  head  ;  his  shirt 
neck  and  the  knees  of  his  breeches  were  loose ;   his  black  worsted 


THE   TEMPLE   CHURCH.  03 

stockings  ill  drrt\vn  up  ;  and  he  had  a  pair  of  unbuckled  shoes  by  way 
of  slippers.  But  all  these  slovenly  particulars  vsre  forgutteu  the 
moment  he  began  to  talk." 

By  Inner  Temple  Lane  we  reach  the  only  existing  relic  of 
the  residence  ol  the  Knights  Templars  in  these  courts,  their 
magnificent  Temple  Church  (St.  Mary's),  which  fortunately 
just  escaped  the  Great  Fire  in  which  most  of  the  Inner 
Temple  perished.  The  church  was  restored  in  1S39— 42 
at  an  expense  of  ^70,000,  but  it  has  been  ill-done,  and 
with  great  disregard  of  the  historic  memorials  it  contained. 

It  is  entered  by  a  grand  Norman  arch  under  the  western 
porch,  which  will  remind  those  who  have  travelled  in  France 
of  the  glorious  door  of  Loches.  This  opens  upon  the 
Round  Church  of  1185  (fifty-eight  feet  in  diameter),  built 
in  recollection  of  the  Round  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 
j>ne  of  the  only  four  remaining  round  churches  in  England  ; 
the  others  being  at  Cambridge,  Northampton,  and  Maple- 
stead  in  Essex.  Hence,  between  graceful  groups  of  Pur- 
beck  marble  columns,  we  look  into  the  later  church  of 
1240  ;  these  two  churches,  built  only  at  a  distance  of  fifty- 
five  years  from  each  other,  forming  one  of  the  most 
interesting  examples  we  possess  of  the  transition  from 
Norman  to  Early  English  architecture.  The  Round  Church 
is  surrounded  by  an  arcade  of  narrow  Early  English  arches, 
separated  by  a  series  of  heads,  which  are  chiefly  restora- 
tions. On  the  pavement  lie  two  groups  of  restored  effigies 
of  "associates"  of  the  Temple  (not  Knights  Templar), 
carved  in  freestone,  being  probably  the  "  eight  images  of 
armed  knights"  mentioned  by  Stow  in  1598.  They  can- 
not be  identified  with  any  certainty,  but  are  supposed  to 
be— 


64  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


Right. 


1.  William  Marshall  the  younger,  husband  of  Eleanor,  sister  of 
King  Richard  I.  and  John,  sheathing  his  sword. 

2.  His  father,  the  Protector  Pembroke,  Earl  Marshall,  1119,  his 
sword  piercing  an  animal.  It  is  this  William  Marshall  who,  a  man  of 
unsullied  life,  is  introduced  by  Shakspeare  as  interceding  for  Prince 
Arthur. 

3.  Unknown. 

4.  Gilbert  Marshall,  another  son  of  Pembroke,  drawing  the  sword 
which  he  never  was  able  to  bear  to  the  Crusades,  having  been  killed 
by  a  runaway  horse  at  a  tournament  in  1241,  when  he  was  going  to 
start.  His  wife  was  Princess  Margaret  of  Scotland.  This  was  the 
last  of  the  great  family  of  the  Marshalls,  whose  extinction  was  at  that 
time  believed  to  be  due  to  a  curse  of  the  Abbot  of  Femes,  whom  the 
Protector  had  robbed  of  his  lands.  Matthew  Paris  narrates  how  the 
abbot  "  came  with  great  awe,"  and  standing  here  by  the  Earl's  tomb, 
promised  him  absolution  if  the  lands  were  restored.  But  the  dead 
gave  no  sign,  so  the  curse  fell. 

Left. 

1.  The  first  Earl  of  Essex. 

2.  Geoffry  de  Magnaville,  who  was  driven  to  desperation  by  the  acts 
of  injustice  he  received  from  Stephen,  and  fought  agaiust  him.  He 
was  mortally  wounded  whilst  attacking  Burwel  Casile  in  Cambridge- 
shire and  died  excommunicated.  His  body  was  soldered  up  in  lead  and 
hung  up  by  the  Templars  on  a  tree  in  their  orchard,  till  he  received 
absolution  upon  its  being  proved  that  he  had  expressed  repentance  in 
his  last  moments. 

3.  Unknown. 

4.  Unknown. 

The  sight  of  these  effigies  ■will  recall  the  lines  in  Spenser's  "  Fairy 
Queen — " 

"  And  on  his  breast  a  bloudie  cross  he  bore, 
The  deare  remembrance  of  his  dying  Lord, 
For  whose  sweet  sake  that  glorious  badge  he  wore, 
And  dead,  as  living,  ever  him  adored. 
Upon  his  shield  the  like  was  also  scored, 
For  sovereign  hope  which  in  his  help  he  had." 

Against  the  wall,  behind  the  Marshalls,  is  the  effigy  of 
Robert   Ros,  Governor  of  Carlisle  in  the  reign  of  John. 


THE   TEMPLE   CHURCH.  6j 

He  was  one  of  the  great  Magna  Charta  barons,  and  mar- 
ried the  daughter  of  a  king  of  Scotland,  but  he  was  not 
a  Templar,  for  he  wears  flowing  hair,  which  is  forbidden 
by  the  rites  of  the  Order :  at  the  close  of  his  life,  however, 
he  took  the  Templars'  habit  as  an  associate,  and  was 
buried  here  in  1227.  On  the  opposite  side  is  a  Purbeck 
marble  sarcophagus,  said  to  be  that  of  Queen  Eleanor 
of  Aquitaine,  but  her  effigy  is  at  Fontevrault,  where  the 
monastic  annals  prove  that  she  took  the  veil  after  the 
murder  *>f  Prince  Arthur.  Henry  II.  left  five  hundred 
marks  by  his  will  for  his  burial  in  the  Temple  Church,  but 
was  also  buried  at  Fontevrault.  Gough  considers  that  the 
tomb  here  may  be  that  of  William  Plantagenet,  fifth  son  of 
Henry  III.,  who  died  in  infancy,  and  (according  to  Weaver) 
was  buried  in  the  Temple  in  1256. 

In  olden  times  the  Round  Church  was  the  place  where 
the  lawyers  used  to  meet  their  clients  and — 

"  Retain  all  kinds  of  witnesses 
That  ply  i'  the  Temple  under  trees ; 
Or  walk  the  Round  with  Knights  o'  the  Posts, 
About  the  cross-legg'd  knights,  their  hosts." 

Hudibras,  pt.  iii.  c.  3. 

Ben  Jonson  also  speaks  of  this  in  the  Alchemist. 

A  staircase  in  the  wall  leads  to  the  tritorium  of  the 
Round  Church,  which  is  now  filled  with  the  tombs,  foolishly 
removed  from  the  chancel  beneath.  Worthy  of  especial 
notice  is  the  coloured  kneeling  effigy  of  Martin,  Recorder 
of  London,  and  Reader  of  the  Middle  Temple,  16 15. 
Near  this  is  the  effigy — also  coloured  and  under  a  canopy 
•—of  Edmund  Plowden,  the  famous  jurist,  of  whom  Lord 
Ellenborough  said   that    "better   authority   could    not    be 

VOL.  I.  F 


66  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

cited;"  and  referring  to  whom  Fuller  quaintly  remarks, 
"  How  excellent  a  medley  is  made,  when  honesty  and 
ability  meet  in  a  man  of  his  profession  !  "  There  is  also  a 
monument  to  James  Howell  (1594 — 1666),  whose  enter- 
taining letters,  chiefly  written  from  the  Fleet,  give  many 
curious  particulars  relating  to  the  reigns  of  James  I.  and 
Charles  I. 

Opening  upon  the  stairs  leading  to  the  triforium  is  a  peni- 
tential cell  (four  feet  six  inches  by  two  feet  six  inches)  with 
slits  towards  the  church,  through  which  the  prisoner,  unable 
to  lie  down,  could  still  hear  mass.  Here  the  unhappy 
Walter  de  Bacheler,  Grand  Preceptor  of  Ireland,  was 
starved  to  death  for  disobedience  to  the  Master  of  the 
Templars ;  and  hence  probably  it  was  that,  with  the  severe 
discipline  of  the  Templars,  other  culprits  were  dragged 
forth  naked  every  Monday  to  be  flogged  publicly  by  the 
priest  before  the  high  altar. 

The  Church  (eighty-two  feet  long,  fifiy-eight  wide,  thirty- 
seven  high),  begun  in  1185  and  finished  in  1240,  is  one  of 
our  most  beautiful  existing  specimens  of  Early  English 
Pointed  architecture  :  i{  the  roof  springing,  as  it  were, 
in  a  harmonious  and  accordant  fountain,  out  of  the 
clustered  pillars  that  support  its  pinioned  arches  ;  and 
these  pillars,  immense  as  they  are,  polished  like  so  many 
gems."*  In  the  ornaments  of  the  ceiling  the  banner  of  the 
Templars  is  frequently  repealed — black  and  white,  "  be- 
cause," says  Fawyne,  "  the  Templars  showed  themselves 
wholly  white  and  fair  towards  the  Christians,  but  black  and 
terrible  to  them  that  were  miscreants."  The  letters  "  Beau- 
sean  "  are  for  "  Beauseant,"  their  war-cry. 

•  Hawthorne. 


THE    TEMPLE   CHURCH.  67 

In  a  dark  hole  to  the  left  of  the  altar  is  the  white  marble 
monument  of  John  Selden,  1654,  called  by  Milton  "the 
chief  of  learned  men  reputed  in  this  land."  The  endless 
stream  of  volumes  which  he  poured  forth  were  filled  with 
research  and  discrimination.  Of  these,  his  work  "  On  the 
Law  o{  Nature  and  of  Nations  "  is  described  by  Hallam  as 
amongst  the  greatest  achievements  in  erudition  that  any 
English  writer  has  performed,  but  he  is  perhaps  best  known 
by  his  "  Table  Talk,"  of  which  Coleridge  says,  "  There  is 
more  weighty  bullion  sense  in  this  book  than  I  ever  found 
in  the  same  number  of  pages  of  any  uninspired  writer." 
His  funeral  sermon  was  preached  here  by  Archbishop 
Usher,  to  whom  he  had  said  upon  his  death-bed,  "  I  have 
surveyed  most  of  the  learning  that  is  among  the  sons  of 
men,  but  I  cannot  recollect  any  passage  out  of  all  my 
books  and  papers  whereon  I  can  rest  my  soul,  save  this 
from  the  sacred  Scriptures  :  '  The  grace  of  God  that  bring- 
eth  salvation  hath  appeared  to  all  men,  teaching  us  that, 
denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  we  should  live 
soberly,  righteously,  and  goclly  in  this  present  world  ;  look- 
ing for  that  blessed  hope  and  the  glorious  appearing  of  the 
great  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  who  gave  himself 
for  us,  that  He  might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity.' " 

"  Mr.  Selden  was  a  person  whom  no  character  can  flatter,  or  trans- 
mit  in  any  expressions  equal  to  his  merit  and  virtue.  He  was  of  such 
stupendous  learning  in  all  kinds  and  in  all  languages,  as  may  appear 
from  his  excellent  and  transcendent  writings,  that  a  man  would  have 
thought  he  had  been  entirely  conversant  among  books,  and  had  never 
spent  an  hour  but  in  reading  and  writing  ;  yet  his  humanity,  courtesy, 
and  affability  were  such  that  he  would  have  been  thought  to  have 
been  bred  in  the  best  courts,  but  that  his  good-nature,  charitv,  and 
delight  in  doing  good  and  in  communicating  all  he  knew  exceeded  that 
breeding."— Earl  of  Clare?idon,  Life. 


68  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

On  the  right  of  the  choir,  near  a  handsome  marble 
piscina,  is  the  effigy  of  a  bishop,  usually  shown  as  that  of 
Heraclius,  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  by  whom  the  church  was 
consecrated,  but  he  left  England  in  a  fury,  after  Henry  II. 
refused  to  perform  his  vow  of  joining  the  Crusades  in  person, 
to  atone  for  the  murder  of  Becket.  The  figure  more  pro- 
bably represents  Silverston  de  Eversdon,  Bishop  of  Carlisle, 
1255.  In  the  vestry  are  monuments  to  Lords  Eldon  and 
Stowell,  and  that  of  Lord  Thurlow  (1806)  by  Rossi. 

The  organ,  by  Father  Smydt  or  Smith,  is  famous  from  the 
long  competition  it  underwent  with  one  by  Harris.  Both 
were  temporarily  erected  in  the  church.  Blow  and  Purcell 
were  employed  to  perform  on  that  of  Smith  ;  Battista  Draghi, 
organist  to  Queen  Catherine,  on  that  of  Harris.  Immense 
audiences  came  to  listen,  but  though  the  contest  lasted  a 
year,  they  could  arrive  at  no  decision.  Finally,  it  was  left 
to  Judge  Jefferies  of  the  Inner  Temple,  who  was  a  great 
musician,  and  who  chose  that  of  Smith. 

By  the  side  of  a  paved  walk  leading  along  the  north  side 
of  the  church  to  the  Master's  House,  is  the  simple  monument 
of  Oliver  Goldsmith,  who  died  April  9,  1774.  It  is  only 
inscribed,  "  Here  lies  Oliver  Goldsmith." 

"  Let  not  his  faults  be  remembered  ;  he  was  a  very  great  man." — Dr. 
Johnson. 

"  He  died  in  the  midst  of  a  triumphant  course.  Every  year  that  he 
lived  would  have  added  to  his  reputation." — Prof,  butler. 

"  The  wreath  of  Goldsmith  is  unsullied  ;  he  wrote  to  exalt  virtue  and 
expose  vice ;  and  he  accomplished  his  task  in  a  manner  which  raises 
him  to  the  highest  rank  among  British  authors." — Sir  Walter  Scott. 

The  preacher  at  the  Temple  is  called  "  the  Master," 
though  he  has  no  authority*  whatever,  aud  can  do  nothing 
witnout  permission  from  the  Benchers.     The  "  learned  and 


THE  MASTER'S  HOUSE,    TEMPLE.  69 

judicious  "  Hooker  held  the  mastership  and  began  to  write 
his  "Ecclesiastical  Polity"  here.  "It  was  a  place,"  says 
Walton,  "which  he  rather  accepted  than  desired,"  and 
whence  he  wrote  to  Archbishop  Whitgift,  "  I  am  weary  of 
the  noise  and  opposition  of  this  place  ;  and,  indeed,  God 
and  nature  did  not  intend  me  for  contentions,  but  for  study 
and  quietness.  ...  I  shall  never  be  able  to  finish  what  I 
have  begun  unless  I  be  removed  into  some  quiet  parsonage, 
where  I  may  see  God's  blessings  spring  out  of  mother  earth, 
and  eat  my  own  bread  in  peace  and  privacy."  Hooker's 
chair  and  table  remain  in  the  Master's  House,  which  was 
built  for  William  Sherlock,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  and  Master 
o  the  Temple.  His  successor  was  Dr.  Thomas  Sherlock, 
who  held  the  mastership  with  the  successive  bishoprics  of 
Bangor,  Salisbury,  and  London.  His  residence  here  in 
1748,  when  the  sees  of  Canterbury  and  London  became 
vacant  at  the  same  time,  occasioned  the  epigram — 

"  At  the  Temple  one  day,  Sherlock  taking  a  boat, 
The  waterman  asked  him,  '  Which  way  will  you  float  ? ' 
'  Which  way  ?  '  says  the  Doctor  ;  '  why,  fool,  with  the  stream  ! ' 
To  St.  Paul's  or  to  Lambeth  was  all  one  to  him ;  " 

and  he  was  made  Bishop  of  London. 

Jn  the  registers  of  the  Temple,  kept  in  the  Master's 
House,  perhaps  the  most  interesting  of  many  remarkable 
records  is  that  which  attests  the  marriage — the  surreptitious 
marriage — of  Mr.  Sidney  Godolphin  with  Margaret  Blagg, 
the  lady  whose  lovely  and  lovable  life  was  portrayed 
by  Evelyn  and  published  by  Wilberforce.  The  entry  is  not 
entered  on  the  regular  page,  but  pinned  in  afterwards,  appa- 
rently when  the  event  was  made  public,  the  lady  having 
been  previously  provided  with  her  "  marriage  lines." 


70  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

The  labyrinthine  courts  of  the  Temple  are  all  replete  with 
quaint  associations.  The  Inner  Temple  is  the  least  so. 
Most  of  it  was  destroyed  by  the  great  fire  of  1666,  which 
even  "licked  the  windows"  of  the  Temple  Church,  and 
what  remained  perished  in  the  fire  of  January,  1678,  when 
the  Thames  and  the  pumps  were  frozen  so  hard  that  no 
water  could  be  obtained,  and  all  the  barrels  of  ale  in  the 
Temple  cellars  were  used  to  feed  the  fire-engines.  The  old 
Inner  Temple  Hall  of  James  I.'s  time  (where  the  last  revel 
of  the  Inns  of  Court  took  place  in  1733  when  Mr.  Talbot 
was  made  Lord  Chancellor)  was  replaced  in  1870  by  a 
handsome  perpendicular  gothic  hall  from  designs  of  Sidney 
Smirke. 

"  At  the  Inner  Temple,  on  certain  grand  occasions,  it  is  customary 
to  pass  huge  silver  goblets  (loving  cups)  down  the  table,  filled  with  a 
delicious  composition,  immemorially  termed  'sack,'  consisting  of 
sweetened  and  exquisitely  flavoured  white  wine  :  the  butler  attends  its 
progress  to  replenish  it,  and  each  student  is  restricted  to  a  sip.  Yet 
it  chanced  not  long  since  at  the  Temple,  that,  though  the  present 
number  fell  short  of  seventy,  thirty-six  quarts  of  the  liquid  were  con- 
sumed!"—  Quarterly  Review,  1836,  No.  HO. 

Hare  Court  is  so  called  from  Nicholas  Hare  (1557), 
Master  of  the  Rolls  in  the  time  of  Mary  I.  Crotvn  Office 
Row  was  the  birthplace  of  Charles  Lamb,  who  afterwards 
lived  in  4,  Inner  Temple  Lane,  whence  he  wrote,  "  The 
rooms  are  delicious,  and  Hare's  Court  trees  come  in  at  the 
window,  so  that  it's  like  living  in  a  garden.'-'  In  1800  Lamb 
moved  again — 

"  I  am  going  to  change  my  lodgings,"  he  wrote,  "  I  have  partly 
fixed  upon  most  delectable  rooms,  which  look  out  (when  you  stand  a 
lip-toe)  over  the  Thames,  and  Surrey  hills  ;  at  the  Upper  end  of  King's 
Bench  walk,  in  the  Temple.     There  I  shall  have  all  the  privacy  of  a 


THE    TEMPLE. 


71 


house  without  the  encumbrance,  and  shall  be  able  to  lock  my  friends 
out  as  often  as  I  desire  to  hold  free  converse  with  any  immortal  mind. 
I  shall  be  airy,  up  four  pair  of  steps,  as  in  the  country;  and  in  a  garden, 
ID  the  midst  of  enchanting,  more  than  Mahometan  paradise,  London, 
whose  dirtiest,  drab-frequer ted  alley,  and  her  lowest  bowing  tradesman, 
I  would  not  exchange  for  Skiddaw,  Helvellyn,  James,  Walter,  and  the 
parson  into  the  bargain." 

It  was  in  Kings  Bench  Walk  that  William  Murray,  after- 
wards Earl  of  Mansfield,  had  chambers  (No.  5),  and  here 
that  he  was  visited  as  client  by  Sarah,  Duchess  of  Marl- 
borough, who  came  late  in  the  evening,  and  was  disgusted 
at  finding  him  gone  out  to  a  supper  party.  "  I  could  not 
tell  who  she  was,"  said  the  servant,  reporting  her  visit,  "  for 
she  would  not  tell  me  her  name,  but  she  swore  so  dreadfully 
that  I  am  sure  she  must  be  a  lady  of  quality." 

In  Tanfield  Court,  on  this  side  of  the  Temple,  old 
Mrs.  Duncomb  with  her  companion  Elizabeth  Harrison 
and  her  maid  Anne  Price,  were  murdered  in  1732  by 
Sarah  Malcolm,  a  washerwoman  of  the  Temple,  who 
having,  after  her  execution  in  Fleet  Street  (opposite  Mitre 
Court)  been  buried  against  all  rules  in  St.  Sepulchre's 
churchyard,  was  dug  up  again,  and  is  now  exhibited  as  a 
skeleton  at  the  Botanic  Garden  at  Cambridge.  She  was 
extremely  handsome,  and,  two  days  before  her  execution, 
she  dressed  up  in  scarlet  and  sate  to  Hogarth  for  her 
portrait.  Immediately  above  Tanfield  Court,  adjoining 
what  is  now  the  Master's  Garden,  stood  the  old  refectory  of 
the  knights,  only  pulled  down  within  the  last  few  years. 

Turning  to  the  Middle  Temple,  it  will  be  interesting  to 
remember  that  Chaucer  was  one  of  its  students  in  the  reign 
of  Edward  III.,  and.  while  here,  gave  a  sound  thrashing  to 
a  Franciscan  friar  who  insulted  him  in  Fleet  Street.     On 


72  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

the  first  floor  of  No.  2,  Brick  Court,  lived  the  learned 
Blackstone,  and  here  in  his  "  Farewell  to  the  Muse,"  alter 
bidding  a  fond  adieu  to  the  woods  and  streams  of  his  youth 
he  wrote — 

"Then  welcome  business,  welcome  strife, 
Welcome  the  cares,  the  thorns  of  life, 
The  visage  wan,  the  purblind  sight, 
The  toil  by  day,  the  lamp  by  night, 
The  tedious  forms,  the  solemn  prate, 
The  pert  dispute,  the  dull  debate, 
The  drowsy  bench,  the  babbling  hall, — 
For  thee,  fair  Justice  !  welcome  all !  " 

Here  the  great  lawyer  was  soon  immersed  in  writing  the 
fourth  volume  of  his  famous  Commentaries  ;  but  in  his  cal- 
culation of  the  trials  of  legal  life,  there  was  one  which  he 
had  not  foreseen.  Oliver  Goldsmith  had  taken  the  rooms 
above  him,  and  sorely  was  he  disturbed  by  the  roaring 
comic  songs  in  which  the  author  of  "  The  Vicar  of  Wake- 
field "  was  wont  to  indulge,  and  by  the  frantic  games  of 
blind-man's-buff  which  preceded  his  supper-parties,  and  the 
dancing  which  followed  them.*  Here  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds, 
coming  in  suddenly,  found  the  poet  engaged  in  furiously 
kicking  round  the  room  a  parcel  containing  a  masquerade 
dress  which  he  had  ordered  and  had  no  money  to  pay  for ; 
and  here,  on  April  9,  1774,  poor  Goldsmith  died,  from 
taking  too  many  James's  powders,  when  he  had  been  for- 
bidden to  do  so  by  his  doctor — died,  dreadfully  in  debt, 
though  attended  to  the  grave  by  numbers  of  the  poor  in  the 
neighbourhood,  to  whom  he  had  never  failed  in  kindness 
and  charity — "  mourners  without  a  home,  without  domesti- 
city of  any  kind,  with  no  friend  but  him  they  had  come  to 

•  He  topk  and  furnished   these  rooms  with  £400   received  for  "  The   Good- 
natured  Man." 


THE  FOUNTAIN  COURT. 


n 


weep  for  ;  outcasts  of  the  great,   solitary,   wicked  city,   to 
whom  he  had  never  forgotten  to  be  kind  and  charitable." 

The  pleasantest  part  of  the  Middle  Temple  is  the 
Fountain  Court,  with  its  little  fountain,  low  enough  now,  but 
which,  Sir  Christopher  Hatton  says,  sprang  "  to  a  vast  and 


Fountain  Court,  Temple. 


almost  incredible  altitude  "  in  his  time.    It  is  commemorated 
in  a  poem  of  L.  E.  L.  (Miss  Laixlon),  with  the  lines— 

"  The  fountain's  low  singing  is  heard  in  the  wind, 
Like  a  melody,  bringing  sweet  fancies  to  mind  ; 
Some  to  grieve,  some  to  gladden ;  around  them  they  cast 
The  hopes  of  the  morrow,  the  dreams  of  the  past. 
Away  in  the  distance  is  heard  the  far  sound 
From  the  streets  of  the  city  that  compass  it  round, 
I  ike  ilic  cell"  "i  mountains  or  ocean's  deep  call ; 
Yet  thai  fountain's  low  singing  i    heard  ovei  ail." 


74  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Charles  Dickens  has  left  a  pretty  description  of  Ruth 
Pinch  going  to  meet  her  lover  in  this  court — "  coming 
briskly  up,  with  the  best  little  laugh  upon  her  face  that 
ever  played  in  opposition  to  the  fountain,  and  beat  it  all 
to  nothing  ; "  and  how,  when  John  Westlock  came  at  last — 
"  merrily  the  fountain  leaped  and  danced,  and  merrily  the 
smiling  dimples  twinkled  and  expanded  more  and  more, 
until  they  broke  into  a  laugh  against  the  basin's  rim  and 
vanished." 

In  this  court  is  the  Middle  Temple  Hall,  an  admirable 
Elizabethan  building  (of  1572)  with  a  screen,  which  is  very 
handsome,  though  it  is  not,  as  is  often  said,  made  from 
the  spoils  of  the  Spanish  Armada,  being  thirteen  years 
earlier  in  date.  The  order  of  the  military  monks  is  pre- 
served here  during  dinner,  the  Benchers  on  the  dais  repre- 
senting the  knights,  the  Barristers  the  priors  or  brethren, 
the  Students  the  novices.  The  old  Cow's  Horn  is  pre- 
served, by  the  blowing  of  which  the  Benchers  used  to  be 
summoned  to  dinner.  It  is  a  fact  worth  notice  as  showing 
the  habits  of  these  Benchers  in  former  days,  that  when 
the  floor  of  the  Middle  Temple  Hall  was  taken  up  in  1764, 
no  less  than  a  hundred  pair  of  (very  small)  dice  were  found 
beneath  it,  having  slipped  through  between  the  ill-adjusted 
boards.  In  the  time  of  Elizabeth  the  Benchers  were  so  quar- 
relsome a  body  that  an  edict  was  passed  that  no  one  should 
come  into  hall  with  other  weapons  than  a  sword  or  a 
dagger  !  The  feasts  of  Christmas,  Halloween,  Candlemas, 
and  Ascension  were  formerly  kept  here  with  great  splendour, 
a  regular  Master  of  the  Revels  being  elected,  and  the 
Lord  Chancellor,  Judges,  and  Benchers  opening  the  sports 
by  dancing  solemnly  three  times  around  the  sea-coal  fire. 


MIDDLE   TEMPLE  HALL,  73 

*'  Full  oft  within  the  spacious  walls, 
When  he  had  fifty  winters  o'er  him, 
My  grave  Lord-Keeper  led  the  brawls  ; 
The  seal  and  maces  danced  before  him." 

This  dance  called  forth  many  satires — especially  from 
Buckingham  in  his  play  of  The  Rehearsal,  from  Prior  in 
his  Alma,  and  Dr.  Donne  in  his  Satires.  In  Pope's 
Dunciad  we  find — 

"The  judge  to  dance,  his  brother  serjeant  calls." 

In  this  Hall  Shakspeare's  Twelfth  Night,  or  What  you 
Will,  was  performed  soon  after  its  production,  Feb.  2, 
1601  ;  and  it  is  probably  the  only  remaining  building  in 
which  one  of  his  plays  was  seen  by  his  contemporaries. 
Sir  John  Davys  was  expelled  the  Society  for  thrashing  his 
friend  Mr.  Richard  Martin  (the  Bencher  to  whom  Ben 
Jonson  dedicated  his  "Poetaster")  in  this  hall  during 
dinner. 

"Truly  it  is  a  most  magnificent  apartment;  very  lofty,  so  lofty, 
indeed,  that  the  antique  oak  roof  is  quite  hidden,  as  regards  all  its 
details,  in  the  sombre  gloom  that  broods  under  its  rafters.  The  hall  is 
lighted  by  four  great  windows,  on  each  of  the  two  sides,  descending 
half-way  from  the  ceiling  to  the  floor,  leaving  all  beneath  enclosed  by 
oaken  panelling,  which,  on  three  sides,  is  carved  with  escutcheons  of 
such  members  of  the  society  as  have  held  the  office  of  reader.  There 
is  likewise,  in  a  large  recess  or  transept,  a  great  window,  occupying  the 
full  height  of  the  hall  and  splendidly  emblazoned  with  the  arms  of 
the  Templars  who  have  attained  to  the  dignity  of  Chief- Justices.  The 
other  windows  are  pictured,  in  like  manner,  with  coats  of  arms  of  local 
dignities  connected  with  the  Temple  ;  and  besides  all  these  there  are 
arched  lights,  high  towards  the  roof,  at  either  end,  full  of  richly  and 
chastely  coloured  glass,  and  all  the  illumination  of  that  great  hall  came 
through  those  glorious  panes,  and  they  seemed  the  richer  for  the 
sombreness  in  which  we  stood.  I  cannot  describe,  or  even  intimave, 
the  effect  of  this  transparent  glory,  glowing  down  upon  us  in  the 
gloomy  depth  of  the  hall."— Hawthorne,     English  Note-Books. 


'/6  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

The  expression  "moot  (mot)  point"  comes  from  the 
custom  of  proposing  difficult  points  of  law  for  discussion 
during  dinner,  which  was  formerly  observed  in  the  halls  of 
the  Inns  of  Court. 

Near  the  Hall  is  the  New  Library  erected  by  H.  E. 
Abraham.  Its  garden  has  a  tree — Catalpa  Syringifolia — 
said  to  have  been  planted  by  Sir  Matthew  Hale. 

Three  Sun-Dials  in  the  Temple  have  mottoes.  That  in 
Temple  Lane,  "  Pereunt  et  imputantur  ; "  that  in  Essex 
Court,  "  Vestigia  nulla  retrorsum ;  "  that  in  Brick  Court, 
"  Time  and  Tide  tarry  for  no  man." 

"  I  was  born,  and  passed  the  first  seven  years  of  my  life,  in  the 
Temple.  Its  church,  its  halls,  its  gardens,  its  fountain,  its  river,  I  had 
almost  said — for  in  those  young  years,  what  was  this  king  of  rivers 
to  me  but  a  stream  that  watered  our  pleasant  places ! — these  are  my 
oldest  recollections.  .  .  .  What  an  antique  air  had  the  now  almost 
effaced  sun-dials,  with  their  moral  inscriptions,  seeming  coevals  with 
that  Time  which  they  measured,  and  to  take  their  revelations  of  its 
flight  immediately  from  heaven,  holding  correspondence  with  the 
fountain  of  light !  How  would  the  dark  line  steal  imperceptibly  on, 
watched  by  the  eye  of  childhood,  eager  to  detect  its  movement,  never 
catched,  nice  as  an  evanescent  cloud,  or  the  first  arrests  of  sleep  ! 
Ah,  yet  doth  beauty  like  a  dial-hand 
Steal  from  his  figure,  and  no  pace  perceived !  " 

Charles  Lamb. 

The  Temple  Garden  is  the  place  where  Shakspeare 
makes  the  partisans  of  the  Houses  of  York  and  Lancaster 
first  choose  a  red  and  white  rose  as  their  respective  Ladges. 

"  Suffolk.     Within  the  Temple  Hall  we  were  too  loud : 
The  garden  here  is  more  convenient.  .  .  . 
Plantagenet.     Let  him  that  is  a  true-born  gentleman, 
And  stands  upon  the  honour  of  his  birth, 
If  he  suppose  that  I  have  pleaded  truth, 
From  off  this  briar  pluck  a  white  rose  with  me 


THE   TEMPLE   GARDENS.  77 

Somerset.     Let  him  that  is  no  coward,  nor  no  flatterer, 
But  dare  maintain  the  party  of  the  truth, 
Pluck  a  red  rose  from  off  this  thorn  with  me.  .  .  . 

Plantagenet.     Hath  not  thy  rose  a  canker,  Somerset  ? 

Somerset.     Hath  not  thy  rose  a  thorn,  Plantagenet  ?  .  .  .  . 

IVanvick.  This  brawl  to-day, 

Grown  to  this  faction  in  the  Temple  Gardens, 
Shall  send,  between  the  red  rose  and  the  white, 
A  thousand  souls  to  death  and  deadly  night." 

First  Part  of  Henry  VI.  Act  ii.  sc.  4. 

There  are  charming  views  of  the  river — the  busy  silent 
highway,  from  the  gardens,  though  on  Lord  Mayor's  Day 
you  can  no  longer 

"  Stand  in  Temple  Gardens,  and  behold 
London  herself  on  her  proud  stream  afloat ; 
For  so  appears  this  fleet  of  magistracy, 
Holding  due  course  to  Westminster." 

Shakspeare 's  Henry  V. 

No  roses  will  live  now  in  the  smoke-laden  air,  but  the 
gardens  are  still  famous  for  their  autumnal  show  of  Chry- 
santhemums, the  especial  flowers  of  the  Temple.  Near  a 
dial  given  by  "  Henricus  Wynne,  Londini,  1770,"  are  the 
remains  of  a  sycamore  of  Shakspeare's  days. 

"  So,  O  Benchers,  may  the  Winged  Horse,  your  ancient  badge  and 
cognisance,  still  flourish  !  So  may  future  Hookers  and  Seldens  illustrate 
your  church  and  chambers !  So  may  the  sparrow,  in  default  of  more 
melodious  quiristers,  unpoisoned  hop  about  your  walks !  So  may  the 
fresh-coloured  and  cleanly  nursery-maid,  who,  by  leave,  airs  her  playful 
charge  in  your  stately  gardens,  drop  her  prettiest  blushing  curtsy  as  ye 
pass,  reductive  of  juvenescent  emotion  !  So  may  the  younkers  of  this 
generation  eye  you,  pacing  your  stately  terrace,  with  the  same  super- 
stitious veneration,  with  which  the  child  Elia  gazed  on  the  Old 
Worthies  that  solemnised  the  parade  before  ye." — Charles  Lamb. 

Opposite  the  Temple,  occupying  a  space  of  eight  acres, 
in   the   clearance   of  which    as   many  as   thirty  wretched 


78  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

courts  and  alleys  were  removed,  the  New  Law  Courts 
are  rising,  with  a  front  four  hundred  and  eighty-three 
feet  in  length  towards  the  Strand  and  Fleet  Street. 
They  are  built  in  the  Decorated  style  from  designs  of 
G.  E.  Street.  R.A.,  with  the  view  of  uniting  all  the 
principal  Law  Courts  (hitherto  divided  between  Lin- 
coln's Inn  and  Westminster)  upon  one  site,  and  they 
promise  to  form  one  of  the  handsomest  piles  of  building 
in  London. 

A  little  farther  down  Fleet  Street  is  the  entrance  of 
Chancery  Lane,  a  long  winding  street  where  the  great 
Lord  Strafford  was  born  (1593)  and  where  Izaak  Walton, 
"  the  father  of  angling,"  lived  as  a  London  linen-draper 
(1627 — 1644).     Pope  says — 

"  Long  Chancery  Lane  retentive  rolls  the  sound." 

The  Lane  and  its  surrounding  streets  have  a  peculiar 
legal  traffic  of  their  own,  and  abound  in  wig  makers,  strong- 
box makers,  and  law  stationers  and  booksellers.  In 
former  times  when  the  Inns  of  Court  were  more  like 
colleges  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  and  when  the  students 
which  belonged  to  them  lived  together  within  their  walls, 
dined  together,  and  shared  the  same  exercises  and  amuse- 
ments, the  Inns  of  Court  always  had  Inns  of  Chancery 
annexed  to  them.  These  were  houses  where  the  younger 
students  underwent  a  course  of  preparation  for  the  greater 
freedom  of  the  colleges  of  the  Inns  of  Court,  to  which, 
says  Jeaffreson,  in  his  "  Book  about  Lawyers,"  they  bore 
much  the  same  position  as  Eton  bears  towards  King's 
College  at  Cambridge,  or  Winchester  to  New  College  at 
Oxford.      Now    the  Inns   of    Chancery    are    comparative 


CLIFFORD'S  JNN.  79 

solitudes :    readers  of  Dickens  will  recollect  the  vivid   de- 
scriptions of  Symond's  Inn  in  "Bleak  House." 

On  the  right  of  Chancery  Lane,  behind  St.  Dunstan's 
Church,  are  the  dark  brick  courts  of  Serjeants'  Inn,  originally 
intended  only  for  judges  and  the  serjeants-at-law  who 
derive  their  ni me  from  the  Fratres  Servientes  of  the  Knights 
Templars.  The  Serjeants  still  address  each  other  as  brothers. 
The  degiee  of  Serjeant  is  the  highest  attainable  in  the 
faculty  of  law,  and  indispensable  for  a  seat  on  the  judicial 
bench.  The  buildings  were  sold  in  1S77,  and  the  little  Hall 
(38  ft.  by  21)  and  Chapel  (31  ft.  by  20)— both  with  richly 
stained  windows — will  probably  ere  long  be  pulled  down. 

The  courts  of  Serjeants'  Inn  join  those  of  the  earliest 
foundation  of  those  Inns  of  Chancery  which  we  have  been 
describing,  Clifford's  Inn  (entered  from  Fetter  Lane), 
which  is  so  called  because  the  land  on  which  it  stands  was 
devised  in  the  reign  of  Edward  II.  (1310)  to  "our  beloved 
and  faithful  Robert  de  Clifford."  It  was  in  the  hall  of 
Clifford's  Inn  that  Sir  Matthew  Hale  and  seventeen  other 
judges  sate  after  die  Great  Fire  to  adjudicate  upon  the 
perplexed  claims  of  landlords  and  tenants  in  the  destroyed 
houses — a  task  which  they  accomplished  so  much  to  the 
satisfaction  of  every  one  concerned  that  their  portraits  are 
all  preserved  in  Guildhall  in  honour  of  patient  justice. 

Farther  down  Chancery  Lane,  on  the  same  side,  is  an 
old  dingy  courtyard  containing  the  Rolls  Court  and  Chapel. 
The  latter  was  originally  built  in  the  time  cf  Henry  III., 
but  rebuilt  by  Inigo  Jones  in  16 17,  when  Dr.  Donne 
preached  the  consecration  sermon.  Bishop  Atterbury  and 
Bishop  Butler  were  Preachers  at  the  Rolls,  and  also  Bishop 
Burnet,  who  was  dismissed  on  account  of  the  offence  given 


8a  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

to  King  and  Court,  by  his  preaching  a  sermon  here  on  the 
text,  "  Save  me  from  the  lion's  mouth ;  thou  hast  heard  me 
from  the  horns  of  the  unicorns." 

It  is  litde  known  that  within  the  walls  of  this  ugly  chapel 
is  one  of  the  noblest  pieces  of  sculpture  which  England 
possesses,  a  tomb  which  may  be  compared  for  beauty  with 
the  famous  monuments  of  Francesco  Albergati  at  Bologna, 


*&lck.$<! 


The  Torrcgiano  Tomb,  Rolls  Chapel. 


and  of  Bernardo  Guigni  in  the  Badia  at  Florence.  The 
visitor  will  at  once  be  struck  by  the  contrast  of  the  tomb 
of  Dr.  John  Young,  Master  of  the  Rolls  in  the  time  of 
Henry  VIII.,  with  the  usual  types  of  English  monuments. 
The  aged  Master  reposes  in  the  most  sublime  serenity  of 
death  upon  a  sarcophagus,  shaped  like  a  Florentine  "bride- 
chest,"  within   a  circular  arch,  on  the  back  of  which  the 


THE  ROLLS   CHAPEL.  81 

half  fgure  of  the  Saviour  rises  in  low  relief  between  two 
cherubim.  In  the  panel  of  the  pedestal  beneath  is  the  in- 
scription and  the  date  mdxvi.  The  whole  is  the  work  of  the 
immortal  Torregiano,  who  was  the  sculptor  of  Henry  VII. 's 
tomb,  and  words  would  fail  to  give  an  idea  of  the  infinite 
repose  which  he  has  here  given  to  the  venerable  features  of 
the  dead.  Another  stately  monument  on  the  same  side 
of  the  chapel  commemorates  Lord  Bruce  of  Kinloss  (1610), 
who  was  sent  to  open  a  secret  correspondence  with  Cecil, 
under  the  pretence  of  congratulating  Elizabeth  on  the 
failure  of  the  revolt  under  Lord  Essex,  and  who  was  after- 
wards rewarded  by  James  I.  with  the  Mastership  of  the 
Rolls.  In  front  kneel  his  four  children.  The  eldest  son, 
in  armour,  was  the  Lord  Bruce  of  Kinloss  who  was  killed 
in  a  duel  with  Sir  Edward  Sackville.  On  the  opposite  side 
of  the  altar  is  the  tomb  of  Sir  Richard  Ailington,  of  Horse- 
heath  ( 1 56 1)  :  he  kneels  with  his  wife  at  an  altar  on 
which  their  three  daughters  are  represented.  Amongst  other 
Masters  buried  here  are  Sir  John  Strange,  of  whom  Pennant 
gives  the  punning  epitaph — 

"  Here  lies  an  honest  lawyer,  that  is — Strange," 

and  Sir  John  Trevor,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
who  was  compelled  to  pronounce  his  own  conviction  and 
dismissal  for  bribery.  On  the  windows  are  the  arms  of 
Sir  Harbottle  Grimston  (1594 — 1683),  Master  of  the  Rolls. 

"  He  was  a  just  judge  :  very  slow,  and  ready  to  hear  any  thing  that 
was  offered,  without  passion  or  partiality.  He  was  a  very  pious  and 
devout  man,  and  spent  at  least  an  hour  in  the  morning  and  as  much 
at  night  in  prayer  and  meditation.  And  even  in  winter,  when  he  was 
obliged  to  be  very  early  on  the  bench,  he  took  care  to  rise  so  soon  that 
he  had  always  the  command  of  that  time,  which  he  gave  to  those 
exercises." — Bv.ruet. 


82 


WALK'S  IN  LONDON. 


Chichester  Rents,  the  name  of  a  wretched  court  on  the 
left  of  Chancery  Lane,  still  commemorates  the  town-house 
of  the  Bishops  of  Chichester,  built  in  1228  by  Bishop  Ralph 
Nevill,  Chancellor  in  the  time  of  Henry  III. 

On  the  left  of  the  lane  is  the  noble  brick  Gateway  of 
Lincoln's  fun,  bearing  the  date  15 18,  and  adorned  with  the 
arms  of  Sir  Thomas  Lovell,  by  whom  it   was  built  in  the 


Gateway,  Lincoln's  Inn. 


reign  of  Henry  VIII.  It  is  ornamented  by  inlaid  brickwork 
of  different  colours,  in  the  style  of  Hampton  Court,  and  is 
the  only  example  remaining  in  London,  except  the  gate  of 
St.  James's.  Stretching  along  the  front  of  the  Inn,  on  the 
interior,  are  a  number  of  curious  towers  and  gables  with 
pointed  doorways  and  Tudor  windows,  forming,  with  the 
chapel  opposite  upon  its  raised  arches,  one  of  the  most 
picturesque  architectural  groups  in  London.    It  is  upon  this 


LINCOLN'S  INN.  83 

gateway  that  Fuller  describes  Ben  Jonson  as  working  with 
his  Horace  in  one  hand,  and  a  trowel  in  the  other,  when 
"  some  gentlemen  pitying  that  his  parts  should  be  buried 
under  the  rubbish  of  so  mean  a  calling,  did  of  their  bounty 
manumize  him  freely  to  follow  his  own  ingenious  inclina- 
tions." But  the  generation  which  can  delight  in  the  Albert 
Hall  and  the  Albert  Memorial  has  no  admiration  to  spare 
for  these  grand  relics  of  architects  who  knew  their  business, 
and,  unless  opinion  speedily  interferes  to  protect  it,  the 
gateway  of  Lincoln's  Inn  will  share  the  fate  of  Northum- 
berland House,  the  Burlington  Portico,  and  the  Tabard, 
for  it  is  doomed  to  be  pulletl  down  ! 

The  name  Lincoln's  Inn  came  from  Henry  de  Lacy,  Earl  of 
Lincoln,  ob.  13 12,  whose  town-house  once  occupied  its  site. 
Its  courtyards  have  a  greater  look  of  antiquity  than  those 
01  the  Temple.  On  the  left  of  the  ground-floor,  at  No.  24 
in  the  "  Old  Buildings  "  were  the  rooms  of  Oliver  Cromwell's 
secretary  Thurloe  from  1645  to  1659,  where  his  correspond- 
ence was  discovered  behind  a  false  ceiling.  There  is  a 
tradition  that  the  Protector  came  thither  one  day  to  discuss 
with  Thurloe  the  plot  of  Sir  Richard  Willis  for  seizing 
the  persons  of  the  three  princes,  sons  of  Charles  I.  Having 
disclosed  his  plans,  he  discovered  Thurloe's  clerk  apparently 
asleep  upon  his  desk.  Fearing  treason,  he  would  have 
killed  him  on  the  spot,  but  Thurloe  prevented  him,  and 
after  passing  a  dagger  repeatedly  over  his  unflinching  coun- 
tenance he  was  satisfied  that  the  clerk  was  really  asleep. 
He  was  not  asleep,  however,  and  had  heard  everything, 
and  found  means  to  warn  the  princes. 

Two  of  the  old  gables  have  sun-dials  with  the  mottoes — 
"Qua  redit,  nescitis  horam," — "Ex  hoc  momento  pendet 


84 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


seternitas."  The  Perpendicular  Chapel,  at  the  right  of  the 
entrance,  was  built  from  designs  of  Inigo  Jones,  and  is 
raised  upon  arches,  which  form  a  kind  of  crypt,  open  at  the 
sides,  where  Pepys  went  "  to  walk  under  the  chapel,  by 
agreement."  The  stained  windows  are  remarkably  good  ; 
they  represent  different  saints,  and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  Archbishop   Laud   thought  it   odd   that  so  much 


Chapel  and  Gateway,  Lincoln's  Inn. 

abuse  should  be  raised  against  his  windows  at  Lambeth, 
while  these  passed  unnoticed,  yet  would  not  speak  of  it  lest 
he  should  "thereby  set  some  furious  spirit  on  work  to 
destroy  those  harmless  goodly  windows  to  the  just  dislike 
of  that  worthy  society."  The  chapel  bell  was  taken  by  the 
Earl  of  Essex,  at  Cadiz,  in  1596.  William  Prynne,  the 
Puritan,  was  buried  here.  Dr.  Donne,  Usher,  Tillotson, 
Warburton,  and  Heber  were   preachers   of  Lincoln's  Inn. 


LINCOLN'S  INN  FIELDS.  85 

In  the  porch  is  a  monument  to  Spencer  Perceval  (murdered 
May  11,  1 81 2),  Attorney-General  and  Treasurer  of  Lincoln's 

Inn. 

Crossing  one  end   of  the  old-fashioned    brick  square  of 

JSlew  Inn,  we  reach  a  handsome  group  of  brick  buildings  by 

Hardwicke,  1S43-45,  comprising  the  Hall  and  the  Library. 

In  the  former  are  a  great  fresco  by  G.  F.  Watts  (1854-59), 

representing  "  The  Origin  of  Legislation,"  Hogarth's  picture 

of  Paul  before  Felix,  and  a  fine  statue  of  Lord  Eldon  by 

Westmacott.     The    latter  contains  a  valuable  collection  of 

manuscripts,  chiefly  bequeathed  by  Sir  Matthew  Hale.    One 

of  the  curious  customs,  preserved  till  lately  at  Lincoln's 

Inn,  was   that  a  servant  went  to  the  outer  hall  door  and 

shouted   three  times  "  Venez   manger"   at   twelve  o'clock, 

when  there  was  nothing  on  the  table. 

The  ancient 

"  Walks  of  Lincoln's  Inn 
Under  the  elms," 

mentioned  by  Ben  Jonson  have  perished  ;  but  Lincoln's 
Inn  Fields,  "perplexed  and  troublous  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  the  Law,"  as  Dickens  calls  it,  is  still  the  largest  and 
shadiest  square  in  London,  and  was  laid  out  by  Inigo 
Jones.  Its  dimensions  have  been  erroneously  stated  to 
be  the  same  as  those  of  the  great  pyramid,  which  are  much 
larger.  The  square  was  only  railed  off  in  1735,  and  till 
then  bore  a  very  evil  reputation.     Gay  says — 

"  Where  Lincoln's  Inn,  wide  space,  is  rail'd  around, 
Cross  not  with  venturous  step  ;  there  oft  is  found 
The  lurking  thief,  who,  while  the  daylight  shone, 
Made  the  walls  echo  with  his  begging  tone  : 
That  crutch,  which  late  compassion  mov'd,  shall  wound 
Thy  bleeding  head,  and  lell  thee  to  the  ground. 


86  WALK'S  IN  LONDON. 

Though  thou  art  tempted  by  the  linkman's  call, 
Yet  trust  him  not  along  the  lonely  wall ; 
In  the  mid-way  he'll  quench  the  flaming  brand, 
And  share  the  booty  with  the  pilfering  band, 
Still  keep  the  public  streets  where  oily  rays 
Shot  from  the  crystal  lamp  o'erspread  the  ways." 

It  was  here  (Sept.  20  and  21,  1586)  that  Babington  and 
other  conspirators  for  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  were  '•  hanged, 
bowelled,  and  quartered,  even  in  the  place  where  they  used 
to  meet  and  conferre  of  their  traiterous  purposes."  Here, 
also,  the  brave  and  upright  William,  Lord  Russell,  unjustly 
suffered  for  alleged  high  treason,  attended  by  Tillot^on  and 
Burnet  on  the  scaffold. 

"  His  whole  behaviour  looked  like  a  triumph  over  death.  .  .  .  He 
parted  with  his  lady  with  a  composed  silence  :  and  as  soon  as  she  was 
gone,  he  said  to  me,  '  The  bitterness  of  death  is  passed  ;'  for  he  loved 
and  esteemed  her  beyond  expression,  as  she  well  deserved  it  in  all  re- 
spects. She  had  the  command  of  herself  so  much  that  at  parting  she 
gave  him  no  disturbance.  .  .  .  Some  of  the  crowd  that  filled  the 
streets  wept,  while  others  insulted  ;  he  was  touched  with  the  tender- 
ness that  the  one  gave  him,  but  did  not  seem  at  all  provoked  by  the 
other.  He  was  singing  psalms  a  great  part  of  the  way ;  and  said,  he 
hoped  to  sing  better  very  soon.  As  he  observed  the  great  crowds  of 
people  all  the  way,  he  said,  I  hope  I  shall  quickly  see  a  much  better 
assembly.  .  .  .  He  laid  his  head  on  the  block,  without  the  least  change 
of  countenance  :   and  it  was  cut  off  at  two  strokes." — Burnet. 

On  the  north  side  of  the  square,  beyond  the  handsome 
Inns  of  Court  Hotel,  is  (No.  13)  the  eccentric  Soa?ie  Mu- 
seum, formed  in  his  own  house  and  bequeathed  to  the 
nation  by  Sir  John  Soane  {pb.  1837),  who  was  the  son  of  a 
bricklayer  at  Reading,  but,  bei'-'g  distinguished  as  a  student 
in  the  Royal  Academy,  and  sent  to  Rome  with  the  Academy 
pension,  lived  to  become  the  architect  of  the  Bank  of  Eng- 
land.     The  museum,  which  Mrs.  Jameson  calls  "  a  fairy 


THE  SOANE  MUSEUM.  87 

palace  of  virtu"  was  especially  intended  by  its  founder  to 
illustrate  the  artistic  and  instructive  purposes  to  which  it  is 
possible  to  devote  an  English  private  residence,  and  is 
open  to  the  public  from  ten  to  four  on  Wednesdays,  Thurs- 
days, and  Fridays.  Few  people  know  of  it,  and  fewer  visit  it, 
which  is  much  to  be  regretted,  since,  though,  as  Dr.  Waagen 
says,  the  over-crowded  and  labyrinthine  house  leaves  an 
impression  as  of  a  feverish  dream,  it  contains,  together  with 
much  rubbish,  several  most  interesting  pictures. 

Room  I. 

Sir J.  Reynolds.     "The  Snake  in  the  Grass"  or  "Love  unloosing 
the  zone  of  Beauty" — bought  at  the  Marchioness  of  Thomond's  sale 
In  very  bad  condition. 

Sir  T.  Lawrence.     Portrait  of  Sir  John  Soane. 

Room  II.— {Right) 

Canaletto.  The  Grand  Canal  at  Venice — a  glorious  picture,  full  of 
light  and  air,  with  sparkling  waves  and  animated  figures — so  different 
to  the  wooden  abortions  usually  attributed  to  this  injured  artist,  that 
few  can  be  said  to  have  made  his  acquaintance,  who  have  not  looked 
upon  it.     From  the  Fonthill  collection. 

Hogarth.     The  Election.     A  series  of  four  pictures. 

1.  The  Entertainment.  It  is  the  end  of  the  feast.  The  mayor  is 
seized  with  apoplexy  from  a  surfeit  of  oysters  and  the  barber  is 
bleeding  him  in  vain.  A  candidate  is  flattering  an  old  woman.  A 
crowd  of  the  opposing  faction  have  thrown  brickbats  into  the  room, 
one  of  which  has  struck  a  lawyer  on  the  head.  A  virago  resents  the 
refusal  of  a  bribe  by  her  tailor  husband,  whose  son  exhibits  his  nee<! 
of  it  by  showing  his  worn-out  shoe. 

2.  The  Canvassing.  Bribery  is  exhibited  in  all  its  forms.  In  the 
background  is  the  Excise  Office.  Hogarth's  quaint  wit  is  shown  in 
the  man  at  the  end  of  the  beam  to  which  the  crown  is  suspended, 
busily  engaged  in  sawing  it  down,  forgetful  that  he  must  fall  with  it. 

3.  The  Polling.  The  rival  candidates  are  seated  in  a  booth  to 
receive  votes.  A  Chelsea  pensioner  is  objected  to  by  a  lawyer, 
because  he  cannot  lay  his  right  hand,  but  only  a  stump,  on  the  book. 
A  man  is  bawling  into  the  ear  of  another  who  is  deaf  the  uauie  of  the 


88  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

person  he  is  to  vote  for.  A  dying  man  is  carried  to  vote  in  blankets. 
In  the  background  is  Britannia  upsetting  in  her  coach,  while  hei 
servants  are  playing  cards  on  the  box. 

4.  The  Chairing  of  the  Successful  Candidate .  The  new  Member, 
represented  by  Bubb  Doddington,  is  in  danger  of  being  upset  in  his  chair, 
one  of  his  bearers  having  had  his  head  broken  by  the  club  of  a  country- 
man who  is  fighting  with  a  Greenwich  pensioner.  The  tailor  of  the 
former  scene  is  beaten  by  his  wife ;  an  old  woman  is  thrown  down 
amongst  the  pigs.  In  the  midst  of  the  confusion  the  cooks  are  carrying 
in  the  dinners. 

"  Hogarth  painted  life  as  he  saw  it.  He  gives  no  visions  of  by-gone 
things— no  splendid  images  of  ancient  manners  ;  he  regards  neither  the 
historian's  page  nor  the  poet's  song.  He  was  contented  with  the 
occurrences  of  the  passing  day — with  the  folly  or  the  vice  of  the  hour; 
to  the  garb  and  fashion  of  the  moment,  however,  he  adds  story  aid 
sentiment  for  all  time." — Allan  Cunningham. 

Room  III. — {Breakfast  Room.) 

Francesco  Goma.     Portrait  of  Napoleon,  1797. 
Isabey.     Miniature  of  Napoleon,  painted  at  Elba. 

Upper  Floor. 

Hogarth.     The  Rake's  Progress,  a  series  of  eight  pictures. 

1.  The  Rake  comes  into  his  Fortune.  The  accumulations  of  the 
relation  whose  fortune  he  has  inherited  are  displayed,  while  the  starved 
cat  and  the  woman  bringing  chips  to  the  empty  grate  refer  to  the 
penury  in  which  the  miser  has  lived.  The  heir,  an  empty-headed  lout, 
is  being  measured  for  fine  clothes.  A  girl  whom  he  has  seduced, 
accompanied  by  her  mother,  with  her  lap  full  of  love-letters,  vainly 
seeks  the  fulfilment  of  his  promises.  A  villainous  attorney,  who  has 
been  employed  in  making  an  inventory,  is  stealing  a  bag  of  gold  from 
the  table. 

2.  The  Levee  of  the  Rake.  His  chamber  is  crowded  with  syco- 
phants, and  persons  seeking  his  patronage.  Amongst  the  portraits 
introduced  are  those  of  Dubois  the  fencing-master,  Figg  the  prize- 
fighter, and  Bridgeman  the  king's  gardener. 

3.  The  Orgies  of  the  Rake.  A  woman  picks  the  pocket  of  the 
drunken  rake  of  his  watch  which  she  hands  to  an  accomplice.  On 
the  floor  are  the  lanthorn  and  staff  of  a  watchman  with  whom  he  has 
been  fighting.  Everything  indicates  the  most  vicious  dissipation. 
The  harlot  in  the  background,  setting  fire  to  the  world,  is  peculiarly 
Hogarthian. 


THE  SOANE   MUSEUM.  8<J 

4.  The  Arrest  of  the  Rake.  He  is  arrested  in  his  sedan  chair,  when 
he  is  going  to  court  on  the  queen's  birthday,  indicated  by  the  leek  in 
the  Welshman's  cocked  hat  (St.  David's  Day  being  the  birthday  of 
Queen  Caroline).  St.  James's  Palace  is  seen  in  the  background,  with 
White's  Chocolate  House,  where  the  Rake  has  probably  completed 
his  ruin  at  the  gaming-table.  The  lamplighter,  while  gaping  at  the 
acene  beneath,  lets  his  oil  stream  down  on  the  Rake's  peruke.  A 
touch  of  human  sympathy  is  shown  in  the  neglected  girl  of  the  first 
picture,  who  appears  here  as  having  redeemed  the  past,  and  who, 
accidentally  seeing  her  faithless  lover  in  trouble,  offers  her  purse  to 
save  him. 

5.  The  Marriage  of  the  Rake.  Discharged  by  the  assistance  of  the 
girl  he  has  injured,  the  Rake  again  deserts  her  to  redeem  his  fortunes 
by  marrying  a  hideous  but  rich  old  woman.  While  placing  the  ring 
upon  her  finger,  ht  leers  at  her  maid  in  the  background.  The 
neglected  girl  and  her  mother  try  to  forbid  the  marriage,  but  are 
ejected  from  the  church  by  the  pew-opener.  The  absurdity  of  the 
courtship  is  parodied  in  that  of  the  two  dogs  in  the  background.  The 
scene  is  the  old  Church  of  Marylebone,  then  (1735)  in  the  country  and 
the  resort  of  couples  seeking  to  be  privately  married-  the  Command- 
ments are  cracked  across,  the  Creed  is  effaced,  the  poor-box  is  covered 
with  cobwebs  ;  all  is  significant. 

6.  The  Rake  at  the  Gambling  Table.  At  White's  (where  the  inci- 
dent of  the  fire  pourtrayed  here  really  occurred  in  1 733),  the  Rake 
loses  the  second  fortune  for  which  he  has  sold  himself. 

7.  The  Rake  ?n  Prison.  The  Rake  is  seated  in  despair,  his  wife  is 
cursing  him  ;  only  the  girl  whose  early  affections  he  won,  remains  kind, 
and  comes  to  visit  him,  but  faints  on  seeing  his  misery.  A  rejected 
tragedy  by  which  he  has  tried  to  obtain  money  lies  upon  the  table. 
In  contrast  to  this  scene  of  poverty,  an  alchemyst  is  at  work  in  the 
background. 

8.  The  Rake  in  Bedlam.  Having  reached  the  last  stage  of  degrada- 
tion, we  see  the  Rake,  naked  and  shaven,  still  sustained  by  the  one 
friend  who  has  refused  to  desert  him.  All  phases  of  madness— the 
man  who  thinks  himself  an  astronomer  -  the  man  who  thinks  himself  a 
king,  the  melancholy  madness  of  religion,  the  simpering  idiocy  of  love 
— are  introduced  ;  and  to  visit  and  ridicule  them,  as  was  then  per- 
mitted, come  two  fine  ladies. 

The   other   pictures   here    are    unimportant.     We    may 
notice — 

Turner.     Van  Tramp's  barge  entering  the  lexel. 


9o  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

W.  Hilton  (1786  — 1839).     Marc  Antony  reading  Caesar's  will. 
Sir  C.  Eastlake  (1793- 1865).     The  Cave  of  Despair. 

In  the  dimly-lit  under  chambers,  surrounded  by  an  extra- 
ordinary and  heterogeneous  collection,  is  the  magnificent 
sarcophagus  of  Osiris,  father  of  Rameses  the  Great,  dis- 
covered by  Belzoni  (181 6)  in  the  valley  of  Behan  el 
Malook.  It  is  covered  with  hieroglyphics,  anil  is  cut  out 
of  a  single  block  of  the  substance  called  by  mineralogists 
aragonite. 

The  beautifully  illuminated  manuscripts  of  this  museum  are 
well  deserving  of  study,  the  finest  being  the  Commentary 
on  St.  Paul's  Epistles  by  Cardinal  Marino  Grimani,  Patri- 
arch of  Aquileja,  with  exquisite  miniatures  by  Giulio 
Clovio.  Amongst  other  literary  curiosities  preserved 
here,  is  the  original  MS.  of  the  Gerusalemme  Liberata 
of  Tasso. 

At  the  north-western  corner  of  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields  is 
Newcastle  House  (with  a  double  staircase  to  its  entrance), 
built  in  16S6  by  the  Marquis  of  Powis,  who  followed  James II. 
into  exile,  and  was  created  Duke  of  Powis  by  him.  It  was 
inhabited  by  the  insignificant  prime  minister  of  George  II. 's 
reign,  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  of  whom  Lord  Wilming- 
ton said,  "  he  loses  half  an  hour  every  morning,  and  runs 
after  it  all  the  rest  of  the  day,  without  being  able  to  over- 
take it."  Now  it  is  occupied  by  the  Society  for  the 
Promotion  of  Christian  Knowledge. 

In  Greai  Queen  Street,  which  leads  from  hence  into  Long 
Acre,  Lord  Herbert  of  Cherbury  lived,  and  wrote  the  first 
part  of  his  "  De  Veritate," — "justly  deemed  inimical  to 
every  positive  ■religion."  * 

•  Halkira,  "Lit.  Hist,  of  I  urope." 


LINDSEY  HOUSE.  91 

"  In  Great  Queen  Street  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller  lived  next  door  to  Dr. 

Ratcliffe  ;  Kneller  was  fond  of  flowers,  and  had  a  fine  collection.  As 
there  was  great  intimacy  between  him  and  the  physician,  he  permitted 
the  latter  to  have  a  door  into  his  garden,  but  Ratcliffe's  servants 
gathering  and  destroying  the  flowers,  Kneller  sent  him  word  he  must 
shut  the  door.  Ratcliffe  replied  peevishly,  '  Tell  him  he  may  do 
anything  with  it  but  paint  it.'— '  And  I,'  answered  Sir  Godfrey, 
'can  take  anything  from  him  but  physic.'" — Walpole 's  Anecdotes  of 
Painting. 

Nos.  55  and  56  are  good  specimens  of  street  house  archi- 
tecture. The  fleur  de  lis,  which  till  lately  might  be  seen 
on  the  fronts  of  some  of  the  houses  on  the  south  of  Great 
Queen  Street,  was  in  compliment  to  Henrietta-Maria,  after 
whom  it  was  named. 

On  the  west  side  of  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  No.  59, 
Litidsey House,  afterwards  Ancaster  House  (marked  by  its  little 
semi-circular  portico),  was  built  by  Robert  Bertie,  Earl  of 
Lindsey,  Charles  the  First's  general,  who  fell  in  the  battle 
of  Edgehill.  Close  to  a  low  massive  archway,  leading 
into  Duke  Street,  is  the  Sardinian  Chapel,  built  in 
1648,  the  year  before  Charles  I.  was  beheaded,  being  the 
oldest  foundation  now  in  the  hands  of  Roman  Catholics 
in  London.  It  was  partially  destroyed  in  the  Gordon 
Riots,  when  Protestantism  hung  a  cat  dressed  in  priestly 
vestments  to  the  lamp-post  in  front  of  it,  with  the  holy 
wafer  in  its  paws.  It  is  the  church  frequented  by  the 
Savoyard  organ  boys  win  >  live  on  Saffron  Hill. 

In  a  house  opposite  the  chapel  Benjamin  Franklin  lived 
in  1725,  when  he  was  a  journeyman  printer  in  the  office  of 
Mr.  Watts  in  Great  Wild  Street.  He  lodged  with  a  Roman 
Catholic  widow  lady  and  her  daughter,  to  whom  he  paid  a. 
rent  of  3s.  6d.  a  week.  When  kept  at  home  by  the  gout 
he  was  frequently  asked  to  spend  the  evenings  with  his 


93  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

landlady.  "Our  supper,"  he  says  in  his  autobiography, 
"  was  only  half  an  anchovy  each,  on  a  very  little  slice  ol 
bread  and  butter,  and  half  a  pint  of  ale  between  us :  but 
the  entertainment  was  in  her  conversation."  In  the  upper 
floor  of  the  same  house  lived — on  water-gruel  only — a 
Roman  Catholic  maiden  lady  of  fortune,  as  if  in  a  nunnery, 
spending  ^na  year  on  herself,  and  giving  away  all  the 
rest  of  her  estate.  While  he  worked  in  Great  Wild  Street, 
Franklin  relates  that  he  only  drank  water,  while  the  other 
workmen,  some  fifty  in  number,  were  great  beer-drinkers ; 
but  he  used  to  be  much  stronger,  and  could  carry  far 
greater  weights  than  his  companions,  which  greatly  excited 
their  surprise  against  him  whom  they  called  the  "  Water- 
American." 

[Great  Wild  Street  (right)  takes  its  name  from  Humphrey 
Wild,  Lord  Mayor  in  1608.  Wild  House  was  afterwards 
the  Spanish  Embassy,  and  the  ambassador  escaped  with 
difficulty  by  its  back  door  in  the  anti-papal  riots  under 
James  II.  The  site  of  the  house  is  now  occupied  by  a 
Baptist  Chapel,  where  a  sermon  is  annually  preached  on 
the  great  storm  of  Nov.  26,  1763,  in  which  more  than  800 
houses  were  laid  in  ruins  in  London  alone. 

Duke  Street  and  Prince's  Street  lead  into  Drury  Lane, 
one  of  the  great  arteries  of  the  parish  of  St.  Clement  Danes, 
an  aristocratic  part  of  London  in  the  time  of  the  Stuarts.* 
It  takes  its  name  from  Drury  House,  built  by  Sir  William 
Drury  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  From  the  Drurys  it  passed 
into  the  hands  of  William,  Lord  Craven,  who  (the  grandson 
of  a  Yorkshire  carrier's  boy  who  rose  to  be  Lord  Mayor)  was 
so   celebrated    in    the   wars    of  Gustavus   Adolphus.     He 

*  ihe  Ducness  cf  Ormond  was  living  in  Great  Wild  Street  in  1655. 


DRURY  LANE. 


93 


rebuilt  Drury  House,  which  was  for  a  short  time  the  resi- 
dence of  the  unfortunate  Elizabeth,  Queen  of  Bohemia,  to 
whom  he  always  showed  the  most  chivalrous  devotion,  and 
who  is  sometimes  believed  to  have  become  his  wife,,  though 
twelve  years  his  senior.  Here  he  heroically  staid  during 
the  great  Plague,  which  began  in  Drury  Lane,  and,  at  the 
hazard  of   his    life,   assisted   in   preserving    order    amidst 


The  Old  House  in  Drury  Lane. 


the  terrors  of  the  time.  He  is  still  commemorated  in 
Craven  JSui/dings,  where  a  fresco,  now  quite  obliterated, 
long  represented  him,  riding  on  his  white  charger.  Near 
the  entrance  of  Drury  Lane  from  the  Strand,  on  the  left,  an 
old  house,  now  a  Mission  House,  still  exists,  which  stood  in 
the  Lane,  with  the  old  house  of  the  Drurys,  before  the 
street  was  built. 


94  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Aubrey  mentions  that  the  Duchess  of  Albemarle,  wife  of 
General  Monk,  was  daughter  of  one  of  the  five  female 
barbers  of  Drury  Lane,  celebrated  in  the  ballad— 

*'  Did  you  ever  hear  the  like, 
Or  ever  hear  the  fame, 
Of  five  women  barbers 

That  lived  in  Drury  Lane  ?  " 

This  was  the  "  plain  and  homely  dowdy  " — the  "  ill-look'd 
woman"  of  Pepys.  The  respectability  of  Drury  Lane 
began  to  wane  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and 
Gay's  lines, 

"  Oh  may  thy  virtue  guard  thee  through  the  roads 
Of  Drury's  mazy  courts  and  dark  abodes  !  " 

are  still  as  applicable  as  when  they  were  written. 

Drury  Lane  Theatre  was  first  opened  in  1674  with  an 
address  by  Dryden,  who  extolled  the  advantages  of  its  then 
country-situation  over  those  of  "the  Duke's  Theatre"  in 
Dorset  Gardens — 

"  Our  House  relieves  the  ladies  from  the  frights 
Of  ill-paved  streets  and  long  dark  winter  nights." 

The  burning  of  the  theatre  (Feb.  24,  1809)  is  ren- 
dered memorable  by  the  publication  of  the  "  Rejected 
Addresses,"  *  the  famous  jeu  d'esprit  of  James  and  Horace 
Smith,  the  "  very  best  imitations,"  says  Lord  Jeffrey  (and 
often  of  difficult  originals),  "that  ever  were  made,"  .but  ot 
which  Murray  refused  to  buy  the  copyright  for  ,£20.] 

At  the  south-west  angle  of  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  Ports- 
mouth House,  built  by  Inigo  Jones  for  the  Earl  of  Ports- 

•  Supposed  to  have  been  presented  for  competition  at  the  opening  of  the  new 
house- 


COLLEGE   OF  SURGEONS.  95 

mouth,  has  given  a  name  to  Portsmouth  Street.  Here  the 
Black  Jack  Public  house  was  long  called  "The  Jump," 
from  Jack  Sheppard  having  escaped  his  pursuers  by  jump- 
ing from  a  window  on  its  first  floor. 

[Portsmouth  Street  leads  into  Portugal  Street  (named  in 
honour  of  Catherine  of  Braganza),  where  King's  College  Hos- 
pital and  its  surroundings  have  obliterated  the  recollections 
and  annihilated  the  grave-stones  of  the  Burial  Ground  of 
St.  Clement  Danes,  where  Nathaniel  Lee,  the  bombastic 
dramatist  (1657-1692),  author  of  "  Sophonisba "  and 
"  Gloriana,"  was  buried,  having  been  killed  in  a  drunken 
street  brawl.  Here  also  was  the  monument  with  an  inter- 
esting epitaph  to  "Honest  Joe  Miller,"  the  "Father  of 
Jokes  "  (16S4-1 738).  The  neighbouring  Carey  Street  takes 
its  name  from  the  house  of  Sir  George  Carey,  1655.] 

On  the  south  side  of  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields  is  the  College 
0/  Surgeons,  built  by  C.  Barry,  1835.  It  has  a  fine  library 
in  which  the  cartoon  for  Hogarth's  picture  of  the  grant  of 
the  charter  to  the  Barber-Surgeons  is  preserved.  In  the 
Council  Room  is  an  admirable  portrait  of  John  Hunter 
{ob.  1792),  the  chief  benefactor  of  the  College,  by  Reynolds. 
There  are  several  good  busts  by  Chantrey. 

The  Museum  (right  of  entrance)  was  founded  by  and  is 
chiefly  due  to  the  exertions  of  Hunter  ;  and  "  was  intended 
to  illustrate,  as  far  as  possible,  the  whole  subject  of  life,  by 
preparations  of  the  bodies  in  which  its  phenomena  are 
represented."  The  skeleton  of  the  elephant  Chunee, 
brought  to  England  in  1S10,  is  preserved  here.  It  is 
12  feet  4  inches  in  height. 

If  we  follow  Chancery  Lane  into  Holborn,  a  loner  series 
of  gables  of   the  time    of  James    I.    breaks    the   sky    line 


o6 


WALKS  IN  LONDON". 


upon  the  right,  and  beneath  them  is  a  grand  old  house, 
following  the  bend  of  the  street  with  its  architecture,  pro- 
jecting more  and  more  boldly  in  every  story,  broken  by 
i.inumerable  windows  of  quaint  design  and  intention,  and 
with  an  arched  doorway  in  the  centre.  This  is  the  entrance 
to  Staple  Inn,  originally  a  hostelry  of  the  merchants  of 
the  Wool  Staple,  who  were  removed  to  Westminster  by 
Richard  II.  in   1378.     It  became  an  Inn  of  Chancery  in 


Staple  Inn,  Holborn. 


the  reign  of  Henry  V.,  and  since  the  time  of  Henry  VIII. 
has  been  a  dependency  of  Gray's  Inn. 

"  Behind  the  most  ancient  part  of  Holborn,  where  certain  gabled 
houses  some  centuries  of  age  still  stand  looking  on  the  public  way,  as  if 
disconsolately  looking  for  the  Old  Bourne. that  has  long  since  run 
dry,  is  a  little  nook  composed  of  two  irregular  quadrangles,  called 
Staple  Inn.  It  is  one  of  those  nooks,  the  turning  into  which  out  of 
the  clashing  street  imparts  to  the  relieved  pedestrian  the  sensation  of 
having  put  cotton  in  his  ears,  and  velvet  soles  on  his  boots.  It  is  one 
of  those  nooks  where  a  few  smoky  sparrows  twitter  in  smoky  trees,  as 
though  they  called  to  each  other,  '  let  us  play  at  country  ; '  and  where 


STAPLE  INN.  97 

a  lew  feet  of  garden  mould  and  a  few  yards  of  gravel  enable  them  to  do 
that  refreshing  violence  to  their  tiny  understandings.  Moreover  it  is 
one  of  those  nooks  which  are  legal  nooks ;  and  it  contains  a  little  hall, 
with  a  little  lantern  in  its  roof:  to  what  obstructive  purposes  devoted, 
and  at  whose  expense,  this  history  knoweth  not."— Dickens — Edwin 
Drood. 

Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  in  his  fijst  visit  to  London, 
says — 

"  I  went  astray  in  Holborn  through  an  arched  entrance,  over  which 
was  'Staple  Inn,'  and  here  likewise  seemed  to  be  offices ;  but,  in  a 
court  opening  inwards  from  this,  there  was  a  surrounding  seclusion  of 
quiet  dwelling-houses,  with  beautiful  green  shrubbery  and  grass-plots 
in  the  court,  and  a  great  many  sun-flowers  in  full  bloom.  The  windows 
Were  open  ;  it  was  a  lovely  summer  afternoon,  and  I  have  a  sense  that 
bees  were  humming  in  the  court,  though  this  may  have  been  suggested 
by  my  fancy,  because  the  sound  would  have  been  so  well  suited  to  the 
scene.  A  boy  was  reading  at  one  of  the  windows.  There  was  not  a 
quieter  spot  in  England  than  this,  and  it  was  very  strange  to  have 
drifted  into  it  so  suddenly  out  of  the  bustle  and  rumble  of  Holborn ; 
and  to  lose  all  this  repose  as  suddenly,  on  passing  through  the  arch  of 
the  outer  court.  In  all  the  hundreds  of  years  since  London  was  built, 
it  has  not  been  able  to  sweep  its  roaring  tide  over  that  little  island  of 
qaiet." 

Beyond  the  miniature  Hall — eminently  picturesque,  with 
its  high  timber  roof  and  lanthorn,  its  stained  windows 
and  ancient  portraits  and  busts  of  the  Caesars — ir,  a  second 
court  containing  some  admirable  modern  buildings  on  a 
raised  terrace  (by  Whig  and  Poumall,  1843),  of  the  archi- 
tecture of  James  I.,  devoted  to  the  offices  of  the  taxing 
masters  in  Chancery.  It  was  to  Staple  Inn  that  Dr.  John- 
son removed  from  Gough  Square,  and  here  that — to  pay  the 
expenses  of  his  mother's  funeral  and  fulfil  the  few  debts  she 
left  behind  her — he  wrote,  what  he  described  to  Miss  Porter 
as  a  little  story-book — i.e.  his  "  Rasselas." 

A    little   lower  down  on  the   same  side  of  Holborn   a 

vol.  1.  H 


98  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

passage  under  a  public-house  forms  the  humble  entrance  to 
Barnard's  Inn,  a  little  Inn  of  Chancery  belonging  to  Gray's 
Inn.  Again,  there  are  tiny  courts  with  a  single  tree  growing 
in  them,  and  flowers  lining  the  window  sills,  divided  by  a 
tiny  hall  witl"  a  baby  lanthorn,  and  a  line  of  quaint  windows 
decorated  by  coats  o&arms  ana  set  in  a  timber  framework. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  is  FurnivaVs  Inn, 
which  was  called  after  a  Sir  William  Furnival,  who  once 
owned  the  land.  It  was  an  Inn  of  Chancery  attached  to 
Lincoln's  Inn.  Its  buildings  are  shown  by  old  prints  to 
have  been  exceedingly  stately,  and  were  for  the  most  part 
pulled  down  in  the  time  of  Charles  I.,  and  it  was  entirely 
rebuilt  in  1818.  A  statue  of  Henry  Peto,  1830,  stands  in 
the  modern  courtyard.  Sir  Thomas  More  was  a  "  reader  " 
of  Furnival's  Inn,  and  Dickens  was  residing  here  when  he 
began  his  "  Pickwick  Papers." 

Very  near  this  was  Scroope's  Inn,  described  by  Stow  as 
one  of  the  "faire  buildings"  which  stood  on  the  north 
side  of  "  Old  Borne  Hill,"  above  the  bridge.  It  belonged 
to  the  Serjeants  at  Law,  but  is  entirely  destroyed. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  close  to  where  St. 
Andrew's  Church  now  stands,  was  Thavie's  Inn,  the  most 
ancient  of  all  the  Inns  of  Court,  which  in  the  time  of 
Edward  III.  was  the  "hospitium"  of  John  Thavie,  an 
armourer,  and  leased  by  him  to  the  "Apprentices  of  the 
Law."  Its  buildings  were  destroyed  by  fire  at  the  end  of 
the  last  century. 

Gray's  Inn  Lane  leads  from  the  north  of  Holborn  to 
Gray's  Inn,  which  is  the  fourth  Inn  of  Court  in  importance. 
It  derives  its  name  from  the  family  of  Gray  de  Wilton,  to 
which  it  formerly  belonged.     Its  vast  pink-red  court,  with 


GRAY'S  INN.  99 

the  steep  roofs  and  small-paned  windows  which  recall 
French  buildings,  still  contains  a  handsome  hall  of  1560, 
in  which,  on  all  festal  meetings,  the  only  toast  proposed  is 
"  the  glorious,  pious,  and  immortal  memory  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth," by  whom  the  members  of  Gray's  Inn  were  always 
treated  with  great  distinction. 

Sir  William  Gascoigne,  the  just  judge  who  committed 
Henry  V.  as  Prince  of  Wales  to  prison  for  contempt  of 
court;  Cromwell,  Karl  of  Essex;  Bishop  Gardiner ;  .Lord 
Burleigh ;  Sir  Nicholas  Bacon,  and  the  great  Lord  Bacon, 
were  members  of  Gray's  Inn,  as  were  Archbishop  Whitgilt, 
Bishop  Hall,  and  Archbishop  Laud.  Lord  Bacon  wrote 
the  "  Novum  Organum "  here,  a  work  which,  in  spite  of 
King  James,  who  declared  it  was  "  like  the  peace  of  God 
which  passeth  all  understanding,"  was  welcomed  with  a 
tumult  of  applause  by  all  the  learned  men  of  Europe.  Dr. 
Richard  Sibbes,  who  wrote  the  "  Soul's  Conflict "  and  the 
"  Bruised  Reed,"  was  a  Preacher  in  this  Inn,  and  died 
here  in  one  of  the  courts — he  of  whom  Dr.  Doddridge 
wrote — 

"  Of  this  blest  man  let  this  just  praise  be  given, 
Heaven  was  in  him  before  he  was  in  Heaven." 


"  Gray's  Inn  is  a  great  quiet  domain,  quadrangle  beyond  quadrangle, 
close  beside  Ilolborn,  and  a  large  space  of  greensward  enclosed  within 
it.  It  is  very  strange  to  find  so  much  of  ancient  quietude  right  in  the 
monster  city's  very  jaws,  which  yet  the  monster  shall  not  eat  up— right 
in  its  very  belly,  indeed,  which  yet,  in  all  these  ages,  it  shall  not  digest 
and  convert  into  the  same  substance  as  the  rest  of  its  bustling  streets. 
N  hing  else  in  London  is  so  like  the  effect  of  a  spell,  as  to  pass 
under  one  of  these  archways,  and  find  yourself  transported  from  the 
jumble,  rush,  tumult,  uproar,  as  of  an  age  of  week-days  condensed  into 
the  present  hour,  into  what  seems  an  eternal  Sabbath." — Hawthorne. 
English  Note  Books. 


ioo  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Gray's  Inn  is  described  by  Dickens  in  "  The  Uncom 
mercial  Traveller."  The  trees  in  Graves  Inn  Gardens 
(now  closed  to  the  public)  were  originally  planted  by  Lord 
Bacon,  but  none  remain  of  his  time.  On  the  west  side  of 
the  gardens  "  Lord  Bacon's  Mount "  stood  till  lately, 
answering  to  his  recommendation  in  his  "  Essay  on 
Gardens" — "a  mount  of  some  pretty  height,  leaving  the 
wall  of  the  enclosure  breast  high,  to  look  abroad  into  the 
fields."  These  gardens  were  a  fashionable  promenade  of 
Charles  II. 's  time.     Pepys,  writing  in  May,  1662,  says — 

"  When  church  was  done,  my  wife  and  I  walked  to  Graye's  Inne,  to 
observe  the  fashions  of  the  ladies,  because  of  my  wile's  making  some 
clothes." 

In  1621  Howell  wrote  of  them  as  "the  pleasantest 
place  about  London,  with  the  choicest  society,"  and  the 
Tatler  and  the  Spectator  thus  speak  of  them.  In  their 
days,  however,  it  will  be  remembered  that  Gray's  Inn 
was  almost  in  the  country,  for  we  read  in  the  Spectator 
(No.  269)— 

"  I  was  no  sooner  come  into  Gray's  Inn  Walks,  but  I  heard  my 
friend  (Sir  Roger  de  Coverley)  upon  the  terrace,  hemming  twice  or 
thrice  to  himself  with  great  vigour,  for  he  loves  to  clear  his  pipes  in 
good  air  (to  make  use  of  his  own  phrase)  and  is  not  a  little  pleased 
with  any  one  who  takes  notice  of  the  strength  which  he  still  exerts  in 
his  morning  hems." 

The  characteristics  of  the  four  Inns  of  Court  are  summed 
up  in  the  discicn — 

"  Gray's  Inn  for  walks,  Lincoln's  Inn  for  wall, 

The  Inner  Temple  for  a  garden,  and  the  Middle  for  a  hall." 


CHAPTER  III. 
BY  FLEET  STREET  TO  ST.  PAUL'S. 

ON  passing  the  site  of  Temple  Bar  we  are  in  the  City 
of  London.  It  separates  the  City  from  the  Shire, 
in  allusion  to  which  "Shire  Lane"  (destroyed  by  the  New 
Law  Courts)  was  the  nearest  artery  on  its  north-western 
side.  We  enter  Fleet  Street,  which,  like  Fleet  Market  and 
Fleet  Ditch,  takes  its  name  from  the  once  rapid  and  clear, 
but  now  fearfully  polluted  river  Fleet,  which  has  its  source 
far  away  in  the  breezy  heights  of  Hampstead,  and  flows 
through  the  valley  where  Farringdon  Street  now  is,  in  which 
it  once  turned  the  mills  which  are  still  commemorafed  in 
Turnmill  Street.  Originally  (1218)  it  was  called  the  "  River 
of  Wells,"  being  fed  by  the  clear  springs  now  known  as 
Sadler's  Wells,  Bagnigge  Wells,  and  the  Clerks'  Well  or 
Clerkenwell,  and  it  was  navigable  for  a  short  distance. 
The  river  was  ruined  as  the  town  extended  westwards. 
Ben  Jonson  graphically  describes  in  verse  the  horrors  to 
which  the  increasing  traffic  had  subjected  the  still  open 
Fleet  in  his  day,  and  Gay,  Swift,  and  Pope  also  denounce 
them;  but  in  1765  the  stream  was  arched  over,  and 
since    then    has   sunk  to    the    level    of    being   recognised 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

RANT  A   RAHRARA    C.riF  1  EY2W  TIUDiDV 


102  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

as   the   most    important    sewer — the   Cloaca    Maxima — of 
London. 

Having  always  been  considered  as  the  chief  approach  to 
the  City,  Fleet  Street  is  especially  connected  with  its 
ancient  pageants.  All  the  Coronation  processions  passed 
through  it,  on  their  way  from  the  Tower  to  Westminster : 
but  perhaps  the  most  extraordinary  sight  it  ever  witnessed 
was  in  1448,  when  Eleanor  Cobham,  Duchess  of  Gloucester, 
aunt  of  King  Henry  VI.,  was  forced  to  walk  bare-headed 
through  it  to  St.  Paul's  with  a  lighted  taper  in  her  hand, 
in  penance  for  having  made  a  wax  figure  of  the  young  king 
and  melted  it  before  a  slow  fire,  praying  that  his  life  might 
melt  with  the  wax. 

Just  within  the  site  of  Temple  Bar,  on  the  right  of  the  street, 
is  Child's  Bank,  which  deserves  notice  as  the  oldest  Banking 
house  in  England,  still  kept  where  Francis  Child,  an  indus- 
trious apprentice  of  Charles  I.'s  time,  married  the  rich 
daughter  of  his  master,  William  Wheeler  the  goldsmith,  and 
founded  the  great  banking  family.  Here  "  at  the  sign  of 
the  Marygold  " — the  quaint  old  emblem  of  the  expanded 
flower  with  the  motto  "  Ainsi  mon  ame,"  which  still  adorns 
the  banking-office  and  still  appears  in  the  water-mark  of  the 
bank-cheques — Charles  II.  kept  his  great  account  and 
Nell  Gwynne  her  small  one,  not  to  speak  of  Prince 
Rupert,  Pepys,  Dryden,  and  many  others.  Several  other 
great  Banks  are  in  this  neighbourhood.  No.  19  is  Gosling's 
Bank,  with  the  sign  of  the  three  squirrels  (represented  in 
iron-work  on  the  central  window),  founded  in  the  reign  of 
Charles  II.  No.  37  is  Hoaris  Bank,  which  dates  from 
16S0  :  the  sign  of  the  Golden  Bottle  over  the  door,  a 
leathern  bottle  (such  as  was  used  by  hay-makers  for  their 


TAVERNS  OF  FLEET  STREET.  103 

ale),  represents  the  flask  carried  by  the  founder  when  he 
came  up  to  London  to  seek  his  fortunes.* 

Fleet  Street  retains  its  old  reputation  of  being  occupied 
by  newspaper  editors  and  their  offices,  and  it  is  almost 
devoted  to  them.  But  it  also  contains  many  taverns  and 
cofiee-houses,  where  lawyers  anil  newspaper  writers  con- 
gregate tor  luncheon,  and  which  are  more  frequent  here  than 
almost  anywhere  else  in  London,  and,  many  of  these,  of 
great  antiquity,  are  celebrated  in  the  pages  of  the  Rambler 
and  Spectator. 

"  The  coffee-house  was  the  Londoner's  house,  and  those  who  wished 
to  find  a  gentleman,  commonly  asked,  not  whether  he  lived  in  fleet 
Street  or  Chancery  Lane,  but  whether  he  frequented  '  the  Grecian ' 
or  '  the  Rainbow.'  " — Macaulay. 

It  was  next  door  to  Child's  Bank  that  the  famous  "  Devil 
Tavern  "  stood,!  with  the  sign  of  St.  Martin  and  the  Devil, 
where  the  Apollo  Club  had  its  meetings,  guided  by  poetical 
rules  of  Ben  Jonson,  which  began — 

Let  none  but  guests  or  clubbers  hither  come ; 
Let  dunces,  fools,  and  sordid  men  keep  nome ; 
Let  learned,  civil,  merry  men  b'  irviieu, 
And  modest  too  ;  nor  be  choice  .'  quor  slighted; 
Let  nothing  in  the  treat  offend  .  ie  guest : 
More  for  delight  than  cost  prepare  the  feast." 

We  hear  of  Swift  dining  "at  the  Devil  Tavern  with   Dr. 
Garth  and  Addison,"  when  "  Garth  treated,"}  and  of  Dr 
Johnson  presiding  here  at  a  supper-party  in  honour  of  the 
publication  of  Mrs.  Lennox's  first  book. 

*  Sir  R.  Colt  Hoare  considers  it  a  sign  adopted  by  James  Hoar  of  Cheap, 
side  '"trom  his  father  Ralph  having  been  a  citicen  and  coope.'  of  iho  City  of 
London." 

t  Taken  down  in  1788. 

t  Journal  to  Stella. 


104  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Close  beside  "The  Devil,"  Bernard  Lintot,  the  great 
bookseller  of  the  last  century,  kept  the  stall  on  which  Gay 
was  so  anxious  that  his  works  should  appear. 

"  Oh,  Lintot,  let  my  labours  obvious  lie 
Ranged  on  thy  stall  lor  every  envious  eye ; 
So  shall  the  poor  these  precepts  gratis  know, 
And  to  ray  verse  their  luture  saieties  owe." 

Trivia.     Book  ii. 

In  Shire  Lane  was  the  "  Kit-Kat  Club"  (which  first  met 
in  Westminster  at  the  house  of  a  pastry-cook  called  Chris- 
topher Cat),  where  the  youth  of  Queen  Anne's  reign  were 
wont  to — 

"  Sleep  away  the  days  and  drink  away  the  nights." 

Thither  it  was  that  Steele  and  Addison  brought  Hoadly, 
Bishop  of  Bangor,  on  the  anniversary  of  William  III.,  to 
drink  to  his  "  immortal  memory,"  and  thence,  as  Steele 
dropped  drunk  under  the  table,  the  scandalised  bishop  stole 
away  home  to  bed,  but  was  propitiated  in  the  morning  by 
the  lines — 

"  Virtue  with  so  much  ease  on  Bangor  sits, 
All  iaults  he  pardons,  though  he  none  commits." 

The  members  of  this  club  all  had  their  portraits  painted  by 
Sir  Godfrey  Kneller  for  Jacob  Tonson,  their  secretary,  and 
the  half-size  then  chosen  by  the  artist  has  always  since 
caused  the  term  "  Kit  Kat"  to  be  applied  to  that  form  of 
portrait.  The  pictures  painted  here  by  Kneller  are  now  at 
Bayfordbury  in  Hertfordshire. 

Hard  by,  also  in  Shire  Lane,  was  the  tavern — "  the 
Bible  Tavern,"  which  was  appropriately  chosen  by  Jack 
Sheppard  for  many  of  his  orgies,  for  it  was  possessed  of  a 


THE   COCK  TAVERN. 


i°5 


trapdoor,  through  which,  in  case  of  pursuit,  he  could  drop 
unobserved  into  a  subterranean  passage  communicating 
with  Bell  Yard,  an  alley  which  is  associated  with  Pope,  who 
used  to  come  thither  to  visit  his  friend  Fortescue,  afterwards 
Master  of  the  Rolls. 

Opposite  the  first  gate  of  the  Temple,  No.  201  in  Fleet 
Street,  .marked  by  its  golden  bird  over  the  door,  is  the  Cock 


Drayton's  House,  h  lect  Street. 


Tavern,  one  of  the  f.jw  ancient  taverns  remaining  unaltered 
internally  from  the  time  of  James  I.,  with  its  long  low  room, 
subdivided  by  settees,  and  its  carved  oak  chimney-piece  of 
that  period.  It  was  hither  that  Pepys,  to  his  wife's  great 
aggravation,  would  come  gallivanting  with  pretty  Mrs. 
Knipp,  and  where  they  "  drank,  ate  a  lobster,  and  sang, 
and  mighty  merry  till  almost  midnight."     Tennyson  begins 


106  WALKS  JN  LOi\DON. 

"  Will  Waterproof's  Lyrical  Monologue,  maaeat  The  Cock," 

with  the  lines — 

"  O  plump  head  waiter  at  The  Cock, 
To  which  I  most  resort, 
How  goes  the  time  ?     'Tis  five  o'clock. 
Go  letch  a  pint  of  port." 

As  we  pass  the  angle  of  Chancery  Lane  we  must  recollect 
that  the  gentle  Izaak  Walton  lived  as  a  hosier  and  shirt- 
maker  in  the  corner  house  from  1627  to  1647,  and  that,  just 
beyond,  in  the  bow-windowed  house  which  is  still  standing 
(No.  184,  185),  lived  the  poet  Drayton.  In  a  house  close 
by,  now  demolished,  Abraham  Cowley  was  born  in  1618, 
being  the  son  of  a  grocer,  and  studied,  as  a  child,  the  large 
copy  of  Spenser's  "  Faery  Queen  "  which  lay  on  his  mother's 
window-sill,  till  he  became,  as  he  himself  narratea — "  irre- 
coverably a  poet." 

The  chief  feature  of  Fleet  Street  as  seen  on  entering  it, 
is  the  Church  of  St.  Dunstan  in  the  West,  built  by  Shaw, 
1 83 1,  on  the  site  of  the  church  in  which  the  great  Lord 
Strafford  was  baptized.  This  old  church  was  famous  for  its 
clock,  in  which  two  giants  struck  the  hour  :  they  are  com- 
memorated by  Cowper  in  his  Table-talk  : 

"  When  Labour  and  when  Dullness,  club  in  hand, 
Like  the  two  figures  of  S.  Dunstan's  stand, 
Beating  alternately,  in  measured  time, 
The  clock-work,  tintinnabulum  of  rhyme." 

It  was  here  that  Baxter  was  preaching  when  there  arose  an 
out-cry  that  the  budding  was  falling.  He  was  silent  for  a 
moment,  and  then  said  solemnly,  "We  are  in  God's  service, 
to  prepare  ourselves  that  we  may  be  fearless  at  the  great 
noise   of  the   dissolving   world,    when   the   heavens    shall 


QUI. EN  ELIZABETH'S  STATUE.  107 

pass  away,  and  the  elements  melt  with  fervent  heat."*  In 
the  middle  of  the  last  century  the  church  became  well 
known  from  the  lectures  of  William  Romaine,  author  of 
"The  Life,  the  Walk,  and  the  Triumph  of  Faith."  When 
he  preached,  the  crowds  were  so  great  as  entirely  to 
block  up  the  street.  The  opposition  of  the  rector,  who 
placed  all  possible  hindrances  in  his  way,  and  prevented  his 
having  more  than  a  single  candle,  which  he  held  in  his 
hand  during  his  sermon,  only  secured  for  him  the  firmer 
support  of  the  people. 

Over  the  side  entrance  towards  the  street  is  a  Statue  oj 
Queen  Eiizabc  h  holding  the  orb  and  sceptre,  which  is  of 
much  interest  as  having  survived  the  Great  Fire  of  London, 
when  the  building  in  which  it  stood  was  consumed,  and 
as  one  of  the  few  existing  relics  of  the  old  city  gates,  for  it 
formerly  adorned  the  west  front  of  Ludgate,  one  of  the  four 
ancient  entrances  to  the  city. 

In  Falcon  Court,  opposite  St.  Dunstan's,  was  the  office  of 
Wynkyn  de  Worde,  the  famous  printer,  whose  sign  was  the 
Falcon. 

At  the  corner  of  Fetter  Lane  (named  from  the  professed 
beggars,  called  Faitours  or  Fewters),  which  opens  now  upon 
the  left,  Lords  Eldon  and  Stowell  were  upset  in  their  sedan 
chair  in  a  street  row.f  Here  is  a  Moravian  Chapel  (No.  32) 
replete  with  memories  of  Baxter,  Wesley,  Whitfield,  and  in 
later  times  of  Count  Zinzendorf.  Dryden  and  Otway  lived 
opposite  to  each  other  in  this  street,  and  used  to  quarrel 
inverse,  in  1767  Fetter  Lane  obtained  notoriety  as  the 
abode  of  Elizabeth  Lrownrigg,  the  prentice  cide,  who  lived 

•  Bates's  "  Funeral  Sermon  for  Uaxter." 
t  Horace  Twiss's  Life  of  Kldon,  i.  49. 


io8  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

in  the  first  house  on  the  right  of  the  entrance  of  Flower  de 
Luce  (Fleur  de  Lis)  Court.  She  is  commemorated  in  the 
inscription  for  her  cell  in  Newgate  in  the  poetry  of  "  The 
Anti-Jacobin." 

"  Foi  one  long  term,  or  e'er  her  trial  came, 

Here  Brownrigg  linger'd.     Often  have  tnese  cells 
Ecnoed  hei  blasphemies,  as  with  shrill  voice 
She  screamed  foi  tresh  Geneva.     Not  to  her 
Did  the  blithe  hems  ot  Tothill,  or  thy  street, 
St.  Giles,  its  tail  varieties  expand  ; 
Till  at  the  last,  in  slow-drawn  cart,  she  went 
To  execution.     Dost  thou  asu  hei  crime  r 
She  whipp'd  two  temaJe  'pientices  to  death, 
And  hid  them  in  the  coal-hole.     to\  hei  mind 
Shaped  strictest  plans  ot  discipline.'' 

On  the  left  of  Fetter  Lane  is  the  magnificent  new  Fecord 
Office,  erected  1851-66  from  designs  of  Sir  James  Pcnne- 
ihorne  to  contain  the  National  Records,  hitherto  crowded 
into  St.  John's  Chapel  in  the  White  Tower,  the  Chapter 
House  of  Westminster  and  four  other  offices.  It  is  a  stately- 
Gothic  building,  but  is  perhaps  most  effective  when  seen  from 
the  north-east  angle.  The  greatest  of  the  many  treasures 
preserved  here  is  the  Domesday  Book,  compiled  in  the  time 
of  the  Conqueror  and  written  in  two  volumes  on  vellum. 

On  the  left  of  Fleet  Street,  beyond  Fetter  Lane,  is  the 
opening  of  Crane  Court  (formerly  Two-Crane  Court),  rebuilt 
immediately  after  the  Fire  and  retaining  many  houses 
of  Charles  II. 's  time.  In  the  first  house  on  the  right 
(rebuilt)  Dryden  Leach,  the  printer,  was  arrested  at  mid- 
night on  suspicion  of  having  printed  Wilkes's  North  Briton, 
No.  45.  The  site  at  the  end  of  the  court  was  purchased 
by  the  Royal  Society  from  Dr.  Nicholas  Barebone,  son 
of  the  "  Praise  God   Barebone,"  who  gave  his  name  to  a 


OLD  HOUSE   OF  THE  ROYAL   SOCIETY.         109 

parliament  of  which  he  was  a  conspicuous  member.  It  is 
said  that  the  son  was  christened  "  If  Jesus  Christ  had  not 
died  for  thee  thou  hadst  been  damned  Barebone,"  but  he 
was  generally  known  by  the  name  of  "  damned  Dr.  Bare- 
bone."  The  situation  of  the  house  was  recommended  by 
Sir  Isaac  Newton,  then  President,  as  "in  the  middle  of  the 
town,  and  out  of  noise."  The  Society  removed  hither 
in  1 7 10  from  Gresham  College,  to  accommodate  the  Mercers' 
Company,  and  here  they  remained  in  the  house  built  for 
them  by  Sir  Christopher  Wren  for  seventy-two  years,  till  in 
1782  they  moved  to  Somerset  House. 

"The  promotion  of  inoculation  received  its  attention  from  17 14  to 
1722  ;  electrical  experiments  were  the  chief  features  of  its  efforts  of 
1 745  ;  ventilation  and  the  suppression  of  fevers  absorbed  the  efforts  oi 
1750.  In  1757  thermometers  and  the  laws  of  light  were  the  topics  of 
investigation ;  astronomy  came  to  the  fore  in  the  year  following,  and 
the  Greenwich  Observatory  followed ;  and  the  succeeding  years  were 
directly  and  indirectly  productive  of  an  amount  of  real  substantial  good, 
by  winch  the  whole  world  has  benefited,  and  which  should  be  amply 
sufficient  to  make  the  story  of  this  old  house  a  deeply  interesting 
one,  and  the  house  itself  a  relic  in  every  way  worthy  of  the  most  care- 
ful preservation." — The  Builder,  Jan.  8,  1876. 

The  house  in  Crane  Court  was  sold  by  the  Royal  Society 
to  The  Scottish  Corporation,  an  excellent  national  charity, 
founded  soon  after  the  accession  of  James  I.,  for  relief  of 
persons  of  Scottish  parentage  who  have  fallen  into  distress, 
and  which  now  gives  constant  assistance  to  as  many  as 
six  hundred  indigent  persons  of  Scottish  birth  within  ten 
miles  of  London. 

"It  has  passed  by  the  able-bodied  impostors,  but  it  h?s  been  of  in- 
calculable service  to  many  who  have  hoped  to  find  London  streets 
paved  with  gold  and  been  disappointed  ;  to  many  who  have  entered 
on  the  great  battle  of  life  and  broken  down  in  the  conflict.  It  relieves 
aged  soldiers,  those  who  from  various  causes  have  failed  to  lay  up  a 


I  IO 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


sufficient  provision  for  old  age ;  it  lends  a  helping  hand  to  those  who 
are  willing  to  help  themselves." — Speech  of  Laid  Rusebery  as  Presi- 
dent, zwth  Anniversary. 

The  Hall  of  the  Royal  Society,  where  Sir  Isaac  Newton 
sat  as  President,  exists    in  its    ancient  condition,  with  a 


-  fv 

House  of  the  Royal  Societ)',  Crane  Court. 


richly  stuccoed  ceiling  of  1665.     It  is  hung  with  pictures, 
including — 

Zucchero  ?     Mary,   Queen   of   Scots— "piissima   Regina    Francise 
Dotaria,"  1578. 

Sir  Godfrey  Kneller.     The  First  Duke  of  Bedford. 
Sir  G.  Kneller.     The  Duke  of  Queensberry. 
Twredie.     The  Third  Duke  of  Montrose. 
Wilkle.     William  IV. 


THE   HOMES  OF  DR.  JOHNSON.  Ill 

The  adjoining  room,  which  the  Royal  Society  employed  for 
their  larger  meetings,  and  where  the  ladies'  gallery  with  its 
narrow  oak  staircase  still  remains,  is  now  used  as  the 
chapel  of  the  Scottish  Corporation. 

Fleet  Street  is  peculiarly  associated  with  Dr.  Johnson, 
who  admired  it  beyond  measure.  Walking  one  day  with 
Boswell  on  the  beautiful  heights  of  Greenwich  Park,  he 
asKed  "Is  not  this  very  fine?" — "  Yes,  sir,  but  not  so  fine  as 
Fleet  Street."  "  You  are  quite  right,  sir,"  replied  the  great 
critic.  Thus,  passing  over  the  recollections  of  a  tavern 
called  "  Hercules'  Pillars,"  where  Pepys  enjoyed  many  a 
supner-party,  and  the  "  Mitre  Tavern,"  whither  Boswell 
came  so  often  to  meet  Johnson,  let  us,  if  we  care  for  them, 
vi^it  in  the  swarthy  courts  and  alleys  on  the  left,  a  number 
of  the  difierent  scenes  in  which  Johnson's  life  was  passed. 

Here  we  may  fancy  him  as  Miss  Burney  describes  him — 
"  tall,  stout,  grand  and  authoritat.ve,  but  stooping  horribly, 
his  back  quite  round,  his  mouth  continually  opening  and 
shutting,  as  if  he  were  chewing  something;  with  a  singular 
method  of  twirling  and  twisting  his  hands  •  his  vast  body 
in  constant  agitation,  seesawing  backwards  and  forwards; 
his  feet  never  a  moment  quiet,  and  his  whole  great  person 
looking  often  as  it  it  were  going  to  roll  itself,  quite  volun- 
tarily, from  its  chair  to  the  floor."  There  is  no  figure  out 
of  the  past  with  which  we  are  able  to  be  as  familiar  as  we 
are  with  that  of  Samuel  Johnson  :  his  very  dress  is  portrayed 
for  us  by  Peter  Pindar  : — 

*'  Methinks  I  view  his  full,  plain  suit  of  brown, 
The  large  grey  bushy  wig,  that  graced  his  crown ; 
Black  worsted  stockings,  little  silver  buckles, 
And  shirt,  that  had  no  ruffles  for  his  knuckles. 


113    .  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

I  mark  the  brown  great-coat  of  cloth  he  wore, 
That  two  huge  Patagonian  pockets  bore, 
Which  Patagonians  (wondrous  to  unfold  !) 
Would  fairly  both  his  Dictionaries  hold." 

The  dismal  court  called  Gough  Square  still  exists,  where 
he  resided  (at  No.  17)  from  1748  to  1758,  in  which  his  wife 
died,  and  where  he  wrote  the  greatest  part  of  his  Dictionary 
and  began  the  Rambler  and  the  Idler;  in  the  narrow 
blackened  Johnson's  Court  (not  named  from  him),  he 
dwelt  (at  No.  7)  from  1765  to  1776;  after  which  he  lived 
at  No.  8  in  Bolt  Court*  till  in  December  1784,  he  lay  upon 
.his  death-bed,  surrounded  by  the  faithful  friends  of  his  life. 
With  Johnson,  in  Bolt  Court,  dwelt  a  curious  collection  of 
disappointed,  cross,  and  aged  persons,  chiefly  old  ladies, 
who  depended  upon  the  bounty  of  the  man  whose  bearish 
exterior  ever  covered  a  warm  heart.  It  was  not  a  very 
harmonious  household.  "  Williams,"  he  wrote  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Thrale,  speaking  of  one  of  these  ladies,  "  Williams 
hates  everybody  j  Levett  hates  Desmoulins,  and  does  not 
love  Williams ;  Desmoulins  hates  them  both,  and  Poll 
Carmichael  loves  none  of  them."  "  He  is  now  become 
miserable,  and  that  ensures  the  protection  of  Johnson," 
was  Goldsmith's  answer  when  some  one  expressed  his  sur- 
prise at  one  of  the  objects  selected  for  the  friendship  of  the 
lexicographer,, 

While  Johnson  was  living  in  this  neighbourhood,  Gold- 
smith was  residing  at  No.  6,  Wine  Office  Court,  and  the 
favourite  seat  of  the  friends,  in  the  window  of  the  Cheshire 
Cheese  Tavern,  is  still  pointed  out.  It  was  in  this 
court    that    Goldsmith    received    Johnson    for    the    first 

J  The  Bolt  Court  house  of  Dr.  Johnson  was  burnt  in  i  19 


GUNPOWDER   ALLEY.  113 

time  at  supper,  who  came — his  clothes  new  and  his  wig 
nicely  powdered,  wishing,  as  he  explained  to  Percy  (of  the 
"  Reliques  "),  who  inquired  the  cause  of  such  unusual  neat- 
ness, to  show  a  better  example  to  Goldsmith  whom  he  had 
heard  of  as  justifying  his  disregard  of  cleanliness  and 
decency  by  quoting  his  practice.  It  was  from  hence,  while 
Goldsmith's  landlady  was  pressing  him  within  doors  and  the 
bailiff  without,  that  Dr.  Johnson  took  the  manuscript  of  a 
novel  he  had  written  to  James  Newberry,  sold  it  for  sixty 
pounds,  and  returned  with  the  money  to  set  him  free. 
The  manuscript  lay  neglected  for  two  years,  and  was  then 
published  without  a  notion  of  its  future  popularity.  It  was 
"  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield." 

An  offshoot  of  Shoe  Lane,  a  narrow  entry  on  the  left, 
called  "  Gunpowder  Alley,"  was  connected  with  the  sad 
fate  of  another  poet,  Richard  Lovelace  the  Cavalier,  who 
died  here  of  starvation.*  Anthony  Wood  describes  him 
when  he  was  presented  at  the  Court  of  Charles  I.  at 
Oxford,  as  "  the  most  beautiful  and  amiable  youth  that  eye 
ever  beheld.  A  person  too  of  innate  modesty,  virtue,  and 
courtly  deportment,  which  made  him  then,  but  specially 
after,  when  he  retired  to  the  great  city,  much  admired  and 
adored  by  the  female  sex."  From  1648  to  the  King's 
death,  he  was  imprisoned  in  the  Gatehouse  at  Westminster 
for  his  devotion  to  Charles  I.,  and  when  he  was  released, 
he  went  to  serve  in  the  French  army,  writing  to  his 
betrothed,  Lucy  Sacheverell,  the  lines,  ending — ■ 

"  I  could  not  love  thee,  dear,  so  much. 
Loved  I  not  honour  more.'' 

•  Though  Aubrey  says,  "in  a  cellar  at  Long  Af  re." 
VOL.  1.  A 


1 14  WALKS  IN  LONDON: 

But  he  was  left  for  dead  upon  the  field  of  Dunkirk,  and 
when  he  came  back  his  Lucy  was  manied.  He  never 
looked  up  again :  all  went  wrong,  he  was  imprisoned, 
ruined,  and  died  here  in  nrserable  destitution. 

Bangor  House,  the  town  residence  of  the  Bishops  of 
Bangor,  stood  in  Shoe  Lane  till  1828,  and,  hard  by,  the 
entry  of  Poppirts  Court  in  Fleet  Street  still  marks  the  site 
of  Poppingaye,  the  town  palace  of  the  abbots  of  Ciren- 
cester. No.  109  Fleet  Street,  near  this,  is  an  admirable 
specimen  of  a  modem  house  in  the  olden  style. 

One  of  the  streets  which  open  upon  the  right  of  Fleet 
Street  still  bears  the  name  of  Whitefriars,  which  it  derives 
from  the  convent  of  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Virgin  of  Mount 
Carmel,  founded  by  Sir  Richard  Grey  in  1241.*  The 
establibhment  of  one  of  the  earliest  Theatres  in  London 
in  the  monastic  hall  of  Whitefriars  was  probably  due  to  the 
fact  of  its  being  a  sanctuary  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Mayor  and  Corporation,  who  then  and  ever  since  have 
opposed  theatrical  performances  within  the  City.  The  first 
playhouse  was  at  Blackfriars,  and  Whitefriars  followed  in 
1576.  After  the  Dissolution,  this  district  retained  the 
privilege  of  sanctuary,  and  thus  it  became  the  refuge  for 
troops  of  bad  characters  of  every  description.  It  obtained 
the  name  of  Alsada,  a  name  which  is  first  found  in  Shad- 
well's  Play,  "  The  Squire  of  Alsatia,"  and  to  which  Sir 
Walter  Scott  has  imparted  especial  interest  through  "  The 

•  It  contained  the  tombs  of  Sir  Robert  Knolles,  the  builder  of  Rochester 
Bridge,  celebrated  in  the  French  wars  (1407);  of  Robert  Mascall,  Hishop  of 
Hereford,  who  built  the  choir  and  steeple  (1416) ;  of  William  Montacute,  Earl  of 
Salisbury  and  King-  of  Man,  killed  in  a  tournament  at  Windsor  (1343)  ;  and  of 
Stephen  Patrington,  Confessor  of  Henry  IV.  and  Bishop  of  St.  David's  and 
Chichester  (1417).  King  Henry' VIII.  gave  the  chapter-house  of  Whitefriars  to 
his  physician,  Dr.  Butts,  the  enemy  of  CraDmer. 


AL1ATIA.  115 

Fortunes  of  Nigel."  In  the  reign  of  James  I.,  almost  as 
much  sensation  was  created  neie  bv  a  singular  crime 
in  high  life,  as  in  Paris  by  the  murder  of  the  Duchesse 
de  Praslin  in  our  own  time.  Young  Lord  Sanquhar 
had  his  eye  put  out  while  taking  lessons  in  fencing 
from  John  Turner,  the  famous  fencing-master  of  the  day. 
Being  afterwards  in  France,  the  young  King  Henry  IV., 
afttr  inquiring  kindly  about  his  accident,  said  condolingly 
but  jokingly,  and  "does  the  man  who  did  it  still  live?" 
From  that  time  it  became  a  monomania  with  Lord 
Sanquhar  to  compass  the  death  of  the  unfortunate 
Turner,  though  two  years  elapsed  before  he  was  able 
to  accomplish  it — two  years  in  which  he  dogged  his  un- 
conscious victim  like  a  shadow,  and  eventually  had  him 
shot  by  two  hired  assassins  at  a  tavern  which  he  frequented 
in  Whitefriars.  The  deputy  murderers  were  arrested,  and 
then  Lord  Sanquhar  surrendered  to  the  mercy  of  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  but  he  was  sentenced  to  death,  and 
was  hung  before  the  entrance  of  Westminster  Hall. 

Bordering  on  Alsatia  L  Salisbury  Court,  marking  the  site 
of  the  town-house  of  the  Bishops  of  Salisbury.  Here  we 
have  again  literary  reminiscences,  Richardson  having 
written  and  printed  his  "  Pamela  "  there,  and  Goldsmith 
having  sat  there  as  his  press  corrector. 

In  1629  the  "Salisbury  Court  Theatre"  was  erected,  which 
was  destroyed  in  1649.  It  was  rebuilt  in  1660,  in  Dorset 
Gardens  near  the  river,  and  attained  great  celebrity  under 
the  name  of  "The  Duke's  Theatre."  Being  burnt  in  the 
Fire,  it  was  rebuilt  by  Wren  in  167 1,  and  decorated  by 
Gibbons.  Dryden  describes  it  as  "like  Nero's  palace, 
shining  all  with  gold."     It  faced  the  river  and  had  a  land- 


Ji6  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

ing-place  for  those  who  came  by  water,  and  a  quaint  front 
resting  on  open  arches.  Pepys  was  a  great  admirer  of  the 
pen'ormances  at  The  Duke's  Theatre.  Here  he  saw  "The 
Bondsman" — "an  excellent  play  and  well  done,"  and  here 
he  reports  that  while  he  was  watching  Sir  W.  Davenant's 
opera  of  the  "  Siege  of  Rhodes "  "  by  the  breaking  of  a 
board  over  our  heads,  we  had  a  great  deal  of  dust  fall  in 
the  ladies'  necks  and  the  men's  haire,  which  made  good 
sport."  The  theatre  declined  in  1682,  but  was  still  in 
existence  in  1720.  The  site  is  now  occupied  by  the  City 
Gas  Works. 

Through  Alsatia,  the  abode  of  the  rogues,  we  descend 
appropriately  upon  the  site  of  their  famous  prison  of  Bride- 
wtll,  which  was  demolished  in  1863-4.  It  was  founded, 
like  Christ's  Hospital,  by  King  Edward  VI.,  under  the 
first  flush  of  emotion  caused  by  a  sermon  on  Christian 
charity  which  he  had  heard  from  Bishop  Ridley,  who 
urged  that  there  was  "  a  wide  empty  house  of  the  King's 
Majesty,  called  Bridewell,  that  would  wonderfully  well  serve 
to  lodge  Christ  in,"  and  it  was  used  as  a  refuge  for  deserted 
children,  long  known  as  "  Bridewell  Boys."  Gradually, 
from  a  Reformatory,  it  became  a  prison,  and  the  horrors  of 
the  New  Bridewell  Prison  are  described  by  Ward  in  "  The 
London  Spy."  The  prisoners,  both  men  and  women,  used 
to  be  flogged  on  the  naked  back,  and  the  stripes  only 
ceased  when  the  president,  who  sat  with  a  hammer  in  his 
hand,  let  it  fall  upon  the  block  before  him.  K  Oh,  good 
Sir  Robert,  knock ;  pray,  Sir  Robert,  knock  !  "  became  after 
wards  often  a  cry  of  reproach  against  those  who  had  been 
imprisoned  in  Bridewell.  Here  died  Mrs.  Creswell,  a 
famous  criminal  of  Charles  II.'s   reign,   who   bequeathed 


BRIDEWELL.  "7 

^20  to  a  divine  of  the  period  upon  condition  that  he 
should  say  nothing  but  what  was  good  of  her.  It  was  a 
difficult  task,  but  the  clergyman  was  equal  to  the  occasion. 
He  wound  up  a  commonplace  discourse  upon  mortality  by 
saying — "  I  am  desired  by  the  will  of  the  deceased  to  men- 
tion her,  and  to  say  nothing  but  what  is  well  of  her.  All 
that  I  shall  say  therefore  is  this — that  she  was  born  well, 
lived  well,  and  died  well ;  for  she  was  born  a  Creswell, 
she  lived  in  Clerkenwell,  and  she  died  in  Bridewell."* 

The  prison  was,  as  we  have  said,  founded  upon  the  old 
palace  of  Bridewell,  which,  in  its  turn,  had  occupied  the  site 
of  the  tower  of  Montfiquet,  built  by  a  Norman  follower  of 
the  Conqueror.  The  palace  embraced  courts,  cloisters,  and 
gardens,  and  close  against  the  walls  ran  the  Fleet.  It  was 
to  this  Bridewell  Palace  that  Henry  VIII.,  after  he  had 
been  captivated  by  Anne  Boleyn,  summoned  the  Members 
of  Council,  the  Lords  of  the  Court,  and  the  Mayor  and 
Aldermen,  and  communicated  to  them  that  scruples  had 
"  long  tormented  his  mind  with  regard  to  his  marriage  with 
Katherine  of  Arragon."  Shakspeare  makes  the  whole 
third  act  of  his  Henry  VIII.  pass  in  the  palace  at  Bride- 
well, which  is  historically  correct.  It  was  there  that  the 
unhappy  Katherine  received  Wolsey  and  Campeggio, 
"  having  a  skein  of  red  silke  about  her  neck,  being  at  work 
with  her  maidens."  f 

The   name  of  B  idewell  comes  from  St.   Bride's  or  St. 
Bridget's    Well,    a    holy   spring  with  supposed  miraculous 

•  In  the  court-room  of  the  prison  hung  a  huge  picture  of  Edward  VI.  granting 
a  charter  for  the  endowment  of  Bridewell  to  the  mayor.  It  was  attiibulcl  to 
Holbein,  hut  could  not  he  his,  for  the  simple  reason  that  it  represented  au  eveut 
which  occurred  ten  years  after  his  death. 

f  Caveudish. 


n8  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

powers  like  that  of  St.  Clement,  which  we  hai^e  already 
noticed  in  the  Strand.  The  well  here,  of  which  Milton 
certainly  drank,  has  shared  the  fate  of  all  the  other  famous 
wells  of  London,  and  has  become  a  pump.  St  Bride's 
Church  was  rebuilt  by  Wren  alter  the  Fire,  and  its  steeple 
is  one  of  those  on  which  he  bestowed  particular  pains, 
though  it  is  often  not  unjustly  compared  to  the  slides  of  a 
telescope  drawn  out.  It  stands  effectively  at  the  end  of  a 
little  entry  at  the  foot  of  Fleet  Street,  but  it  should  be 
remembered  that,  owing  to  its  having  been  twice  struck 
by  lightning,  it  is  somewhat  shorn  of  the  lofty  proportions 
which  were  or'ginally  given  to  it  by  the  great  architect 
(226  ft.  instead  of  234).  Its  bells,  put  up  in  17 10,  are 
dear  to  the  Londoner's  soul.  Wynkin  de  VVorde,  the  famous 
printer,  who  rose  under  the  patronage  of  the  mother  of 
Henry  VII.,  and  published  no  less  than  400  works,  was 
buried  in  the  old  church,  which  also  c  ntained  the  graves 
of  the  poets  Sackville  (1608)  and  Lovelace  (1658),  and  of 
Sir  Richard  Baker  (1645),  who  died  in  the  Fleet  prison, 
author  of  the  very  untrustworthy  "  Chronicle  of  the  Kings 
of  England,''  beloved  by  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley.  In  the 
existing  building  are  monuments  to  Samuel  Richardson 
(17 61),  who  is  buried  here  with  his  wife  and  family,  and  to 
John  Nichols,  the  historian  of  Leicestershire.  John  Card- 
maker,  who  suffered  or  his  faith  in  Smithfield,  May  30, 
1553-4,  was  vicar  of  this  church. 

Here,  in  the  churchyard  of  St.  Bride,  still  a  qui  t  and 
retired  spot,  John  Milton  came  to  lodge  in  1643  m  the 
house  of  one  Russell  a  tailor  ;  here  he  wrote  his  treatises 
"  Of  Reformation,"  "  Of  Practical  Episcopacy,"  and  others  ; 
and  here  he  instructed,  and  very  often  whipped,  his  sister's 


S7.   BRIDE'S  CHURCHYARD.  I  r^ 

two  boys.  "Here,"  says  Aubrey,  "his  first  wife,  Mrs. 
Mary  Powe'l,  a  royalist,  having  been  brought  up  and 
lived  where  there  was  a  great  deal  of  company,  merriment, 
and  dancing,  when  she  came  to  live  with  her  husband  at 
Mr.  Russell's,  found  it  very  solitary  ;  no  company  came  to 
her,  and  oftentimes  she  heard  his  nephews  beaten  and  cry." 
Her  parents  also,  reports  Milton's  nephew  Phillips,  "began 
to  repent  them  of  having  matched  the  eldest  daughter  of 
the  family  to  a  person  so  contrary  to  them  in  opinion,  and 
thought  that  it  would  be  a  blot  on  their  escutcheon."  At 
length  the  poor  young  wife  found  married  life  "  so  irksome 
to  her,  that  she  went  away  to  her  parents  at  Forest  Hill." 
This  visit  was  indefinitely  prolonged,  and  the  poet's  letters 
remained  unanswered.  He  sent  a  messenger  to  bring  her 
back,  who  was  scornfully  dismissed  ;  but  after  a  time  Mrs. 
Milton's  jealousy  was  excited  by  the  belief  that  the  poet 
was  paying  attentions  to  the  beautiful  Miss  Davis,  and  she 
entreated  for  a  reconciliation  of  her  own  accord,  an  event 
which  had  a  happy  result  for  the  Powell  family,  as  they 
were  able  to  take  refuge  in  the  house  of  their  republican 
son-in-law,  when  the  royalist  cause  became  desperate.  The 
poet's  royalist  wife  Mary  died  in  1653,  leaving  her  husband, 
who  was  then  becoming  blind,  with  three  little  daughters, 
of  whom  the  eldest  was  only  six  years  old. 

It  was  in  defence  of  this  house  in  St.  Bride's  Church- 
yard that,  on  the  advance  of  Prince  Rupert's  troops  after 
the  Battle  of  Edgehill,  Milton  wrote  his  sonnet : 

"  Captain,  or  colonel,  or  knight  in  arms, 

Whose  chance  on  these  defenceless  doors  may  seize, 

If  deed  of  honuur  did  thee  ever  please, 

Guard  them,  and  him  within  protect  from  harms. 


»2C  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

He  can  requite  thee,  for  he  knows  the  charms 
That  call  fame  on  such  gentle  acts  as  these, 
And  he  can  spread  thy  name  o'er  lands  and  seas, 
Whatever  clime  the  sun's  bright  circle  warms. 

Lift  not  thy  spear  against  the  Muse's  bower  : 
The  great  Emathian  conqueror  bid  spare 
The  house  of  Pindarus,  when  temple  and  tower 

"Went  to  the  ground  ;  and  the  repeated  air 
Of.sad  Electra's  poet  had  the  power 
To  save  th'  Athenian  walls  from  ruin  bare." 

At  the  entrance  of  the  passage  down  which  the  tower  o\ 
St.  Bride's  is  seen  from  Fleet  Street,  the  well-known  figure 
of  "  Punch "  will  always  attract  attention  to  the  office 
whence  so  much  fun  has  emanated  since  the  first  establish- 
ment of  the  Paper  in  1841. 

Bridewell  was  not  the  only  prison  which  was  waiting  on 
the  outskirts  of  Alsatia  for  its  frequenters.  The  great  prison 
of  the  Fleet  was  only  demolished  in  1844,  having  been  first 
used  for  those  who  were  condemned  by  the  Star  Chamber. 
It  is  an  evidence  of  the  size  of  the  river  Fleet  in  old  days, 
difficult  as  it  is  to  believe  possible  now.  that  the  prisoners 
used  to  be  brought  from  Westminster  by  water,  and  landed 
at  a  gate  upon  the  Fleet  like  the  Traitor's  Gate  upon  the 
Thames  at  the  Tower.  It  was  here  that  poor  old  Bishop 
Hooper  was  imprisoned  (1555)  before  he  was  sent  to  be 
burnt  at  Gloucester,  his  bed  being  "  a  little  pad  of  straw, 
with  a  rotten  covering,"  and  here,  to  use  his  own  words, 
he  "moaned,  called,  and  cried  for  help"  in  his  desperate 
sickness,  but  the  Warden  charged  that  none  of  his  men 
should  help  him,  saying,  "  Let  him  alone,  it  were  a  good 
riddance  of  him."  Here  Prynne  was  imprisoned  for  a 
denunciation  of  actresses,  which  was  supposed  to  reflect 
upon   Queen  Henrietta   Maria,  who   had   lately  been    in- 


THE  FLEET.  12 1 

dulging  in  private  theatricals  at  Somerset  House,  was  con- 
demned to  pay  a  fine  of  ;£io,ooo,  to  be  burned  in  the 
forehead,  slit  in  the  nose,  and  to  have  his  ears  cut  off. 
Hence,  six  years  later,  for  reprinting  one  of  Prynne's  books, 
"free-born  John  Lilburne  "  was  whipped  to  Westminster, 
and  then  brought  back  to  be  imprisoned,  till  he  was 
triumphantly  released  by  the  Long  Parliament.  The 
cruelties  which  were  discovered  to  have  been  practised  in 
the  Fleet  led,  in  1726,  to  the  trial  of  its  gaoler,  Bambidge, 
for  murder,  when  horrors  were  disclosed  which  appalled 
all  who  heard  of  them.  Bambidge  was  found  to  have  fre- 
quently beguiled  unwary  and  innocent  persons  to  the  prison 
gate-house,  and  then  seized  and  manacled  them  without 
any  authority  whatever,  and  kept  them  there  until  he  had 
extorted  a  ransom.  In  several  cases  the  prisoners  were 
tortured,  in  others  they  were  left  for  so  many  days  without 
food  that  they  died  from  inanition,  in  others  Bambidge 
having  ordered  his  men  to  stab  them  with  their  bayonets, 
they  perished  from  festered  wounds.  Hogarth  first  rose 
to  celebrity  by  his  picture  of  the  Fleet  Prison  Committee. 
Horace  Walpole  describes  it : 


v  "The  scene  is  the  committee.  On  the  table  are  the  instruments  of 
torture.  A  prisoner  in  rags,  half-starved,  appears  before  them.  The 
poor  man  has  a  good  countenance,  that  adds  to  the  interest.  On  the 
other  hand  is  the  inhuman  gaoler.  It  is  the  very  figure  that  Salvator 
Rosa  would  have  drawn  for  Iago  in  the  moment  of  detection.  Vil- 
lainy, fear,  and  conscience  are  mixed  in  yellow  and  livid  on  his 
countenance.  His  lips  are  contracted  by  tremor,  his  face  advances  as 
eager  to  lie,  his  legs  step  back  as  thinking  to  make  his  escape.  One 
hand  is  thrust  precipitately  into  his  bosom,  the  fingers  of  the  other 
are  catching  uncertainly  at  his  button-holes.  If  this  was  a  portrait, 
it  is  the  most  striking  that  ever  was  drawn ;  if  it  was  not,  it  is  still 
finer." 


122  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

The  formation  of  the  Fleet  Committee  found  a  more  lasting 
eulosmun  in  the  lines  in  Thomson's  "  Winter." 


'&' 


"  And  here  can  I  forget  the  generous  band 

Who,  touch'd  with  human  woe,  redressive  seirch'd 
Into  the  horrors  of  the  gloomy  jail, 
Unpitied  and  unheard,  where  Misery  moans, 
Where  Sickness  pines,  where  Thirst  and  Hunger  burn, 
And  poor  Misfortune  feels  the  lash  of  Vice." 

The  precincts  of  the  prison  were  long  celebrated  for  the 
notorious  "  Fleet  Marriages,"  which  were  performed,  with- 
out license  or  publication  of  banns,  by  a  set  of  vicious 
clergymen  confined  in  the  prison  for  debt,  and  therefore 
free  from  fear  of  the  fine  of  ^ioo  usually  inflicted  on 
clergymen  convicted  of  solemnising  clandestine  marriages. 
No  less  than  217  marriages  are  shown  by  the  Fleet  registers 
to  have  been  sometimes  celebrated  there  in  one  day  !  The 
"  marrying  houses,"  as  they  were  called,  were  generally 
kept  by  the  turnkeys  of  the  prison,  and  the  different 
degraded  clergymen  of  the  Fleet  maintained  touts  in  the 
street  to  beguile  any  arriving  lovers  to  their  especial 
patrons.  Pennant,  walking  past  the  Fleet  in  his  youth,  was 
often  tempted  with  the  question,  "  Sir,  will  you  be  pleased 
to  walk  in  and  be  married  ?  "  In  the  curious  poem  called 
"  The  Humours  of  the  Fleet "  we  read — 

"  Scarce  had  the  coach  discharged  its  trusty  fare, 
But  gaping  crowds  surround  th'  amorous  pair, 
The  busy  plyers  make  a  mighty  stir, 
And  whispering  cry,  '  D;ye  want  the  parson,  sir  ? 
Pray  step  this  way — just  to  the  '  Pen  in  Hand,' 
The  doctor's  ready  there  at  your  command.' 
•This  way,'  another  cries.     '  Sir,  I  declare, 
The  true  and  ancient  register  is  here.' 
The  alarmed  parsons  quickly  hear  the  din, 
And  haste  with  soothing  words  to  invite  them  in." 


LUL    GATE.  12] 

Before  leaving  the  Fleet  we  may  recollect  that  Dickens 
paints  Mr.  Pickwick  as  having  been  imprisoned  there  for 
several  months,  and  that  he  has  given  a  vivid  picture  of  the 
latter  days  of  the  old  debtors'  prison. 

With  the  Fleet  was  swept  away  "  the  emporium  of  petty 
larceny  "  called  Field  Lane,  especially  connected  with  the 
iniquities  of  Jonathan  Wild  and  his  companions,  who  are 
said  to  have  disposed  of  many  of  their  murdered  victims  by 
letting  them  down  from  a  back-window  into  the  silent  waters 
of  the  Fleet.  The  surrounding  streets  bore  the  name  of 
"Jack  Ketch's  W;  rren,"  from  the  number  of  persons  hung 
at  T> burn  and  Newgate  whose  houses  were  in  its  courts 
and  alleys. 

Crossing  Farringdon  Street,*  where  the  now  invisible 
Fleet  still  pursues  its  stealthy  course  beneath  the  roadway, 
and  where  it  was  once  crossed  by  Fleet  Bridge,  we  reach,  at 
the  foot  of  Ludgate  Hill,  the  site  of  one  of  the  four  great 
ancient  gates  of  the  city — the  Lud  Gate — destroyed  Novem- 
ber, 1760.1  "Here  eight  men  well  armed  and  strong,  watched 
the  city  gate  by  night."  The  name  of  the  gate  is  described 
as  having  been  derived  from  the  legendary  king  Lud,  who 
is  said  to  have  built  it  sixty-six  years  before  the  birth  of 
Christ.  Speed,  the  historian,  relates  "  that  King  Cadwallo 
being  buried  in  St.  Martin's  Church,  near  Ludgate,  his 
image,  great  and  terrible,  triumphantly  riding  on  horseback, 
artificially  cast  in  brass,  was  placed  upon  the  western  gate 
of  the  city,  to  the  fear  and  terror  of  the  Saxons."     It  was 

•  Faringdon  Wrfrd  is  named  from  William  Faringdon,  a  goldsmith,  sheriff 
in  1281. 

+  It  was  sold  Ju!y  30,  1760,  with  two  other  gates,  to  I  lagden,  a  carpenter  oi 
Coleman  Street.  Ludgate  fetched £148;  Aldgate,£i77  10s.;  andCripplegate(;£ai. 

t  Riley,  p.  92. 


I24  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

upon  the  western  face  of  this  gate  that  the  statue  of  Queen 
Elizabeth  stood,  which  we  may  still  see  over  the  door  of 
St.  Dunstan's  in  the  West.  On  the  eastern  front  were 
statues  of  King  Lud  and  his  sons,  Androgeus  and  Theo- 
mantius,  which  have  now  disappeared.  Adjoining  the  gate 
was  a  prison,  and  the  poor  prisoners  used  to  beg  piteously 
from  those  who  passed  beneath  it.  Jane  Shore  was  im- 
mured here  by  Richard  III.  The  gate  itself  was  restored 
by  the  widow  of  one  of  these  prisoners,  Stephen  Forster. 
She  had  admired  his  good  looks  through  the  grating, 
obtained  his  release,  and  married  him,  and  he  lived  to  be 
Lord  Mayor  of  London  in  the  time  of  Henry  VI.*  In  the 
chapel  of  the  gatehouse  was  inscribed — 

"  Devout  soules  that  passe  this  way, 
For  Stephen  Forster,  late  Maior,  heartily  pray ; 
And  Dame  Agnes,  his  spouse,  to  God  consecrate, 
That  of  pitie  this  house  made  for  Londoners  in  Ludgate, 
So  that  for  lodging  and  water  prisoners  here  nought  pay, 
As  their  keepers  shall  all  answer  at  dreadful  domesday." 

Instead  of  the  old  gateway,  the  Ludgate  Hill  Railway 
Viaduct  now  crosses  the  street,  entirely  spoiling  the  finest 
view  of  St.  Paul's. 

As  we  ascend  Ludgate  Hill,  on  the  left  is  Belle  Sauvage 
Yard,  which  is  generally  supposed  still,  as  it  was  by 
Addison,  to  derive  its  odd  name  from  the  popular  story 
of  the  patient  Griselda,  but  which  is  really  named  from 
Savage,  its  first  innkeeper,  and  his  hostelry  "  the  Bell." 
A  curious  woodcut  of  1595  shows  the  courtyard  of  the 
Belle  Sauvage  surrounded  with  wooden  balconies,  filled 
with    spectators    to   witness    the    wonderful    tricks    of    the 

•  The  story  of  Stephen  Forster  is  commemorated  in  Rowley's  "  Widow  Nevei 
Veil,  or  the  Widow  of  Cornhill." 


LUDGATE  HILL.  125 

horse  Marocco,  which  was  publicly  exhibited  in  Shak- 
speare's  time  by  a  Scotchman  named  Banks.  This  Inn 
was  altogether  closed  during  the  Great  Plague,  when  its 
host  issued  advertisements  that  "  all  persons  who  had 
any  accompts  with  the  master,  or  farthings  belonging  to  the 
said  house,"  might  exchange  them  for  the  usual  currency  : 
for  the  Belle  Sauvage,  like  many  other  taverns,  then  had  its 
own  "  tokens."  It  was  in  the  Belle  Sauvage  Yard  that 
Gibbons,  introduced  to  the  notice  of  Charles  II.  by  Evelyn, 
first  became  known  as  a  sculptor,  by  having  carved  "a  pot 
of  flowers,  which  shook  surprisingly  with  the  motion  of  the 
coaches  which  passed  by."  * 

It  is  recorded  that  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt,  the  rebel  of 
Mary's  reign,  being  refused  admittance  to  Ludgate,  rested 
him  awhile  on  a  bench  opposite  the  Belle  Sauvage,  before 
he  turned  back  towards  Temple  Bar,  where  he  was  taken 
prisoner. 

Ludgate  Hill  is  very  picturesque,  and  leads  worthily  up 
to  St.  Paul's.  On  its  north  side  were  the  offices  of  Rundell 
and  Bridge,  Jewellers  to  the  Crown,  with  the  sign  of  two 
golden  salmon  :  their  strong  cellars  remain  under  the 
warehouse  of  Messrs.  Daldy  and  Isbister.  St.  Martin's 
Chunk,  with  a  good  and  simple  tower  by  Wren,  combines 
admirably  with  the  first  view  of  the  cathedral,  and  greatly 
adds  to  its  effect  as  was  doubtless  intended  by  the 
architect. 

4<Lo,  like  a  bishop  upon  dainties  fed, 
St.  Paul's  lifts  up  his  sacerdotal  head  ; 
While  his  lean  curates,  slim  and  lank  to  view, 
Around  him  point  their  steeples  to  the  blue." 

•  Walpo'e. 


125 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


Cadwallo,  king  of  the  Britons,  who  died  in  677,  is  said  to 
have  been  buried  in  St.  Martin's,  Church,  of  which  Robert 
of  Gloucester  declares  him  to  be  the  founder — 

"  A  church  of  St.  Martin,  livying  he  let  rere, 
In  whych  yat  men  shold  Goddys  seruyse  do, 
And  sin  for  his  soule  and  al  Christene  also." 


To  this  church  belongs  the  well-known  epitaph 


Earth  goes  to 
Earth  treads  on 
Earth  as  to 
Earth  shall  to 

Earth  upon 
Earth  goes  to 
Earth  though  on 
Earth  shall  from 


Earth 


Earth 


As  mold  to  mold, 
Glittering  in  gold, 
Return  here  should, 
Goe  ere  lie  would. 

Consider  may, 
Naked  away, 
Be  stout  and  gay, 
Passe  poor  away. 


In  St.  Martin's  Court,  on  the  other  side  of  the  street, 
jammed  in  between  crowded  shops  and  swallowed  up  in  the 
present,  a  thick  black  grimy  fragment  of  the  City  Wall 
may  be  discovered,  one  of  the  only  four  known  fragments 
remaining. 

In  Stationers'  Hall  Court,  a  quiet  courtyard  on  the  left, 
is  the  Hall  of  the  Stationers'  Company,  incorporated  1557. 
It  was  rebuilt  after  the  Great  Fire  and  refronted  in  1800. 
A  musical  festival  used  annually  to  be  held  in  the  Hall  on 
St.  Cecilia's  Day,  and  Dryden's  ode,  "  Alexander's  Feast, 
or  the  Power  of  Music,"  was  first  performed  here.  In 
the  Committee  Room  are  a  number  of  portraits,  including 
those  of  Richard  Steele,  of  Vincent  Wing  the  astronomer 
(1669),  and  of  Samuel  Richardson  (Master  of  the  Company 
in  1754)  and  his  wife,  by  Highmore.     In  the  Court  Room  is 


STATIONERS'   HALL.  127 

B'tijamin  Wests  picture  of  "  Alfred  dividing  his  loaf  wiih 
the  Pilgrim,"  well  known  from  engravings. 

Formerly  the  Stationers'  Company  enjoyed  the  monopoly 
of  printing  all  books — and  long  after  that  privilege  was 
withdrawn,  it  maintained  the  sole  right  of  printing  almanacks, 
which  was  only  contended  with  success  in  177 1.  The 
Company,  however,  continue  to  derive  a  great  revenue  from 
their  almanacks,  which  they  issue  on  or  about  the  22nd  of 
November.  The  copyright  of  books  is  still  secured  by 
their  being  "  entered  at  Stationers'  Hall." 

The  grimy  little  garden  at  the  back  of  the  Hall  has  its 
associations,  for,  at  the  time  of  the  Star  Chamber,  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  one  of  its  most  active  members, 
used  frequently  to  send  warrants  to  the  Master  and 
Wardens  of  the  Stationers'  Company,  requiring  them  on 
pain  of  the  penalties  of  the  Chiirch  and  forfeiture  of  all 
their  temporal  rights,  to  search  every  house  in  which  there 
was  a  press  for  seditious  publications,  which  they  were  to 
seize,  and  burn  in  the  Hall  garden. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
ST.   PAUL'S  AND  ITS   SURROUNDINGS. 

WE  have  now  arrived  where,  black  and  grand,  St.  Paur$ 
Cathedral  occupies  the  platform  on  the  top  of  the 
hill.  Sublimely  grandiose  in  its  general  outlines,  it  has  a 
peculiar  sooty  dignity  all  its  own,  which,  externally,  raises  it 
immeasurably  above  the  fresh  modern-looking  St.  Peter's 
at  Rome.  As  G.  A.  Sala  says,  in  one  of  his  capital  papers, 
it  is  really  the  better  for  "  all  the  incense  which  all  the 
chimneys  since  the  time  of  Wren  have  offered  at  its  shrine, 
and  are  still  flinging  up  every  day— from  their  foul  and 
grimy  censers."  Here  and  there  only  is  the  original  grey  of 
the  stone  seen  through  the  overlying  blackness,  which  in 
early  spring  is  intensified  by  the  green  grass  and  trees  of  the 
churchyard  which  surrounds  the  eastern  part  of  the  building. 
When  you  are  near  it,  the  mighty  dome  is  lost,  but  you  have 
always  an  inward  all-pervading  impression  of  its  existence, 
as  you  have  seen  it  a  thousand  times  rising  in  dark  majesty 
over  the  city ;  or  as,  lighted  up  by  the  sun,  it  is  sometimes 
visible  from  the  river,  when  all  minor  objects  are  obliterated 
in  mist.  And,  apart  from  the  dome,  the  noble  proportions 
of  every  pillar  and  cornice  of  the  great  church  cannot  fail 
to  strike  those  who  linger  to  look  at  them,  while  even  the 


HISTORY  OF  ST.   PAUL'S.  129 

soot-begrimed    garlands,   which    would    be   offensive    were 
they  clean,  have  here  an  indescribable  stateliness. 

"  St.  Paul's  appears  to  me  unspeakably  grand  and  noble,  and  the 
more  so  from  the  throng  and  bustle  continually  going  on  around  its 
base,  without  in  the  least  disturbing  the  sublime  repose  of  its  great 
dome,  and,  indeed  of  all  its  massive  height  and  breadth.  Other 
edifices  may  crowd  close  to  its  foundation  and  people  may  tramp  as 
they  like  about  it ;  but  still  the  great  cathedral  is  as  quiet  and  serene 
as  if  it  stood  in  the  middle  of  Salisbury  Plain.  There  cannot  be  any 
thing  else  in  its  way  so  good  in  the  world  as  just  this  effect  of  St. 
Paul's  in  the  very  heart  and  densest  tumult  of  London.  It  is  much 
better  than  staring  white ;  the  edifice  would  not  be  nearly  so  grand 
without  this  drapery  of  black." — Hawtliorne.     Eng'nsli  Note  Books. 

When  Sir  Christopher  Wren  was  laying  the  foundations 
of  the  present  cathedral,  he  found  relics  of  three  different 
ages  at  three  successive  depths  beneath  the  site  of  his  church 
— first,  Saxon  coffins  and  tombs  ;  secondly,  British  graves, 
with  the  wooden  and  ivory  pins  which  fastened  the  shrouds 
of  those  who  lay  in  them  ;  thirdly,  Roman  lamps,  lacryma- 
tories,  and  urns,  proving  the  existence  of  a  Roman  ceme- 
tery on  the  spot.*  It  has  never  with  any  certainty  been 
ascertained  when  the  first  church  was  built  here,  but, 
according  to  Bede,  it  was  erected  by  Ethelbert,  King  of 
Kent,  and  his  nephew  Sebert,  King  of  the  East  Angles, 
and  was  the  church  where  Bishop  Mellitus  refused  the 
sacrament  to  the  pagan  princes. 

"  Sebert,  departing  to  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  Heaven,  left  his 
three  sons,  who  were  yet  pagans,  heirs  of  his  temporal  kingdom  on 
earth.  Immediately  on  their  father's  decease  they  began  openly  to 
practise  idolatry  (though  whilst  he  lived  they  had  somewhat  re- 
frained}, and  also  gave  free  license  to  their  subjects  to  worship  idols. 
At  a  certain  time  these  princes,  seeing  the  Bishop  (of  London) 
administering  the  Sacrament  to  the  people  of  the  church,  after  the 

•  "  Parentalia"  (by  Wien's  grandson),  p.  226. 
VOL.  I.  K 


130  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

celebration  of  mass,  and  being  puffed  up  with  rude  and  barbarous 
folly,  spake,  as  the  common  report  is,  thus  unto  him  :  '  Why  dost  thou 
not  give  us,  also,  some  of  that  white  bread  which  thou  didst  give  unto 
our  father  Saba  and  which  thou  does  not  yet  cease  to  give  to  the 
people  in  the  church?'  He  answered,  'If  ye  will  be  washed  in  that 
wholesome  font  wherein  your  father  was  washed,  ye  may  likewise  eat 
of  this  blessed  bread  of  which  he  was  a  partaker ;  but  if  ye  condemn 
the  lavatory  of  life,  ye  can  in  no  wise  taste  the  bread  of  life.'  '  We  will 
not,'  they  rejoined,  '  enter  into  this  font  of  water,  for  we  know  that  we 
have  no  need  to  do  so ;  but  we  will  eat  of  that  bread  nevertheless.' 
And  when  they  had  been  often  and  earnestly  warned  by  the  bishop 
that  it  could  not  be,  and  that  no  man  could  partake  of  this  holy  obla- 
tion without  purification  and  cleansing  by  baptism,  they  at  length, 
in  the  height  of  their  rage,  said  to  him,  '  Well,  if  thou  wilt  not  comply 
with  us  in  the  small  matter  we  ask,  thou  shalt  no  longer  abide  in  our 
province  and  dominions,'  and  straightway  they  expelled  him,  command- 
ing that  he  and  all  his  company  should  quit  their  realm." — Bede. 

St.  Paul's  has  been  burnt  five  times  ;  thrice  by  fire  from 
heaven.  It  attained  its  final  magnificence  when,  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  it  was  a  vista  of  Gothic  aiches,  seven 
hundred  feet  in  length.  At  the  east  end  was  the  shrine  of 
St.  Erkenwald,  its  fourth  bishop,  the  son  of  King  Ofia, 
containing  a  great  sapphire  which  had  the  reputation 
of  curing  diseases  of  the  eye.  In  the  centre  of  the  nave  was 
the  tomb  of  Sir  John  Beauchamp,  son  of  the  great  Earl  of 
Warwick,  and  Constable  of  Dover — a  tomb  which  was  popu- 
larly known  as  that  of  Duke  Humphrey  (of  Gloucester), 
really  buried  at  St.  Albans.  The  rest  of  the  church  was 
crowded  with  monuments.  Against  the  south  wall  were  the 
tombs  of  two  Bishops  of  London,  Eustace  de  Fauconberge, 
Justice  of  Common  Pleas  in  the  reign  of  John,  and  Henry 
de  Wengham,  Chancellor  of  Henry  III.  In  St.  Dunstan's 
Chapel  was  the  fine  tomb  of  Henry  de  Lacy,  Earl  of  Lin- 
coln (1310),  who  left  his  name  to  Lincoln's  Inn.  Kemp, 
Bishop  of  London,  who  built  Paul's  Cross  Pulpit,  also  had 


MONUMENTS  OF  ST.   PAUL'S.  131 

a  chapel  of  his  own.  In  the  north  aisle  were  the  tombs  of 
Ralph  de  Hengham,  judge  in  the  time  of  Edward  I. ;  of 
Sir  Simon  Burley,  tutor  and  guardian  to  Richard  II.  (a 
noble  figure  in  armour  in  a  tomb  with  Gothic  arches) ;  and, 
ascending  to  a  far  eariier  time,  of  Sebba,  King  of  the  East 
Angles,  in  the  seventh  century;  and  of  Ethelred  the  Un- 
ready (1016),  son  of  Edgar  and  Elfrida,  in  whose  grave 
his  grandson  Edward  Atheling  is  also  believed  to  have 
been  buried. 

The  choir  of  St.  Paul's  was  as  entirely  surrounded  by 
important  tombs  as  those  of  Canterbury  and  West- 
minster are  now.  On  th<:  left  were  the  shrine  of  Bishop 
Roger  Niger;  the  oratory  of  Roger  de  Waltham,  canon 
in  the  time  of  Edward  II.  ;  and  the  magnificent  tomb 
of  John  of  Gaunt,  Duke  of  Lancaster  (1399),  son, 
father,  and  uncle  of  kings,  upon  which  he  was  represented 
with  his  first  wife  Blanche,  who  died  of  the  plague,  1369, 
and  in  which  his  second  wife,  Constance,  "  mulier  super 
feminas  innocens  et  devota,"  *  was  also  buried.  On  the  right 
was  the  tomb  of  Sir  Nicholas  Bacon  (1578),  father  of  the 
Lord  Chancellor  Bacon ;  and  the  gorgeous  monument  of 
Sir  Christopher  Hatton,  Lord  Chancellor  (1591),  one  of 
the  great  fashionable  tombs  of  Elizabeth's  time,  which  took 
so  much  room  as  only  to  allow  of  tablets  to  Sir  Philip 
Sydney  and  his  father-in-law,  Sir  Francis  Walsingham,  Eliza- 
beth's secretary,  thus  occasioning  Stow's  epigram  : — 

"  Philip  and  Francis  have  no  tomb, 
For  great  Christopher  takes  all  the  room." 

Tn    the   south  aisle    of  the    choir   were    monuments    to 
Dean  Colet,  founder  of  St.  Paul's  School,  and  to  Dr.  Donne, 

•   Walsingham. 


132  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

the  poet,   also   Dean    of  St.  Paul's.     In    the  north   choii 

aisle,  behind   the   tomb  of  John  of  Gaunt,  Vandyke   was 

buried  in  1641.* 

Against  the  wa'l  of  old  St.  Paul's  at  the  S.W.  corner  was 

the  parish   church  of  St.  Gregory,  which  was  pulled  down 

c.    1645.     It   was    the    existence  of   this    building   which 

caused   Fuller  to  describe   old  St.  Paul's  as  being  "  truly 

the   mother   church,   having   one    babe  in  her  body — St. 

Faith's,  and  another  in    her   arms — St.    Gregory's."     The 

north  cloister,  or   "  Pardon  Churchyard,"  was   surrounded 

by  the  frescoes  of  the  Dance  of  Death,    the  "  Dance    of 

Paul's,"  executed  for  John  Carpenter,  town-clerk  of  London 

in  the  reign  of  Henry  V.     Here  was  the  long-remembered 

epitaph : 

"Vixi,  peccavi,  penitui,  Naturae  cessi." 

A  chapel  founded  by  Thomas-a-Becket's  father,  Gilbert,  rose 
in  the  midst  of  the  cloister,  where  he  was  buried  with  his 
family  in  a  tomb  which  was  always  visited  by  a  new  Ford 
Mayor  when  he  attended  service  in  St.  Paul's :  it  was 
destroyed  with  the  cloister  in  1549  by  Edward,  Duke  of 
Somerset. 

"  Old  S.  Paul's  must  have  been  a  magnificent  building.  The  long 
perspective  view  of  the  twelve-bayed  nave  and  twelve-bayed  choir, 
with  a  splendid  wheel  window  at  the  East  end,  must  have  been  very 
striking.  The  Chapter  House  embosomed  in  its  Cloister ;  the  little 
Church  of  S.  Gregory  nestling  against  the  breast  of  the  tall  Cathedral ; 
the  enormously  lofty  and  majestic  steeple  with  its  graceful  flying 
buttresses,  together  with  the  various  chapels  and  shrines  filled  with 
precious  stones,  must  have  combined  to  produce  a  most  magnificent 
effect ;  and  the  number  of  tombs  and  monuments  of  illustrious  men 
must  have  given  an  interest  to  the  building,  perhaps  even  more  than 
equal  to  that  now  felt  in  Westminster  Abbey." — W.  Longman. 

•  For  the  other  tombs  of  St.  Paul's  sec  Weever's  "  Funeral  Monuments. 


DESECRATION  OF  ST.   PAUL'S.  133 

It  was  in  the  old  St.  Paul's  that  King  John,  in  12 13, 
acknowledged  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope.  There  (1337) 
Wickliffe  was  cited  to  appear  and  answer  for  his  heresies 
before  Courtenay,  Bishop  of  London,  and  came  attended 
and  protected  by  John  of  Gaunt,  and  a  long  train  of  illus- 
trious persons.  There  John  of  Gaunt's  son,  afterwards 
Henry  IV.,  wept  by  his  father's  grave,  and  there  with  mock- 
ing solemnity  he  exposed  the  body  of  Richard  II.  after  his 
murder  at  Pontefract,  and — 

•'  At  Poules  his  Masse  was  done  and  diryge, 
In  hers  royall,  semely  to  royalte ; 
The  Kyng  and  Lordes,  clothes  of  golde  there  ofterde, 
Some  VIII.  some  IX,  upon  his  hers  were  proferde." 

In  1401  the  first  English  martyr,  William  Sawtre,  was 
stripped  of  all  his  priestly  vestments  in  St.  Paul's  before 
being  sent  to  the  stake  at  Smithfield.  Hither,  after  the 
death  of  Henry  V.,  came  his  widow,  Katherine  de  Valois, 
in  a  state  litter  with  her  child  upon  her  knee,  and  the  little 
Henry  VI.  was  led  into  the  choir  by  the  Duke  Protector  and 
the  Duke  of  Exeter  that  he  might  be  seen  by  the  people. 
Here  the  body  of  the  same  unhappy  king  was  exhibited 
that  his  death  might  be  believed.  Here  also  the  bodies  of 
Warwick  the  king-maker  and  his  brother  were  exposed  for 
three  days.  On  Shrove-Tuesday,  1527,  the  Protestant 
Bible  was  publicly  burnt  in  St.  Paul's  by  Cardinal  VVolsey. 

Early  in  the  sixteenth  century  St.  Paul's  had  been  de- 
secrated to  such  an  extent  as  to  have  become  known  rather 
as  an  exchange  and  house  of  merchandise  than  as  a  church. 
Its  central  aisle,  says  Bishop  Earle,*  resounded  to  "a  kind 
of  still  roar  or  loud  whisper."  "  The  south  alley,"  writes 
Dekker,  in   1607,   "was  the  place  for   usury  and  popery, 

•  Microcosmographia. 


t34  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

the  north  for  simony,  the  horse-fair  in  the  midst  for  all  kind 
of  bargains,  meetings,  brawlings,  murthers,  conspiracies, 
and  the  font  for  ordinary  payments  of  money."  The  simony 
in  St.  Paul's  was  famous  even  in  Chaucer's  time.  His 
parson  is  described  as  one  who — 

" sette  not  his  benefice  to  hire 


And  left  his  sheep  accombered  in  the  mire 
And  ran  unto  London,  unto  S.  PouVs 
To  seeken  him  a  chanterie  for  souls,"  &c. 

In  the  north  aisle  was  the  "  Si  Quis  Door,"  so  called  from 
the  placards  beginning  "  Si  quis  invenerit "  with  which  it 
was  defiled.  Its  situation  is  pointed  out  by  a  passage  in 
Hall's  satires. 

"  Savvst  thou  ever  Si  quis  patched  on  Paul's  Church  door, 
To  seek  some  vacant  vicarage  before  ? 
Who  wants  a  churchman  that  can  service  say, 
Read  fast  and  fair  his  monthly  homily, 
And  wed,  and  bury,  and  make  christian  souls, 
Come  to  the  left-side  alley  of  Saint  Paul's." 

Virgidemiarum,  Sat.  v.  Bk.  Hi. 

That  people  were  in  the  habit  of  bringing  burthens  into 
the  church  is  proved  by  the  inscription  over  the  poor-box — 

"  And  those  that  shall  enter  within  the  church  doore, 
"With  burthen  or  basket,  must  give  to  the  poore. 
And  if  there  be  any  aske  what  they  must  pay, 
— To  this  Box  a  penny,  ere  they  pass  away." 

The  middle  aisle  of  the  nave,  called  "  Paul's  Walk,"  Or 
"  Duke  Humphrey's  Walk  "  from  the  tomb  there,  was  the 
fashionable  promenade  of  London,  and  "  Paul's  Walkers  "* 
was  the  popular  name  for  "  young  men  about  town." 

"  It  was  the  fashion  of  the  times,  for  the  principal  gentry,  lords, 
commons,  and  all  professions,  not  meerely  mechanick,  to  meet  in  St. 

*  Moscr's  "  Em  op.  Mag.,"  July,  1817, 


NEW  ST.    PAUL'S.  135 

Paul's  Church  by  eleven,  and  walk  in  the  middle  ile  till  twelve,  and 
after  dinner  from  three  to  six,  during  which  time  some  discoursed  oi 
businesse,  others  of  newes." — Francis  Osborne.     1658. 

"  While  Devotion  meets  at  her  prayers,  doth  Profanation  walk  under 
her  nose  in  contempt  of  religion." — Dekker.     1607. 

A  Corinthian  portico,  of  which  the  first  stone  was  laid  by 

Laud,  was  built   by  Inigo  Jones,  to  lessen   this  confusion, 

bung  intended,  says  Dryden,  as  "an  ambulatory  for  such 

as  usually  walking  in  the  body  of  the  church  destroyed  the 

solemn  service  of  the  choir."     It  is  believed  that  Charles  I. 

meant  Uiis  portico  merely  as  the  first  instalment  of  a  new 

cathedral,   but  his  attention  was   otherwise   occupied,  and 

under  the  Commonwealth,  the  soldiers  of  Cromwell  stabled 

their    horses  in   the    nave.      With  the    Restoration   it   was 

intended  to  restore  the  old  church,  but,  in   the  words  of 

Dryden, — 

"The  daring  flames  peep'd  in,  and  saw  from  far 
The  awful  beauties  of  the  sacred  quire  : 
And  since  it  was  profan'd  by  civil  war, 
Heaveu  thought  it  fit  to  have  it  purg'd  by  fire." 

Annus  M  iiabilis. 

Christopher  Wren,  son  of  a  Dean  of  Windsor,  was 
chosen  as  the  architect  of  the  new  church,  and  on  June 
21,  1675,  was  la'd  the  first  stone  of  the  New  St.  Faul's, 
which  was  finished  in  thirty-five  years.  When  he  was  occu- 
pied on  St.  Paul's,  Wren  was  consulted  as  lo  the  repairs  of 
Ely  Cathedral,  a  building  which  took  such  hold  upon  his 
mind,  that,  in  spite  of  the  difference  of  styles,  an  architect 
may  detect  his  admiration  for  the  great  church  of  the 
eastern  counties  in  many  details  of  St.  Paul's,  not  always 
with  advantage,  as  in  the  case  of  the  meaningless  arches 
which  break  the  simplicity  of  the  cornice  in  the  pillars 
of  the  dome.      The    whole    cost,   ,£747,954   zs.    9*/.,   was 


I 36  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

paid  by  a  tax  on  every  chaldron  of  coal  brought  into 
the  Port  of  London,  on  which  account  it  is  said  that 
the  cathedral  has  a  special  claim  of  its  own  to  its  smoky 
exterior.  It  will  be  admitted  that,  though  in  general 
efiect  there  is  nothing  in  the  same  style  of  architecture 
which  exceeds  the  exterior  of  St.  Paul's,  it  has  not  a 
single  detail  deserving  of  attention,  except  the  Phoenix 
over  the  south  portico,  which  was  executed  by  Cibber, 
and  commemorates  the  curious  fact  narrated  in  the 
"  Parentalia,"  that  the  very  first  stone  which  Sir  Chris- 
topher Wren  directed  a  mason  to  bring  from  the  rubbish 
of  the  old  church  to  serve  as  a  mark  for  the  centre  of  the 
dome  in  his  plans,  was  inscribed  with  the  single  word 
Resurgam — I  shall  rise  again.  The  other  ornaments  and 
statues  are  chiefly  by  Bird,  a  most  inferior  sculptor.  Those 
who  find  greater  faults  must,  however,  remember  that 
St.  Paul's,  as  it  now  stands,  is  not  according  to  the  first 
design  of  Wren,  the  rejection  of  which  cost  him  bitter  tears. 
Even  in  his  after  work  he  met  with  so  many  rubs  and 
ruffles,  and  was  so  insufficiently  paid,  that  the  Duchess  of 
Marlborough  said,  in  allusion  to  his  scaffold  labours,  "  He 
is  dragged  up  and  down  in  a  basket  two  or  three  times  in  a 
week  for  an  insignificant  ^200  a  year." 

"  The  exterior  of  S.  Paul's  consists  throughout  of  two  orders,  the 
lower  being  Corinthian,  the  upper  Composite.  It  is  built  externally 
in  two  stories,  in  both  of  which,  except  at  the  north  and  south  porticos 
and  at  the  west  front,  the  whole  of  the  entablatures  rest  on  coupled 
pilasters,  between  which,  in  the  lower  order,  a  range  of  circular-headed 
windows  is  introduced.  But  in  the  order  above,  the  corresponding 
spaces  are  occupied  by  dressed  niches  standing  on  pedestals  pierced 
with  openings  to  light  the  passages  in  the  roof  over  the  side  aisles. 
The  upper  order  is  nothing  but  a  screen  to  hide  the  flying  buttresses 
c.iiried  across  from  the  outer  walls  to  resist  the  thrust  of  the  great 
vaulting. "—  W.  Longman. 


STATUE   OF  QUEEN  ANNE. 


137 


That  the  west  front  of  the  cathedral  does  not  exactly 
face  Ludgate  Hill  is  due  to  the  fact  that  too  many  houses 
were  already  built  to  allow  of  it,  the  commissioners  for 
reconstructing  the  city  having  made  their  plans  before 
anything  was  decided  about  the  new  cathedral.  The 
Statue  of  Queen  Amu,  in  front  of  the  church,  has  gained 
a   certain    picturesqueness  through  age,   and   the   fine  old 


In  front  of  St.  Paul's. 


railing  of  wrought  Lamberhurst  iron  which  surrounds  it. 
It  is  historically  interesting  here  as  commemorating  the 
frequent  state  visits  of  Queen  Anne  to  the  church  to  return 
public  thanks  for  the  repeated  victories  of  the  Duke  of 
Marlborough.  Lately  the  effect  of  the  west  front  has,  in 
the  opinion  of  many,  been  much  injured  by  the  removal 
of  the   iron    railing  of  the   churchyard  which   (though   not 


138  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

part  of  Wren's  design)  was  invaluable  for  comparison  and 
measurement,  and  which  fully  carried  out  the  old  Gothic 
theory  that  a  slight  and  partial  concealment  only  gives 
additional  dignity  to  a  really  grand  building.  Besides,  the 
railing  was  in  itself  fine,  and  (part  of  it  remains  at  the 
sides)  cost  above  ^11,202.  It  must,  however,  be  con- 
ceded that  the  railing  was  first  put  up  in  opposition  to 
the  wish  of  Wren,  who  objected  to  its  height  as  con- 
cealing the  base  of  the  cathedral  and  the  western  flight  of 
steps ;  and  that  its  destruction  was  chiefly  due  to  the 
wish  of  Dean  Milman,  who  abused  it  as  a  "heavy,  clumsy, 
misplaced  fence." 

It  may  be  interesting  to  those  who  are  acquainted  with 
the  two  great  churches  to  compare  their  proportions  on  the 

spot 

St.  Paul's.  St.  Peter's. 

According  to  Fontana's  plan* 

Length 500 630 

Breadth 250 440 

Width  of  nave  1 18 220 

Height  to  top  of  Cross  365 437 

The  Interior  of  St.  Paul's  is  not  without  a  grandeur  of 
its  own,  but  in  detail  it  is  bare,  cold,  and  uninteresting, 
though  Wren  intended  to  have  lined  the  dome  with  mosaics, 
and  to  have  placed  a  grand  baldacchino  in  the  choir. 
Though  a  comparison  with  St.  Peter's  inevitably  forces 
itself  upon  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  great  Roman 
basilica,  there  can  scarcely  be  a  greater  contrast  than  be- 
tween the  two  buildings.  There,  all  is  blazing  with  precious 
marbles  ;  here,  there  is  no  colour  except  from  the  poor  glass 
of  the  eastern  windows,  or  where  a  tattered  banner  waves 
above  a   hero's  monument.      In  the  blue  depths   of  the 


INTERIOR    OF  ST.   PAUL'S.  139 

misty  dome,  the  London  fog  loves  to  linger,  and  hides  the 
remains  of  some  feeble  frescoes  by  Thornhill,  Hogarth's 
father-in-law.  In  St.  Paul's,  as  in  St.  Peter's,  the  statues 
on  the  monuments  destroy  the  natural  proportion  of  the 
arches  by  their  monstrous  size,  but  they  have  seldom  any 
beauty  or  grace  to  excuse  them.  The  week-day  services* 
are  thinly  attended,  and,  from  the  nave,  it  seems  as  if  the 
knot  of  worshippers  near  the  choir  were  lost  in  the  im- 
mensity, and  the  peals  of  the  organ  and  the  voices  of  the 
choristers  were  vibrating  through  an  arcaded  solitude.  In 
1773,  Dr.  Newton,  as  Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  conceded  to  the 
wish  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  then  President  of  the  Academy, 
that  the  unsightly  blank  spaces  on  the  walls  of  the  cathe- 
dral should  be  filled  with  works  by  academicians.  Sir  Joshua 
himself  promised  the  Nativity,  West  the  Delivery  of  the 
Law  by  Moses.  Barry,  Dance,  Cipriani,  and  Angelica 
Kaufmann  were  selected  by  the  Academy  for  the  other 
works.  But  when  Dr.  Terrick,  then  Bishop  of  London, 
heard  of  the  intention,  he  peremptorily  refused  his  consent. 
■ — "Whilst  I  live  and  have  the  power,"  he  wrote  to  Bishop 
Newton,  "  I  will  never  suffer  the  doors  of  the  Metropolitan 
Church  to  be  opened  to  Popery."  It  was  then  proposed 
only  to  put  up  the  works  of  West  and  Reynolds — the 
Foundation  of  the  Law  and  Gospel — over  the  doors  of  the 
north  and  south  aisles,  but  the  concession  was  absolutely 
refused,  and  the  cathedral  was  left  in  its  bareness. t 

The  central  space  under  the  dome  is  now  employed  for 
the  Sunday  Evening  Service,  a  use  which  Dean  Milman 
considered  "  was  no  doubt  contemplated  by  Wren." 

•  The  servires  a^e  at  10  a.m.  and  >.jo  p.m. 

t  See  Leslie  and  Taylor's  "  Life  of  Sir  J.  Reynold*." 


140  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

"  Many  persons  entering  the  cathedral  suppose  that  the  dome  over 
their  heads  is  the  actual  lining  of  the  external  dome.  They  are  not 
aware  that  it  is  a  shell,  of  a  different  form  from  the  outer  structure, 
with  a  brick  cone  between  it  and  the  outer  skin — so  to  speak ;  that 
this  brick  cone  is  supported  by  the  main  walls  and  the  great  arches  of 
the  Cathedral,  and  that  the  brick  cone  supports  the  outer  structure, 
the  lantern,  the  upper  cupola,  and  the  gilt  cross  and  ball ;  or  that 
again  between  the  brick  cone  and  the  outer  skin  is  a  curious  net-work 
of  wooden  beams  supporting  the  latter." — W.  Longman. 

Over  the  north  porch  is  an  inscription  to  Sir  Christopher 
Wren,  ending  with  the  "  four  words  which  comprehend  his 
merit  and  his  fame," — "  Si  monumentum  requiris,  circum- 
spice."  The  oratories  at  the  sides  of  the  nave  were  added 
against  the  wishes  of  Wren,  at  the  instance  of  the  Duke  of 
York,  who  secretly  wished  to  have  them  ready  for  Roman 
Catholic  services,  as  soon  as  an  opportunity  occurred. 
They  have  been  greatly  condemned,  as  interfering  in  the 
lines  of  the  building  on  the  outside,  but  do  not  affect  the 
interior.  One  of  them  is  appropriated  as  a  Baptistery. 
That  which  opens  from  the  south  aisle,  long  the  Bishop's 
Consistory  Court,  contains  the  monument,  by  A.  G.  Stevens, 
of  Arthur,  First  Duke  of  Wellington,  the  noblest  tomb 
erected  in  England  since  Torregiano  was  working  at  West- 
minster. The  aged  Duke  lies,  like  a  Scaliger  of  Verona, 
deeply  sleeping  upon  a  lofty  bronze  sarcophagus.  Around 
the  base  are  the  names  of  his  victories.  At  the  sides  of  the 
canopy,  which  is  supported  by  noble  pillars  of  the  best 
period  of  the  Renaissance,  are  grand  figures  in  bronze,  of 
Courage  suppressing  Cowardice,  and  Virtue  suppressing 
Vice.  The  whole  was  to  have  been  surmounted,  like  the 
great  tomb  of  Can  Grande,  by  an  equestrian  statue ;  but 
this  was  opposed  by  Dean  Milman,  and  the  artist,  the 
greatest  sculptor  of  our  time,  was  snatched  away  before  his 


MONUMENTS  OF  ST.   PAUL'S.  1,1 

work  was  completed,  and  before  England  had  awaked  to 
realise  that  it  possessed  a  worthy  follower  of  Michael 
Angelo. 

The  narrow  effect  of  the  choir  is  much  increased  by 
the  organ  galleries  on  either  side  the  entrance,  and  the 
carved  stalls  by  Grinling  Gibbons,  for  which  he  received 
j£I-333  7s-  5^'  The  organ  (1694)  is  by  Dr.  Schmydt, 
who  constructed  that  at  the  Temple. 

"  I  should  wish  to  see  such  decorations  introduced  into  St.  Paul's 
as  may  give  splendour,  while  they  would  not  disturb  the  solemnity,  or 
the  exquisitely  harmonious  simplicity,  of  the  edifice ;  some  colour  to 
enliven  and  gladden  the  eye,  from  foreign  or  native  marbles,  the  most 
permanent  and  safe  modes  of  embellishing  a  building  exposed  to  the 
atmosphere  of  London.  I  would  see  the  dome,  instead  of  brooding 
like  a  dead  weight  over  the  area  below,  expanding  and  elevating  the 
soul  towards  Heaven.  I  would  see  the  sullen  white  of  the  roof,  the 
arches,  the  cornices,  the  capitals,  and  the  walls,  broken  and  relieved 
by  gilding,  as  we  find  it  by  experience  the  most  lasting,  as  well  as  the 
most  appropriate  decoration.  1  would  see  the  adornment  carried  out 
in  a  rich  and  harmonious  (and  as  far  as  possible  from  gaudy)  style,  in 
unison  with  our  simpler  form  of  worship." — Dean  Milman — Letter  to 
the  Bishop  of  London. 

The  monuments  are  mostly  merely  commemorative,  and 
are  nearly  all  feeble  and  meretricious,  in  many  cases  abso- 
lutely ludicrous.  Beneath  the  dome  are  the  four  which 
were  first  erected  in  the  cathedral.  Those  of  Howard  and 
Johnson,  on  either  side  of  the  entrance  to  the  choir,  are 
by  John  Bacon,  whose  works  had  such  extraordinary  renown 
in  the  last  century.  The  prison  key  which  is  held  by  Howard 
and  the  scroll  in  the  hand  of  Johnson  "  countenance  the 
mistake  of  a  distinguished  foreigner  who  paid  his  respects 
to  them  as  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul."*  The  statue  on  the 
right   in  a  Roman  toga  and  tunic,  bare-legged   and   san- 

*  Allan  Cunningham's  "  Life  of  Bacon." 


142  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

dalled,  is  intended  for  Howard,  who  died,  1790,  at  Cherson 
in  Russian  Tartary,  whither  he  went  in  the  benevolent 
hope  of  discovering  a  remedy  for  the  Plague. 

"  The  first  statue  admitted  at  S.  Paul's  was,  not  that  of  statesman, 
warrior  or  even  of  sovereign ;  it  was  that  of  John  Howard  the  pilgrim, 
not  to  gorgeous  shrines  of  saints  and  martyrs,  not  even  to  holy  lands, 
but  to  the  loathsome  depths  and  darkness  of  the  prisons  throughout 
what  called  itself  the  civilised  world.  Howard  first  exposed  to  the 
shuddering  sight  of  mankind  the  horrible  barbarities,  the  foul  and 
abominable  secrets,  of  those  dens  of  unmitigated  suffering.  By  the 
exposure  he  at  least  let  some  light  and  air  into  those  earthly  hells. 
Perhaps  no  man  has  assuaged  so  much  human  misery  as  John  Howard  ; 
and  John  Howard  rightly  took  his  place  at  one  corner  of  the  dome  of 
S.  Paul's,  the  genuine  disciple  of  Him  among  whose  titles  to  our 
veneration  and  love  not  the  least  befitting,  not  the  least  glorious,  was 
that  He  '  went  about  doing  good.'  " — Dean  Milman. 

The  statue  of  Dr.  Johnson  (buried  at  Westminster)  was 
erected  at  the  urgent  desire  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 
The  figure,  representing  a  half-naked  muscular  athlete, 
is  utterly  uncharacteristic,  yet  its  associations  are  in- 
teresting. 

"  Though  Johnson  was  buried  in  the  Abbey  among  his  brother  men 
of  letters,  yet  there  was  a  singular  propriety  in  the  erection  of  Johnson's 
statue  in  S.  Paul's.  Among  the  most  frequent  and  regular  communi- 
cants at  the  altar  of  the  cathedral  might  be  seen  a  man  whose  ungainly 
gestures  and  contortions  of  countenance  evinced  his  profound  awe, 
reverence,  and  satisfaction  at  that  awful  mystery ;  this  was  Samuel 
Johnson,  who  on  all  the  great  festivals  wandered  up  from  his  humble 
lodgings  in  Bolt  Court,  or  its  neighbourhood,  to  the  Cathedral.  John- 
son might  be  well  received  as  the  representative  of  the  literature  of 
England." — Dean  Milman. 

.  The  pedestal,  on  which  the  statue  stands,  bears  a  long 
Latin  inscription  by  Dr.  Parr,  which  aptly  describes  Johnson 
as  "ponderibus  verborum  admirabilis." 

"  The  inscription  is  in  a  language  which  ten  millions  out  of  twelve 
lhat  see  it  cannot  read.    To  come  a  step  lower,  there  is  a  period  inserted 


MONUMENTS   OF  ST.   PAULS.  143 

between  even*  word.  In  the  ancient  inscription,  which  this  professes 
(o  imitate,  similar  marks  are  placed,  but  then  spaces  were  not  left 
between  the  words.  In  short,  the  mark  in  the  old  Latin  inscriptions 
had  a  meaning  — the  dot  in  the  modem  pedantic  epitaph  has  no  mean- 
ing at  all,  and  inertly  embarrasses  the  sense." — Allan  Cunningham. 

The  next  monument  erected  was  that  by  Flaxman  to 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds — "  pictorum  sui  saeculi  facile  princeps." 
Then  came  the  monument,  by  J.  Bacon,  of  Sir  William 
Jones,  who  "first  opened  the  poetry  and  wisdom  of  our 
Indian  Empire  to  wondering  Europe."  *  After  these  statues 
followed  a  series  of  the  heroes  of  Nelson's  naval  victories 
and  of  Indian  warriors  and  statesmen.  Few  of  these  call  for 
attention  except  from  their  absurdity,  yet,  as  many  visitors 
make  the  round  of  the  church,  we  may  notice  (omitting 
reliefs  invisible  from  their  high  position,  and  beginning 
at  the  south-west  door,  where  the  banners  from  Inkerman 
hang)  those  of — 

Captain  R.  R 'un die  Burgess  (1797),  the  Inst  work  of  Ranks.  The 
captain,  Commander  of  the  Ardent,  who  fell  in  the  naval  battle  with 
the  Dutch  off  Camperdown,  under  Admiral  Rodney,  is  represented 
perfectly  naked,  apathetically  receiving  a  sword  from  Victory. 

Thomas  Fan shawe  Middleton,  Bishop  of  Calcutta  (1822),  is  repre- 
sented theatrically  blessing  two  native  converts,  in  a  group  by  J.  G. 
Lough. 

Captain  E.  M.  Lyons,  mortally  wounded  (1855)  on  board  the 
Miranda  at  Sebastopol  — a  relief  by  G.  Noble. 

Captain  G.  Blagdon  Westcott,  who  fell  at  the  Battle  of  the  Nile 
(1805),  by  Banks  -he  is  represented  sinking  into  the  arms  of  Victory 
and  upsetting  her  by  his  fall. 

"The  two  naval  officers  (Westcott  and  Burgess)  are  naked,  which 
destroys  historic  probability  ;  it  cannot  be  a  representation  of  what 
happened,  for  no  British  warriors  go  naked  into  battle,  or  wear  sandals 
or  Asiatic  mantles.  As  little  can  it  be  accepted  as  strictly  poetic,  for 
the  heads  of  the  heroes  are  modern  and  the  bodies  antique  ;  every-day 
noses  and  chins   must  not  be  supported  on  bodies  moulded  according 

*  I>can  Mihnan. 


144  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

to  the  god-like  proportions  of  the  Greek  statues.  Having  offended 
alike  the  lovers  of  poetry  and  the  lovers  of  truth,  Banks  next  gave 
offence  to  certain  grave  divines,  who  noted  that  the  small  line  of 
drapery  which  droops  over  the  shoulder  as  far  as  the  middle  of  Captain 
Burgess, 

'In  longitude  was  sairly  scanty,' 

like  the  drapery  of  the  young  witch  of  the  poet.  Banks  added  a  hand- 
breadth  to  it  with  no  little  reluctance.  When  churchmen  declared 
themselves  satisfied,  the  ladies  thought  they  might  venture  to  draw 
near — but  the  flutter  of  fans  and  the  averting  of  faces  was  prodigious. 
That  Victory,  a  modest  and  well-draped  dame,  should  approach  an 
undrest  dying  man,  and  crown  him  with  laurel,  might  be  endured— 
but  how  a  well-dressed  young  lady  could  think  of  presenting  a  sword 
to  a  naked  gentleman  went  far  beyond  all  then  notions  of  propriety." 
—Allan  Cunningham. 

Sir  Isaac  Brock,  who  fell  in  the  defence  of  Queenstown  (1812) — a 
relief  by  Westmacott. 

Dr.  William  Babington  (1833) — a  statue  by  Behnes. 

Admiral  Lord  Lyons  (1858) — a  statue  by  Noble. 

Sir  Ralph  Abercromby  (1801),  mortally  wounded  on  the  landing  of 
the  British  troops  in  Egypt — a  wildly  confused  group  by  Westmacott. 

Sir  John  Moore,  who  fell  at  Corunna  (1809),  by  Bacon—  he  is  re- 
presented as  lowered  into  his  coffin  by  Fame  and  a  naked  soldier. 

Sir  Astley  Paston  Cooper,  the  eminent  surgeon  (1842) — a  statue  by 
Batty. 

Sir  W.  Haste  (1833)— a  statue  by  T.  Campbell. 

Sir  Robert  Rollo  Gillespie  (1804),  who  fell  at  Kalunga  in  Napaul — a 
statue  by  Chantrey. 

Horatio,  Lord  Nelson,  who  fell  at  Trafalgar  (1805) — a  group  by  Flax- 
man,  with  a  most  abominable  lion. 

Charles  Alarquis  Cornwallis,  Governor-General  of  Bengal  (1805) — 
a  group  by  Rossi. 

Sir  E.  Pakenham  and  General  Samuel  Gibbs,  who  fell  at  the  siege 
of  New  Orleans  (18 15) — statues  by  Westmacott. 

George  Elliott,  Lord  Heathfield  (1790),  the  Defender  of  Gibraltar — 
a  statue  by  Rossi. 

y.  M.  W.  Turner,  the  artist  (1851) — a  statue  by  Macdowell. 

Cuthbert,  Lord  Collingwood  (1810),  who  died  in  command  of  the 
Mediterranean  Fleet — a  monument  by  R.  Westmacott.  The  almost 
naked  body  of  the  Admiral  lies  in  a  galley. 

Admiral  Earl  Hmve  (1 799),  who  vanquished  the  French  fleet  off 
Ushaut — a  fine  statue,  in  a  group  by  Flaxman. 


MONUMENTS  OF  ST.  PAUL'S,  145 

Sit  John  Thomas  Jones  (1843) — statue  by  Behnes. 

Sir  Herry  Montgomery  Lawrence,  who  died  in  the  defence  of  Luck- 
now  (1857) — a  statue  by  Lough. 

(South  aisle  of  Choir)  Henry  Milman,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's  (1869) — 
an  altar  tomb  with  an  admirable  portrait  statue  by  F.  J.  Williamson. 

Charles  Janies  Blom  field,  Bishop  of  London  (1756) — an  altar  tomb 
v  ith  a  striking  statue  by  G.  Richmond,  R.A. 

*  Reginald  Heber,  Bishop  of  Calcutta — a  striking  figure  and  likeness 
by  Chantrey. 

Over  door)  General  Foord  Bowes,  who  fell  at  Salamanca  (18 12) — a 
relief  by  Chantrey. 

Passing  the  Choir,  in  the  North  Aisle)  Henry  Hallam,  the  historian 
(1859) — a  statue  by  Theed. 

Admiral  Charles  Napier  (i860) — a  relief  by  Adams. 

Captain  Robert  Mosse  and  Captain  Edinond  Riou,  who  fell  in 
attacking  Copenhagen  (1801) — a  group  of  angels  holding  medallions 
by  C.  Rossi. 

Sir  William  Ponsonby,  who  fell  at  Waterloo  (1815).  The  hero  is  re- 
presented stark  naked  in  this  ridiculous  monument  by  E.  H.  Baily. 

General  Charles  T.  Napier  (1853) — a  statue  by  Adams. 

Adam,  Viscount  Duncan  (1814),  victorious  over  the  Dutch  fleet  in 
1799  — a  statue  by  Westmacott. 

General  Arthur  Go?-e  and  General  John  Byrne  Skeritt,  who  fell  at 
the  siege  of  Bergen  ap  Zoom,  1814 — a  group  by  Chantrey. 

General  T.  Dundas  (1795),  distinguished  by  the  reduction  of  the 
French  West  Indian  Islands — monument  by  J.  Bacon,  fun. 

Captain  Robert  Faulknor,  commander  of  the  Blanche,  who  fell  in  a 
naval  battle  in  the  West  Indies,  1796 — monument  by  Rossi. 

General  Williatn  Francis  Patrick  Napier  ( 1 860)—  a  statue  by  Adams. 

General  A?idrew  Hay,  who  fell  at  Bayonne,  18 14.  The  general  is 
seen  falling,  in  full  uniform,  into  the  arms  of  a  naked  soldier,  in  a  mar- 
vellous group  by  H.  Hopper. 

John,  Earl  of  St.  Vincent,  the  hero  of  Cape  St.  Vincent  (1823)— by 
Baily. 

Sir  Thomas  Pi cton,  killed  at  Waterloo  (1815) — a  ludicrous  figure  of  a 
Roma"  Warrior  receiving  a  wreath  from  Victory  by  Gahagan. 

Admiral  Lord  Rodney  (1792) — a  group  by  C.  Rossi. 

Mountstuart  Elphinstone,  Governor  of  Bombay  (1859) — a  statue  by 
Noble. 

Admiral  Sir  Pulteney  Malcolm  (1838) — a  statue  by  Baily. 

Brass  Plates  to  the  Officers  and  Seamen  lost  in  H.M.S.  Captain, 
Sept.  1,  1870. 

*  Frederick,  Viscount  Melbourne,  the  early  Prime  Minister  of  Queen 

VOL.  I.  L 


146  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Victoria — two  grand  sleeping  angels  leaning  on  their  swords  by  a  bronze 
doorway  ;  a  fine  work  of  Marochetti. 

Sir  A.  H'ellesley  Torre7is,  who  fell  at  Inkerman,  1855.  Relief  in 
memory  of  Officers  and  Privates  who  fell  iu  the  Crimean  war,  1854 — 
1856. 

The  most  interesting  portion  of  the  church  is  the  Crypt, 
where,  at  the  eastern  extremity,  are  gathered  nearly  all  the 
remains  of  the  tombs  which  were  saved  from  the  old 
St.  Paul's.  Here  repose  the  head  and  half  the  body  of 
Sir  Nicholas  Bacon  (1579),  Lord  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal 
in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  and  father  of  Francis,  Lord  Bacon. 
Other  fragments  represent  William  Cokain,  1626  ;  William 
Hewit,  1597  ;  and  John  Wolley  and  his  wife,  1595. 
There  are  tablets  to  "Sir  Simon  Baskerville  the  rich," 
physician  to  James  I.  and  Charles  I.,  1641 ;  and  to  Brian, 
Bishop  of  Chester,  1661.  The  tomb  of  John  Martin,  book- 
seller, and  his  wife,  1680,  was  probably  the  first  monument 
erected  in  the  crypt  of  new  St.  Paul's.  The  east  end  of 
the  crypt  is  used  for  service  as  a  chapel :  its  mosaic  pave- 
ment is  the  work  of  the  female  penitents  at  Wokingham. 
Only  one  figure  from  the  old  St.  Paul's  has  been  lately  given 
a  place  in  the  new  church.  In  the  Dean's  Aisle  now  stands 
erect  the' strange  figure  from  the  monument  of  Dr.  Donnt 
the  Poet-Dean,  whose  sermons,  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Milman, 
held  the  congregation  "enthralled,  unwearied,  unsatiated," 
and  caused  one  of  his  poetical  panegyrists  to  write — 

"  And  never  were  we  wearied,  till  we  saw 
The  hour,  and  but  an  hour,  to  end  did  draw." 

Donne's  friend,  Sir  Henry  Wootton,  said  of  this  statue,  "  It 
seems  to  breathe  faintly,  and  posterity  shall  look  upon  it  as 
a  kind  of  artificial  miracle."     The  Dean  is   represented  in 


MONUMENT  OF  DR.   DONNE.  147 

a  winding-sheet.  By  the  suggestion  of  his  friend  Dr.  Fox. 
he  stripped  himself  in  his  study,  draped  himself  in  hi? 
shroud,  and,  standing  upon  an  urn,  which  he  had  procured 
for  the  purpose,  closed  his  eyes,  and  so  stood  for  a  por- 
trait, which  was  afterwards  the  object  of  his  perpetual  con- 
templation, and  which  after  his  death  in  1630  was  repro- 
duced in  stone  by  Nicholas  Stone,  the  famous  sculptor.  The 
present  position  of  the  statue  unfortunately  renders  abortive 
the  concluding  lines  of  the  Latin  epitaph,  which  refer  to 
the  eastward  position  of  the  figure. 

"  John  Donne,  Doctor  of  Divinity,  after  various  studies  — pursued  by 
him  from  his  earliest  years  with  assiduity,  and  not  without  success, — 
entered  into  Holy  Orders,  under  the  influence  and  impulse  of  the 
Divine  Spirit,  and  by  the  advice  and  exhortation  of  King  James,  in  the 
year  of  his  Saviour,  1614,  and  of  his  own  age,  42.  Having  been 
invested  with  the  Deanery  of  this  church,  Nov.  27th,  1621,  he  was 
Stripped  of  it  by  death,  on  the  last  day  of  March,  1631,  and  here, 
though  set  in  dust,  he  beholdeth  Hun  whose  name  is  the  Rising."  * 

Dryden  calls  Donne — 

"  The  greatest  wit,  though  not  the  greatest  poet,  of  our  nation ;  " 

and  Izaak  Walton  describes  him  as — 

"  A  preacher  in  earnest ;  weeping  sometimes  for  his  auditory,  some- 
times with  them  ;  always  preaching  to  himself  like  an  angel  from  a 
cloud,  but  in  none  ;  carrying  some,  as  St.  Paul  was,  to  heaven,  in  holy 
raptures ;  and  enticing  others  by  a  sacred  art  and  courtship  to  amend 
their  lives  ;  here  picturing  a  vice  so  as  to  make  it  ugly  to  those  that 
practised  it,  and  a  virtue  so  as  to  make  it  beloved  even  by  those  who 
loved  it  not ;  and  all  this  with  a  most  particular  grace  and  an  inexpres- 
sible addition  of  comeliness." 

In  the  Crypt,  not  far  from  the  old  St.  Paul's  tombs,  the 
revered  Dean  Milman,  the  .great  historian  of  the  church 
(best  known,  perhaps,  by  his  "  History  of  the  Jews,"  his 

"  Translation  by  Archdeacon  Wrangham  in  "  Walton's  Lives." 


148  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

"  History  of  Latin  Christianity,"  and  his  contributions  to 
"  Heber's  Hymns  "),  is  now  buried  under  a  simple  tomb 
ornamented  with  a  raised  cross.  In  a  recess  on  the  south 
is  the  slab  tomb  of  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  and  near  him, 
in  other  chapels,  Robert  Mylne,  the  architect  of  old  Black- 
friars  Bridge,  and  John  Rennie,  the  architect  of  Waterloo 
Bridge.  Beneath  the  pavement  lies  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds 
(1742),  who  had  an  almost  royal  funeral  in  St.  Paul's, 
dukes  and  marquises  contending  for  the  honour  of  being 
his  pall-bearers.  Around  him  are  buried  his  disciples 
and  followers  —  Lawrence  (1830),  Barry  (1S06),  Opie 
(1807),  West  (1820),  Fuseli  (1825) ;  but  the  most  remark- 
able grave  is  that  of  William  Mallory  Turner,  whose  dying 
request  was  that  he  might  be  buried  as  near  as  possible  to 
Sir  Joshua.  * 

Where  the  heavy  pillars  and  arches  gather  thick  beneath 
the  dome,  in  spite  of  his  memorable  words  at  the  battle  of 
the  Nile — "  Victory  or  Westminster  Abbey  " — is  the  grave  of 
Lord  Nelson.  Followed  to  the  grave  by  the  seven  sons  of  his 
sovereign,  he  was  buried  here  in  1806,  when  Dean  Milman, 
who  was  present,  "  heard,  or  seemed  to  hear,  the  low  wail  of 
the  sailors  who  encircled  the  remains  of  their  admiral." 
They  tore  to  pieces  the  largest  of  the  flags  of  the  Victory, 
which  waved  above  his  grave ;  the  rest  were  buried  with  his 
coffin.* 

The  sarcophagus  of  Nelson  was  designed  and  executed 
for  Cardinal  Wolsey  by  the  famous  Torregiano,  and  was 
intended  to  contain  the  body  of  Henry  VIII.  in  the  tcmb- 
house  at  Windsor.  It  encloses  the  coffin  made  from  the 
mast  of  the  ship  L  Orient,  which  was  presented  to  Nelson, 

•  The  Times,  Jan.  10,  1806. 


LIBRARY  OF  ST.  PAUL'S.  149 

after  the  battle  of  the  Nile,  by  Ben  Hallowell,  captain  of 
the  Swiflsure,  that,  when  he  was  tired  of  life,  he  might 
"  be  buried  in  one  of  his  own  trophies."  On  either  side 
of  Nelson  repose  the  minor  heroes  of  Trafalgar,  Coilingivood 
(1S10)  and  Lord  Northesk;  Picion  also  lies  near  him,  but 
outside  the  surrounding  arches. 

A  second  huge  sarcophagus  of  porphyry  resting  on  lions 
is  the  tomb  where  Arthur  Wellesley,  Duke  of  Welling/on, 
was  laid  in  1852,  in  the  presence  of  15,000  spectators,  Dean 
Milman,  who  had  been  present  at  Nelson's  funeral,  then 
reading  the  service.  Beyond  the  tomb  of  Nelson,  in  a 
ghastly  ghost- befitting  chamber  hung  with  the  velvet  which 
surrounded  his  lying  in  state  at  Chelsea,  and  on  which,  by 
the  flickering  torchlight,  we  see  emblazoned  the  many 
Orders  presented  to  him  by  foreign  sovereigns,  is  the 
funeral  car  of  Wellington,  modelled  and  constructed  in  six 
weeks,  at  an  expense  of  ;£  13,000,  from  the  guns  taken  in 
his  different  campaigns. 

In  the  south-west  pier  of  the  dome  a  staircase  ascends 
by  616  steps  to  the  highest  point  of  the  cathedral.  No 
teeble  person  should  attempt  the  fatigue,  and,  except  to 
architects,  the  undertaking  is  scarcely  worth  while.  An 
easy  ascent  leads  to  the  immense  passages  of  the  triforium, 
in  which,  opening  from  the  gallery  above  the  south  aisle, 
is  the  Library,  founded  by  Bishop  Compton,  who  crowned 
William  and  Maty,  Archbishop  Seeker  refusing  to  do  so. 
It  contains  the  bishop's  portrait,  and  some  carving  by 
Gibbons. 

At  the  corner  of  the  gallery,  on  the  left,  a  very  narrow 
stair  leads  to  the  Closk,  of  enormous  size,  with  a  pendulum 
16   feet   long,  constructed   by  Langlcy   Bradley   in    1708. 


i$o  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Ever  since,  the  oaken  seats  behind  it  have  been  occupied 
by  a  changing  crowd,  waiting  with  anxious  curiosity  to  see 
the  hammer  strike  its  bell,  and  tremulously  hoping  to 
tremble  at  the  vibration. 

Returning,  another  long  ascent  leads  to  the  Whispering 
Gallery,  below  the  windows  of  the  cupola,  where  visitors 
are  requested  to  sit  clown  upon  a  matted  seat,  that  they 
may  be  shown  how  a  low  whisper  uttered  against  the  wall 
can  be  distinctly  heard  from  the  other  side  of  the  dome. 
Hence  we  reach  the  Stone  Gallery,  outside  the  base  of  the 
dome,  whence  we  may  ascend  to  the  Golden  Gallery  at  its 
summit.  This  last  ascent  is  interesting,  as  being  between 
the  outer  and  inner  domes,  and  showing  how  completely 
(different  in  construction  one  is  from  the  other.  The  view 
from  the  gallery  is  vast,  but  generally,  beyond  a  certain 
distance,  it  is  shrouded  in  smoke.  Sometimes,  one  stands 
aloft  in  a  clear  atmosphere,  while  beneath  the  fog  rolls  like 
a  sea,  through  which  the  steeples  and  towers  are  just  visible 
"  like  the  masts  of  stranded  vessels."  Hence  one  may 
study  the  anatomy  of  the  fifty-four  towers  which  Wren  was 
obliged  to  build  after  the  Fire  in  a  space  of  time  -which 
would  only  have  properly  sufficed  for  the  construction  of 
four.  The  same  characteristics,  more  and  more  painfully 
diluted,  but  always  slightly  varied,  occur  in  each.  Bow 
Church,  St.  Magnus,  St.  Bride,  and  St.  Vedast  are 
the  best. 

The  Great  Bell  of  St.  PauPs  (of  17 16),  which  hangs  in  the 
south  tower,  bears  the  inscription  "  Richard  Phelps  made 
me,  1 7 16."  It  only  tolls  on  the  deaths  and  funerals  of  the 
royal  family,  of  Bishops  of  London,  Deans  of  St.  Paul's,  and 
Lord  Mayors  who  die  in  their  mayoralty. 


ST.   PAUL'S  CROSS.  151 

"  There  is  an  erroneous  notion  that  most  of  its  metal  was  derived 
from  the  remelting  of  '  Great  Tom  of  Westminster.'  This  bell,  so  re- 
plete with  venerable  associations,  was  given  or  sold  by  William  III.  to 
the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  St.  Paul's,  and  recast  by  one  Wightman.  It 
was  speedily  broken  in  consequence  of  the  cathedral  authorities  per- 
mitting visitors  to  strike  it,  on  payment  of  a  fee,  with  an  iron  hammer, 
and  Phelps  was  employed  by  Sir  Christopher  Wren  to  make  its  fine- 
toned  successor.  It  was  agreed,  however,  that  he  should  not  remove 
the  old  bell  till  he  delivered  the  new,  and  thus  there  is  not  a  single 
ounce  of '  Great  Tom '  in  the  mass." — Quarterly  Review,  CXC. 

Lily  the  grammarian,  who  died  of  the  Pbgue,  is  buried 
on  the  north  side  of  the  Churchyard,  opposite  the  school  to 
whose  celebrity  he  so  much  contributed.  Father  Garnet 
was  executed  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard,  May  3,  1606,  on 
an  accusation  of  having  shared  in  the  conspiracy  of  the 
Gunpowder  Plot,  and  died  with  the  protest  of  innocence 
on  his  lips.  Not  forty  years  ago  a  large  elm  at  the  north- 
east corner  of  the  graveyard  marked  the  site  of  St.  Paul's 
Cross,  a  canopied  cross  standing  on  stone  steps,  whence 
open-air  sermons,  denounced  and  ridiculed  when  they 
were  re-introduced  by  Wesley  and  Whitefield,  were  preached 
every  Sunday  afternoon  till  the  time  of  the  Common- 
wealth. 

"  Paul's  Cross  was  the  pulpit  not  only  of  the  cathedral ;  it  might 
almost  be  said,  as  preaching  became  more  popular,  and  began  more 
and  more  to  rule  the  public  mind,  to  have  become  that  of  the  Church 
of  England.  The  most  distinguished  ecclesiastics,  especially  from  the 
Universities,  were  summoned  to  preach  before  the  Court  (for  the  Court 
sometimes  attended)  and  the  City  of  London.  Nobles  vied  with  each 
other  in  giving  hospitality  to  those  strangers.  The  Mayor  and 
Aldermen  were  required  (tb'S  -ras  at  a  later  period)  to  provide  sweet 
and  convenient  lodgings,  for  them,  with  fire,  candles,  and  all  other 
necessaries.  Excepting  the  king  and  his  retinue,  who  had  a  covered 
gallery,  the  congregation,  even  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen,  stood  in 
the  open  air. 

"Paul's  Cross  was   not   only   the   great  scene  for   the  display  of 


iS2  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

eloquence  by  distinguished  preachers  ;  it  was  that  of  many  public  acts, 
some  relating  to  ecclesiastical  affairs,  some  of  mingled  cast,  some  simply 
political.  Here  Papal  Bulls  were  promulgated;  here  excommunica- 
tions were  thundered  out ;  here  sinners  of  high  position  did  penance  ; 
here  heretics  knelt  and  read  their  recantations,  or,  if  obstinate,  were 
marched  off  to  Smithfield.  Paul's  Cross  was  never  darkened  by  the 
smoke  of  human  sacrifice.  Here  miserable  men,  and  women  suspected 
of  witchcraft,  confessed  their  wicked  dealings  ;  here  great  impostures 
were  exposed,  and  strange  frauds  unveiled  in  the  face  of  day. 

"  Here  too  occasionall/  Royal  Edicts  were  published  ;  here  addresses 
were  made  on  matters  of  state  to  the  thronging  multitudes  supposed  to 
represent  the  metropolis ;  here  kings  were  proclaimed,  probably 
traitors  denounced." — Dean  Milman. 

It  was  at  St.  Paul's  Cross  that  Jane  Shore  did  public 
penance,  as  is  touchingly  described  by  Holinshed — 

"  In  hir  penance  she  went,  in  countenance  and  pase  demure,  so 
womanlie,  that  albeit  she  were  out  of  all  araie,  save  hir  kertle  onlie,  yet 
went  she  so  faire  and  lovelie,  namelie,  while  the  wondering  of  the 
people  cast  a  comelie  rud  in  hir  cheeks  (of  which  she  before  had  most 
misse),  that  hir  great  shame  wan  hir  much  praise  among  those  that 
were  more  amorous  of  hir  bodie,  than  curious  of  hir  soule." 

Here  Dr.  Shaw  suggested  the  kingship  of  Richard  III. 
with  fatal  consequences  to  himself.  Here  likewise  Tindall's 
translation  of  the  Bible  was  publicly  burnt,  by  order 
of  Bishop  Stokesley,  and  here  the  Pope's  sentence  on 
Martin  Luther  was  pronounced  in  a  sermon  by  Bishop  Fisher 
in  the  presence  of  Wolsey,  who  himself  here  exposed  the 
imposture  of  the  rood  of  Boxley.  Hence  Ridley  denounced 
both  the  royal  sisters,  Mary  and  Elizabeth,  as  bastards,  and 
then  "stole  away  to  Cambridge  to  throw  himself  at  the 
feet  of  the  triumphant  Mary."  Elizabeth,  immediately  on 
her  accession,  showed  her  appreciation  of  the  importance  of 
"  St.  Paul's  Cross,"  for  one  of  her  first  acts  was  to  select  a 
safe   preacher  for   the   next   Sunday's   sermon,    "  that   no 


ST.   PAUL'S  SCHOOL.  153 

occasion  might  be  given  to  stir  any  dispute  touching  the 
governance  of  the  realm."  Here  the  great  queen  listened 
to  the  thanksgiving  sermon  of  Dr.  Pierce,  Bishop  of 
Salisbury  (Nov.  24,  1588),  for  the  defeat  of  the  Armada. 
James  I.  was  among  those  who  sate  beneath  the  preachers 
at  Paul's  Cross,  and  Charles  T.  heard  a  sermon  here  on  the 
occasion  of  the  birth  of  his  son,  afterwards  Charles  II. 
The  eminent  preachers  selected  for  the  public  sermons 
were  entertained  by  the  Mayor  and  Corporation  at  a  kind 
of  inn,  called  "  the  Shunamite's  House."  An  order  of 
Parliament  caused  the  destruction  of  "  Paules  Cross "  in 
1643. 

An  ugly  Grecian  portico  immediately  behind  the  cathedral 
marks  Si.  Paul's  School,  founded  in  15 14  by  Dean  Colet, 
the  friend  of  Erasmus,  for  153  poor  children — a  number 
chosen  as  being  that  of  the  fishes  taken  by  St.  Peter.  Colet 
dedicated  his  foundation  to  the  Child  Jesus,  so  that,  says 
Strype,  "  the  true  name  of  this  school  is  Jesus'  School, 
rather  than  Paul's  School ;  but  the  saint  hath  robbed  his 
Master  of  his  title."  Erasmus  has  left  an  interesting  descrip- 
tion of  Dean  Colet's  school,  and  relates  how  over  the 
master's  chair  was  a  figure  of  the  Child  Jesus  "  of  excellent 
work,  in  the  act  of  teaching,  whom  all  the  assembly,  bodi 
at  coming  in  and  going  out  of  school,  salute  with  a.  short 
hymn."* 

*  "  O  my  most  sweet  Lord  Jesus,  who,  whilst  as  yet  a  child  in  the  twelfth  year 
of  thine  age,  didst  so  discourse  with  the  doctors  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  as 
that  they  all  marvelled  with  amazement  at  thy  super-excellent  wisdom  ;  I  beseech 
thee  that — in  this  thy  school,  by  the  tutors  and  patrons  whereof  I  am  daily  taught 
in  letters  and  instruction, — I  may  be  enabled  chiefly  to  know  thee,  O  Jesus,  who 
art  the  only  true  wisdom  ;  and  afterwards  to  have  knowledge  both  to  worship  and 
to  imitate  thee ;  and  also  in  this  brief  life  so  to  walk  in  the  way  of  thy  doctrine, 
following  in  thy  footsteps,  that,  as  thou  hast  attained  mete  glory,  I  also, 
departing  out  of  this  life,  happily  may  attain  to  some  part  thereof,  Aaien." — 
Knight's  "Life  of  Colet,"  xi.  44.6. 


154  WALRUS  IN  LONDON. 

Over  the  figure  was  the  inscription  — 

"Discite  me  primum,  pueri,  atque  effingite  puris 
Moribus,  inde  pias  addite  literulas."  * 

John  Milton  was  educated  at  St.  Paul's  School  from  his 
eleventh  to  his  sixteenth  year.  The  existing  buildings  are 
quite  modern,  but  the  founder  is  commemorated  over  the 
doors  of  the  school  by  his  motto, "  Disce  aut  discede,"  and 
at  the  end  of  the  schoolroom  in  a  bust  by  Bacon. 

"  It  may  seem  false  Latin  that  this  Colet,  being  Dean  of  Paul's,  the 
school  dedicated  to  St.  Paul,  and  distanced  but  the  breadth  of  a  street 
from  St.  Paul's  Church,  should  not  intrust  it  to  the  inspection  of  his 
successors,  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  St.  Paul's,  but  committed  it  to 
the  care  of  the  Company  of  Mercers  for  the  managing  thereof.  But 
Erasmus  rendereth  a  good  reason  from  the  mouth  and  minde  of  Colet 
himself,  who  had  found  by  experience  many  laymen  as  conscientious  as 
clergymen  in  discharging  this  trust  in  this  kinde  ;  conceiving  also  that  a 
whole  company  was  not  so  easy  to  be  bowed  to  corruption  as  any  single 
person,  how  eminent  and  publick  soever.  For  my  own  part,  I  behold 
Colet's  act  herein  as  not  only  prudential,  but  something  prophetical,  as 
foreseeing  the  ruin  of  chureh-lands,  and  fearing  that  this  his  school,  if 
made  an  ecclesiastical  appendage,  might  in  the  fall  of  church-lands  get 
a  bruise,  if  not  lose  a  limb  thereby."— --Fuller's  Church  History. 

It  was  for  Dean  Colet's  School  that  Lily  composed  the 
Latin  verses  called  from  their  first  words,  "  Propria  quae 
maribus,"  containing  rules  for  distinguishing  the  genders  of 
nouns.  In  1877  the  Mercers'  Company  purchased  sixteen 
acres  of  ground  in  Hammersmith,  whither  it  is  intended  to 
remove  the  school. 

It  was  in  front  of  the  school  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard 
that  George  Jeffreys,  the  famous  judge,  then  a  St.  Paul's 
schoolboy,  after  watching  the  judges  go  to  dine  with  the 

•  "  Children  learn  first  to  form  pure  minds  by  me, 
Then  add  fair  learning  to  your  piety." 

Mi/man. 


THE  HERALD'S   COLLEGE.  155 

Lord  Mayor,  astonished  his  father,  who  was  about  to  bind 
him  apprentice  to  a  mercer,  by  swearing  that  he  too  would 
one  day  be  the  guest  of  the  Mayor,  and  would  die  1  ord 
Chancellor — so  that  the  Lord  Mayor's  coach  had  the  Bloody 
Assizes  to  answer  for. 

Near  St.  Paul's  School  stood,  before  the  Fire,  a  belfry- 
tower  containing  the  famous  "  Jesus  Bells,"  won  at  dice  by 
Sir  Giles  Partridge  from  Henry  VIII. 

South  of  St.  Paul's  Churchyard  is  the  Deanery,  and  close 
beside  is  St.  Paul's  Choristers  School  built  by  Dean  Church, 
1874.  This  is  the  especial  district  of  ecclesiastical  law, 
Doctors'  Commons,  so  called  from  the  Doctors  of  Civil  Law 
here  living  and  "  commoning  "  together  in  a  collegiate  man- 
ner. Several  of  its  Courts  have  been  removed  to  Somerset 
House,  but  the  Court  of  Faculties  and  Dispensations,  by  which 
marriage  licences  are  granted,  and  the  Consistory  Court  of 
the  Bishop  of  London  are  still  held  here.  At  the  foot  of 
Bennet's  Hill,  facing  Queen  Victoria  Street,  is  the  Herald's 
College,  a.  red  brick  building  surrounding  three  sides  of  a 
court,  with  a  well-designed  outer  staircase.  It  occupies  the 
site  of  Derby  House,  built  by  Thomas,  that  first  Earl  of 
Derby  who  married  the  Countess  of  Richmond,  mother  of 
Henry  VII.  Here,  where  "  the  records  of  the  blood  of  all 
the  families  in  the  kingdom"  are  kept,  the  sword,  dagger, 
and  turquoise  ring  of  James  IV.  of  Scotland,  slain  at  Flod- 
den  Field,  are  preserved.  In  the  chambers  of  the  Herald's 
College  preside  three  kings,  namely, — 

Garter  King-at-Arms,  established  by  Henry  V.  for  the  dignity  of 
the  Order  of  the  Garter.  He  corrects  all  aims  usurped  or  borne  un- 
justly, and  has  the  power  of  granting  arms  to  deserving  persons,  &c. 

Clarencieux  King  at  Arms,  who  takes  his  name  from  the  Duke  of 
Clarence,  3rd  son  of  Edward  HI.     He  has  the  care  of  the  arms,  and  all 


iS6  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

questions  of  descent  regarding  families  south  of  the  Humber,  not  undet 
the  discretion  of  the  Garter. 

Norroy  (North  Roy),  who  has  the  same  jurisdiction  north  of  the 
Humber  as  Clarencieux  in  the  south. 

"  As  for  nobility  in  particular  persons,  it  is  a  reverend  thing  to  see 
an  antient  castle  or  building  not  in  decay  ;  or  to  sec  a  fair  timber  tree, 
sound  and  perfect ;  how  much  more  to  behold  an  antient  noble  family, 
which  hath  stood  against  the  waves  and  weathers  of  time  :  for  new 
nobility  is  but  the  act  of  power  ;  but  antient  nobility  is  the  act  of  time." 
— Lord  Bacon. 

What  is  now  called  St.  PanPs  Churchyard  was  sur- 
rounded before  the  Fire  by  shops  of  booksellers,  who 
have  since  betaken  themselves  to  Paternoster  Row,  Ave- 
Maria  Lane,  and  Amen  Corner,  on  the  north  of  the  Church, 
so  called,  says  Stow,  "  because  of  stationers  or  text-writers 
that  dwelt  there,  who  wrote  and  sold  all  sorts  of  books  then 
in  use,  namely,  A  B  C,  with  the  Pater-noster,  Ave,  Creed, 
Graces,  &c."  At  the  corner  of  Cheapside  and  Paternoster 
Row  was,  till  184S,  the  "  Chapter  Coffee  House,"  of  much 
literary  celebrity,  where  authors  and  booksellers  of  the  last 
century  were  greatly  wont  to  congregate.  Here  also  the 
club  of  the  "  Wittenagemot "  was  held,  which  was  much 
frequented  by  physicians  of  the  last  century.  In  the  room 
which  bore  the  name  of  the  club,  the  famous  Dr.  Buchan, 
author  of  "  Domestic  Medicine,"  used  to  see  his  patients,  a 
man  "  of  venerable  aspect,  neat  in  his  dress,  his  hair  tied 
behind  with  a  large  black  ribbon,  and  a  gold-headed  cane 
in  his  hand,  realising  the  idea  of  an  Esculapian  dignitary." 
It  was  at  the  Chapter  Coffee  House  that  the  famous 
"Threepenny  Curates"  could  be  hired  for  two  pence  and 
a  cup  of  coffee  to  hold  service  anywhere  within  the 
boundary. 

Paternoster  Row  (so  called  from  the  rosary  makers  ?)  is 


PA  TERNOSTER   R OW. 


'57 


still  the  booksellers'  paradise.  Its  entrance  is  guarded  by 
the  establishments  of  Messrs.  Blackwood  and  Nelson,  and  a 
mighty  bust  of  Aldus  presides  over  the  narrow  busy  pave- 
ment, while  every  window  at  the  sides  is  filled  with  books, 
chiefly  Bibles,    Prayer-Books,   and   religious    tracts.      The 


The  Boy  of  Panyer  Alley. 


Church  of  St.  Michael  le  Quern,  Paternoster  Row,  de- 
stroyed in  the  Fire,  derived  its  name  from  the  use  in  the 
adjacent  market  of  the  handmill  of  Scripture  :  it  continued 
to  be  employed  for  the  grinding  of  malt  till  the  time  of  the 
Commonwealth.  John  Leland,  the  antiquary,  was  buried 
in  this  church. 


■36  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Panyer  Alley,  leading  into  Newgate  Street,  being  close  to 

the  Corn-market,   marks  the  residence   of  tne  "  Panyers," 

makers  of  bakers'  baskets,  in  the  fourteenth  century.     Here, 

built  in  the  wall,  is  a  stone  with  a  relief  of  a  boy  sitting  on  a 

panyer,  inscribed — 

"  When  ye  have  sovght 
The  Citty  round 
Yet  still  ths  is 

The  hihest  ground. 

August  the  27,  1688." 

Dolly's  Chop  House,  close  to  this  (so  called  from  an  old 
cook  of  the  tavern,  whose  portrait  was  painted  by  Gains- 
borough), has  a  curious  old  coffee-room  of  Queen  Anne's 
time.  The  head  of  that  queen  painted  on  a  window  of  the 
tavern  has  given  a  name  to  Queen's  Head  Passage. 

"There  is  a  passage  leading  from  Paternoster  Row  to  St.  Paul's 
Churchyard.  It  is  a  slit,  through  which  the  cathedral  is  seen  more 
grandly  than  from  any  other  point  I  can  call  to  mind.  It  would  make 
a  fine  dreamy  picture,  as  we  saw  it  one  moonlight  night,  with  some 
belated  creatures  resting  against  the  walls  in  the  foreground — mere 
spots  set  against  the  base  of  Wren's  mighty  work,  that,  through  the 
narrow  opening,  seemed  to  have  its  cross  set  against  the  sky." — Preface 
to  Dore's  London. 

At  the  bottom  of  Paternoster  Row  leads  into  Wanvick 
Lane,  where  till  lately  stood  (on  the  west  of  the  Lane)  the 
College  of  Physicians,  whither  Dryden's  body  was  brought 
by  Dr.  Garth,  to  whom  it  was  indebted  for  suitable  burial, 
where  he  was  honoured  by  "  a  solemn  performance  of 
music,"*  and  whence  (May  13,  1700)  it  was  followed  by 
more  than  a  hundred  coaches  to  Westminster.  The  build- 
ings of  the  College  (which  originally  met  at  Linacre's 
house  in  Knightrider  Street)  were  erected  by  Wren  (1674), 

•  See  The  Loudon  Sfcy. 


WARWICK  LANE.  159 

and  were  conspicuous  from  their  don  e,  surmounted  by  a 

golden  ball. 

"  A  golden  globe,  placed  high  with  artful  skill, 
Seems  to  the  distant  sight  a  gilded  pill." 

Garth.     The  Dispensary. 

The  original  name  of  this  street  was  Eldenesse  Lane ;  it 
derives  its  present  appellation  from  the  inn  or  palace  of  the 
Earls  of  Warwick.  This  Warwick  Inn  was  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Cecily  Duchess  of  Warwick  c.  1450.  Eight  years 
later,  when  the  greater  estates  of  the  realm  were  called  up 
to  London,  Richard  Neville,  Earl  of  Warwick,  the  "  King- 
maker," "  came  with  six  hundred  men,  all  in  red  jackets, 
embroidered  with  ragged  staves  before  and  behind,  and  was 
lodged  in  Warwick  Lane  ;  in  whose  house  there  was  often 
six  oxen  eaten  at  a  breakfast,  and  every  tavern  was  full  of 
his  meat ;  for  he  that  had  any  acquaintance  in  that  house 
might  have  there  so  much  of  sodden  or  roast  meat  as  he 
could  pick  and  carry  on  a  long  dagger." 

Midway  down  the  Lane  on  the  east  side  is  the  Bell  Inn 
(rebuilt),  where  (1684)  the  holy  Archbishop  Leighton  died 
peacefully  in  his  sleep,  thereby  fulfilling  his  often  expressed 
desire  that  he  might  not  trouble  his  friends  in  his  death. 


o' 


"  He  used  often  to  say,  that,  if  he  were  to  choose  a  place  to  die  in, 
it  should  be  an  inn  ;  it  looking  like  a  pilgrim's  going  home,  to  whom 
this  world  was  all  as  an  inn,  and  who  was  weary  of  the  noise  and  con- 
fusion in  it.  He  added  that  the  officious  tenderness  and  care  of  friends 
was  an  entanglement  to  a  dying  man ;  and  that  the  unconcerned 
attendance  of  those  that  could  be  procured  in  such  a  place  would  give 
less  disturbance.  And  he  obtained  what  he  desired ;  for  he  died  at 
the  Bell  Inn,  in  Warwick  Lane." — Burnet's  Own  Times. 

Opposite  the  Bell,  closing  an  alley  on  the  left,  stood  the 
Oxford  Arms,  one  of  the  most  curious  old  hostelries  in 


160  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

England,  demolished  in  1877.  It  belonged  to  the  Dean 
and  Chapter  of  St.  Paul's,  and  was  restored  immediately 
after  the  Great  Fire,  on  the  exact  plan  of  an  older 
inn  on  the  site,  which  was  then  destroyed.  In  the 
London  Gazette  of  March,  1672-3,  we  find  the  words — 

"  These  are  to  notify  that  Edward  Bartlett,  Oxford  Carrier,  has 
removed  his  inn  in  London  from  the  Swan,  in  Holborn  Bridge,  to  the 
Oxford  Arms  in  Warwick  Lane,  where  lie  did  inn  before  the  Fire ;  his 
coaches  and  waggons  going  forth  on  their  usual  days,  Mondays, 
Wednesdays,  and  Fridays.  He  hath  also  a  hearse,  with  all  things 
convenient  to  carry  a  corpse  to  the  burial." 

The  leases  of  the  property  forbade  the  closing  of  a  door 
leading  to  the  houses  of  the  residentiary  Canons  of  St. 
Paul's,  by  which  Roman  Catholics  who  frequented  the  Inu 
escaped  during  the  riots  of  1780.  The  great  court  of 
the  Inn,  constantly  crowded  with  waggons  and  filled  with 
people,  horses,  donkeys,  dogs,  geese — life  of  every  kind- 
presented  a  series  of  Teniers  pictures  in  its  double  tiers  of 
blackened,  balustraded,  open  galleries,  with  figures  hanging 
over  them,  with  clothes  of  every  form  and  hue  suspended 
from  pillar  to  pillar,  and  with  outside  staircases,  where 
children  sate  to  chatter  and  play  in  the  shadow  of  the 
immensely  broad  eaves  which  supported  the  steep  red  roofs. 
Amongst  those  who  lived  here  in  former  days  was  John: 
Roberts  the  bookseller,  and  from  hence  he  sent  forth  his 
squibs  and  libels  on  Pope.  On  the  wall  of  the  last  house 
(left),  where  Warwick  Lane  enters  Newgate  Street,  Warwick 
the  King-maker  is  commemorated  in  a  very  curious  relief, 
of  1668,  of  an  armed  knight  with  shield  and  sword. 

The  neighbourhood  of  Newgate  has  always  been  "  the 
Butchers'    Quarter."     St.    Nicholas's    Shambles    originally 


NEWGATE  STREET. 


I6i 


stood  here,  which  took  their  name  from  the  old  Church  of 
St.  Nicholas,  Bishop  of  Myra,  destroyed  at  the  Dissolution, 
and  till  the  Great  Fire  the  market  continued  to  be  held  in 
the  middle  of  the  street  in  open  stalls,  which  were  a  great 
nuisance  to  the  neighbourhood,  and  gave  the  name  of 
"Stinking  Lane  "  to  the  present  King  Edward  Street,  from 
the  filth  which  they  accumulated.  After  the  Fire  a  market- 
house  was  erected  in  the  open  space  between  Newgate 
Street  and  Paternoster  Row,  where  the  ivy-covered  houses  of 
the  Prebends  of  St.  Paul's,  commemorated  in  Ivy  Lane,* 


Guy,  Earl  of  Warwick. 


stood  amidst  orchards,  whose  apples  were  a  great  tempta- 
tion to  London  street-boys,  and  frequently  proved  fatal  to 
them,  as  is  shown  by  the  coroners'  inquests  of  five  centuries 
ago.  Newgate  Market  continued  to  be  the  principal  meat- 
market  of  London  till  the  recent  erection  of  that  in  Smith- 
field— 

"  Shall  the  large  mutton  smoke  upon  your  boards ! 
Such  Newgate's  copious  market  best  affords." 

Gay.      Trivia,  bk.  ii. 

*  Stow. 
VOL.  I.  M 


t62  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

A  curious  relic  in  Newgate  Street,  which  has  lately  dis- 
appeared, was  the  sculpture  over  the  entrance  to  Bull  Head 
Court,  representing  William  Evans,  the  giant  porter  of 
Charles  L,  with  Sir  Jeffrey  Hudson,  the  dwarf  of  Henrietta 
Maria,  who  could  travel  in  his  pocket — Evans  was  seven 
feet  six  inches  in  height,  Hudson  three  feet  nine  inches  ; 
but  the  dwarf  was  so  fiery  that  he  killed  Mr.  Crofts,  who 
ventured  to  laugh  at  him,  in  a  duel,  and  he  commanded  a 
troop  of  horse  in  the  king's  service. 

On  the  north  side  of  Newgats  Street,  through  an  open 
screen,  are  seen  some  of  the  modern  buildings  of  Christ's 
Hospital,  erected  in  1825  by  fames  Shaw,  the  architect 
of  St.  Dunstan's  in  the  West.  The  foundation  of  Christ's 
Hospital  was  one  of  the  last  acts  of  Edward  VI.,  who  died 
ten  days  after.  He  was  so  touched  by  an  affecting  sermon 
which  he  heard  from  Bishop  Ridley  on  June  26,  1553,  upon 
the  duty  of  providing  for  the  sick  and  needy,  that  after  the 
service  was  over  he  sent  for  the  bishop,  thanked  him  for  his 
advice,  and,  after  inquiring  what  class  of  persons  was  in 
most  need  of  being  benefited,  founded  a  hospital  for  des- 
titute and  fatherless  children.  The  buildings,  which  had 
belonged  to  the  Grey  Friars,  and  which  were  set  apart  for 
this  purpose,  had  been  given  to  the  City  of  London  by 
Henry  VIII.  at  the  Dissolution. 

The  monastery  of  Grey  Friars,  which  was  one  of  the  most 
important  religious  houses  in  London,  was  founded  by  the 
first  Franciscans  who  came  over  to  England  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  III.  Its  buildings  were  raised  by  the  chariry  of 
various  pious  benefactors,  and  its  glorious  church  was  given 
by  Margaret,  second  wife  of  Edward  I.  It  became  a 
favourite  burial-place  of  the  queens  of  England,  as  well  as 


GREY  FRIARS  163 

the  usual  place  of  interment  for  the  foreign  attendants  of 
the   Plantagenet  Queens  Consort.     Here  were  the   tombs 
of    Beatrix,    Duchess    of    Brittany,    second     daughter    of 
Henry  III.,  who  died  when  she   came  over  to  the  corona- 
tion of  Edward  I.  in  1272  ;  of  the  generous  Queen  Margaret, 
— "good   withouten  lacke" — second    wife    and    widow   of 
Edward  I.,*  and  of  her  niece  the  wicked  Queen  Isabella, 
wife  of  Edward   II.     Joan   of  the    Tower,   wife  of   David 
Bruce,     King    of     Scotland,     and    second     daughter     of 
Edward  II.,  driven  to  seek  a   refuge  in  England  by  the  in- 
fidelities of  her  husband,  died  in  the  arms  of  her  sister-in- 
law  Queen  Philippa,  in  1362,  and  was  buried  by  her  mother's 
side.     Near  her  was  laid  Isabel,  Countess  of  Bedford,  the 
eldest   and    favourite   daughter  of    Edward  III.,  who  was 
separated  from   her   husband    Ingelram   de   Coucy   by   the 
wars  between   France   and    England.     Other  tombs    were 
those   of  Baron    Fitzwarren    and    his    wife   Isabel,    some- 
time Queen  of  Man  ;  Sir  Robert  Tresilian,  Chief  Justice  of 
England,   executed   at   Tyburn,    1308;    Roger   Mortimer, 
Earl  of  March,  beheaded  1329  ;  John  Philpot,  Lord  Mayor, 
1384;    Sir   Nicholas  Brember,   Lord   Mayor,  1386;    John, 
Due  de  Bourbon,  taken  prisoner  at  Agincourt,  who  died  after 
a  captivity  of  eighteen  years,  1433;  and  Thomas  Burdett, 
1477,  who  was  beheaded  for  having  too  vigorously  lamented 
over  a  favourite  buck  of  his,   which  had  been  killed  by 
Edward    IV.      Here    also    (1665)    was    buried   one   who 
"  possessed  every  advantage  vhich  nature  and  art  and  an 
excellent   education   could   give,"f    the   accomplished   Sir 
Kenelm    Digby,  who   was   laid   in  the   magnificent    tomb 

•  the  heart  of  his  mothev,  Queen  Eleanor,  who  died  at  Ambresburv,  was  also 
preservcl  here. 
+  Clarendon. 


164  WALKS  JN  LONDON. 

where  he  had  buried  his  wayward  wife,  the  beautiful  Venetia 
Stanley/'1  lamented  in  the  verses  of  Ben  Jonson. 

All  the  monuments  in  Grey  Friars,  many  of  them  of 
marble  and  alabaster,  and  extremely  magnificent,  were  sold 
for  ^50  by  Sir  Martin  Bowes,  goldsmith  and  alderman,  a 
destruction  which  signifies  little  now,  as  they  would  all  have 
perished  otherwise  in  the  Great  Fire.  Even  the  name  of 
Grey  Friars  became  extinct  when  Christ's  Hospital  was 
founded,  and  nothing  remains  of  the  monastery  except  some 
low  brick  arches  of  the  western  cloister  on  the  left  of  the 
entrance. 

The  Hospital  is  approached  from  Newgate  Street  by  a 
brick  gate-way  surmounted  by  a  statue  of  Edward  VI.  in 
his  robes.  The  courts,  used  as  playgrounds  by  the  boys, 
are  handsome  and  spacious.  There  are  685  boys  lodged 
and  boarded  in  the  surrounding  buildings  ;  and  belonging  to 
the  same  foundation  is  the  preparatory  school  of  500  boys 
and  the  school  of  60  or  70  girls  at  Hertford.  The  boys 
sleep  in  dormitories  crowded  with  little  beds,  and  wash  in 
lavatories.  A  line  in  their  swimming-bath  marks  the  junc- 
tion of  three  parishes — Christ  Church,  St.  Sepulchre's,  and 
St.  Bartholomew's. 

London  smoke  has  already  given  a  venerable  aspect  to  the 
noble  Hall,  187  feet  in  length,  and  the  long  oak  tables  are 
really  old.  In  the  centre  of  the  side  wall  is  a  pulpit  whence 
graces  are  read,  and  the  lessons  of  the  day  in  the  morning. 
The  walls  are  decorated  beyond  the  pulpit  by  the  arms  of 
the  Presidents,  below  the  pulpit  by  the  arms  of  the  Trea- 
surers, beginning  with  those  of  Grafton,  Treasurer  in  1554, 
the  yca4  alter  the  foundation.     The  raised  seats  at  the  end 

•  Aubrey. 


CHRIST'S  HOSPITAL.  165 

of  the  hall  are  intended  for  spectators  admitted  by  ticket  to 
witness  the  "  Public  Suppings  "  at  7  p.m.  on  the  six  Thurs- 
days in  Lent,  a  very  curious  sight.  Above  is  an  old  picture 
of  Edward  VI.  giving  a  charter  to  the  Hospital.  The 
other  pictures  include — 

Verrio.  An  immense  and  very  curious  representation  of  the  scholars 
of  Christ  Hospital,  both  boys  and  girls,  bringing  their  drawings  to  be 
examined  by  James  II.  in  the  midst  of  his  court.  Charles  II.  was 
originally  introduced,  but  as  he  died  before  the  picture  was  finished, 
his  figure  was  altered  to  that  of  his  brother.  The  custom  pourtrayed 
here  is  still  kept  up,  and  every  year  the  scholars  go  to  the  Queen  at 
Buckingham  Palace.  Pennant  describes  this  "  as  the  largest  picture  I 
ever  saw." 

Sir  F.  Grant.     Queen  Victoria  and  Prince  Albert. 

J.  Singleton  Copley.  The  Adventure  of  Brook  Watson,  a  Christ 
Church  scholar,  in  escaping  from  a  shark. 

The  Library  was  founded  by  the  famous  Sir  Richard 
Whittington,  who  nourished  in  the  time  of  Richard  II.  and 
Henry  IV.,  and,  in  the  latter  reign,  was  three  times  Lord 
Mayor. 

The  boys  educated  at  Christ's  Hospital  are  generally 
called  "  Blue-Coat  Boys,"  from  their  dress,  which  recalls 
that  of  the  citizens  of  the  time  of  Edward  VI.,  and  consists 
of  a  blue  gown,  red  leathern  girdle,  yellow  stockings,  and 
bands.  The  two  first  classes  of  the  school  are  called 
"  Grecians  "  and  "  Deputy  Grecians.''  Among  eminent 
Blue-Coat  boys  were  Bishop  Stillingrleet,  Camden  the  Anti- 
quary, Campion  the  Jesuit,  Mitchell  the  translator  of 
Aristophanes,  Charles  Lamb,  Bishop  Middleton,  Jeremiah 
Markland,  Richardson  the  novelist,  and  above  all  Samuel 
Taylor  Coleridge,  who  was  educated  here  under  James 
Boyer  and  who  said,  when  he  heard  of  his  head-master's 
death,  that   "  it  was  fortunate  the  cherubs  who  took  him  to 


166  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

heaven  were  nothing  but  faces   and  wings,  or  he  would 
infallibly  have  flogged  them  by  the  way." 

"Christ's  Hospital  is  an  institution  to  keep  those  who  have  yet  held 
up  their  heads  in  the  world  from  sinking  ;  to  keep  alive  the  spirit  of  a 
decent  household,  when  poverty  was  in  danger  of  crushing  it ;  to 
assist  those  who  are  the  most  willing,  but  not  always  the  most  able, 
to  assist  themselves ;  to  separate  a  child  from  his  family  for  a  season, 
in  order  to  render  him  back  hereafter,  with  feelings  and  habits  more 
congenial  to  it,  than  he  could  ever  have  attained  by  remaining  at  home 
in  the  bosom  of  it.  It  is  a  preserving  and  renovating  principle,  an 
antidote  for  the  rt  angusta  donii,  when  it  presses,  as  it  always  does, 
most  heavil;  upon  the  most  ingenuous  natures." — Charles  Lamb. 

In  Christ  Church  Passage  was  "Pontack's,"  the  first 
Restaurant  of  a  better  class  opened  in  London  (c.  1689) 
wheie  a  dinner  could  be  ordered. 

Where  Newgate  Street  (now  chiefly  devoted  to  butchers) 
is  crossed  by  Giltspur  Street  and  the  Old  Bailey  stood  the 
New  Gate,  one  of  the  five  principal  gates  of  the  City,  which 
was  also  celebrated  as  a  prison.  Its  first  story,  over  the 
arch,  was,  according  to  custom,  "common  to  all  prisoners, 
to  walk  in  and  beg  out  of."  Ellwood  the  Quaker  narrates 
the  horrors  of  the  nights  in  the  gate-prison  where  all  were 
crowded  into  one  room,  and  "  the  breath  and  steam  which 
came  from  so  many  bodies,  of  different  ages,  conditions, 
and  constitutions,  packed  up  so  close  together,  was 
sufficient  to  cause  sickness."  In  fact,  in  the  Plague,  fifty- 
two  persons  died  over  Newgate  alone. 

The  gate-house  was  the  origin  of  the  existing  Newgate 
Prison,  which  now  looms,  grim  and  grimy,  at  the  end  of 
Holborn  Viaduct,  and  whose  very  name  is  fraught  with 
reminiscences  of  Claude  Duval,  Dick  Turpin,  Jack  Shep- 
pard,  Greenacre,  Courvoisier,  Franz  Muller,  and  others 
celebrated  in   the   annals   of  crime.     The  Prison  was  re 


NEWGATE.  167 

built,    1770 — 80,    under    George   Dance,   architect   of    the 
Mansion  House. 

"  His  chef-d'oeuvre  was  the  design  for  Newgate,  which,  though 
only  a  prison,  and  pretending  to  be  nothing  else,  is  still  one  of  the 
best  public  buildings  in  the  metropolis. 

"It  attained  this  eminence  by  a  process  which  amounts  as  much  to 
a  discovery  on  the  part  of  its  architect  as  Columbus's  celebrated  inven- 
tion of  making  an  egg  stand  on  its  end — by  his  simply  setting  his  mind 
to  think  of  the  purpose  to  which  his  building  was  to  be  appropriated. 
There  is  nothing  in  it  but  two  great  windowless  blocks,  each  ninety 
feet  square,  and  between  them  a  very  common-place  gaoler's  residence, 
five  windows  wide,  and  five  stories  high,  and  two  simple  entrances. 
With  these  slight  materials,  he  has  made  up  a  facade  two  hundred 
and  ninety-seven  feet  in  extent,  and  satisfied  every  requisite  of  good 
architecture." — Ee/pusson. 


o 


On  the  south  front  are  allegorical  statues  of  Concord, 
Mercy,  Justice,  Truth,  Peace,  and  Plenty — interesting  as 
having  once  adorned  the  New  Gate,  which  also  bore  a  now 
lost  statue  of  Sir  R.  Whittington  with  the  renowned  cat  of 
his  story.  Those  who  have  been  imprisoned  here  include 
Sackville  and  Wither  the  poets  ;  Penn,  for  street  preach- 
ing ;  De  Foe,  for  publishing  his  Shortest  Way  with 
Dissenters ;  Jack  Sheppard,  who  was  painted  here  by  Sir 
James  Thornhill ;  and  Dr.  Dodd,  who  preached  his  own 
funeral  sermon  in  the  chapel  (on  Acts  xv.  23)  before  he 
was  hanged  for  forgery  in  1777.  Lord  George  Gordon  was 
imprisoned  in  Newgate  for  a  libel  on  the  Queen  of  France, 
and  died  within  its  walls  of  the  gaol  distemper.  In  the 
chapel  is  a  "  condemned  bench,"  only  used  for  the  prisoners 
under  sentence  of  death.  There  are  those  still  living  who 
remember  as  many  as  twenty-one  prisoners  (when  men 
were  hung  for  stealing  a  handkerchief)  sitting  on  the  con- 
demned bench  at  once.    Since  executions  have  ceased  to  be 


1 68  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

carried  out  at  Tyburn,  they  have  taken  place  here :  one 
of  the  most  important  has  been  that  of  Bellingham,  for  the 
murder  of  Mr.  Percival.  The  late  amelioration  in  the  con- 
dition of  prisoners  in  Newgate  is  in  great  measure  due  to  the 
exertions  of  Mrs.  Fry,  who  has  left  a  terrible  account  of  their 
state  even  in  1838. 

Close  by  is  the  Old  Bailey  Sessions  House,  for  the  trial  of 
prisoners  within  twelve  miles  of  St.  Paul's.  Over  it  is  a 
dining-room,  where  the  judges  dine  when  business  is  over, 
whence  the  line — 

"  And  wretches  hang  that  jurymen  may  dine." 

The  space  between  Newgate  and  the  Old  Bailey  is  called 
the  Press  Yard,  from  having  been  the  scene  of  the  horrible 
punishment  of  pressing  to  death  for  "  standing  mute  "  when 
arraigned  for  treason.  Persons  sentenced  to  this  peine  forte 
et  dure  were  stretched  naked  on  the  floor  of  a  dark  room, 
and  were  fed  with  just  sufficient  bread  and  water  to  sustain 
life,  a  heavy  weight  of  iron  being  laid  upon  the  body,  and 
increased  till  the  victim  either  answered  or  died.  In  1659 
Major  Strangways  was  thus  pressed  to  death  for  refusing  to 
plead,  when  accused  of  the  murder  of  John  Fussel ;  and  the 
punishment  existed  as  late  as  1770,  being  voluntarily  under- 
gone by  some  offenders  as  the  only  means  of  preserving 
their  estates  to  their  children. 

Jonathan  Wild,  infamous  even  in  the  annals  of  crime, 
lived  at  No.  68,  the  second  house  south  of  Ship  Court  in 
the  Old  Bailey.  He  used  to  receive  stolen  goods  and 
restore  them  to  their  owners  for  a  consideration,  the  larger 
share  of  which  he  appropriated.  If  thieves  opposed  his 
rapacity,  he,  knowing  all   their   secrets,   was  able   to  bring 


ST.   SEPULCHRE'S.  169 

about  their  capture.  At  his  trial  he  delivered  to  the  judge 
a  list  of  thirty-five  robbers,  twenty-two  housebreakers,  and 
ten  returned  convicts,  whom  he  was  proud  of  having  been 
instrumental  in  hanging.  He  was  hung  himself  on  May  24, 
1725.  Green  Anchor  Court  in  the  Old  Bailey  (now  destroyed) 
was  the  miserable  residence  of  Oliver  Goldsmith  in  1788. 

Opposite  Newgate  is  St.  Sepulcltrfs  Church,  formerly 
"Saint  Pulchre's,"  chiefly  modern,  but  with  a  remarkable 
porch  which  has  a  beautiful  fan-tracery  roof.  It  is  much  to 
be  lamented  that,  in  a  recent  "  restoration,"  the  silly  church- 
wardens have  substituted  an  oriel  window  for  the  niche  over 
the  entrance,  containing  the  statue  of  Sir  John  Popham, 
Chancellor  of  Normandy  and  Treasurer  of  the  King's 
household,  who  was  buried  in  the  cloister  of  the  Charter- 
house in  the  time  of  Edward  IV. ;  this  statue  was  one  of 
the  landmarks  of  the  City.*  The  perpendicular  tower  is 
very  handsome,  but  spoilt  by  its  heavy  pinnacles. 

•'  Unreasonable  people  are  as  hard  to  reconcile  as  the  vanes  of  St. 
Sepulchre's  tower,  which  never  looked  all  four  upon  one  part  of  the 
heavens." — Howell. 

In  the  old  church  the  unfortunate  Thomas  Fienes,  Lord 
Dacre  of  the  South,  was  buried,  who  was  executed  at  Tyburn, 
June  29,  1544,  for  accidentally  killing  John  Busbrig,  a 
keeper,  in  a  poaching  fray  in  Laugh  ton  Park.  The  in- 
terior of  the  present  building  is  Georgian  commonplace. 
Many,  however,  are  the  Americans  who  visit  it,  to  see  a 
grey  grave-stone  "in  the  church  choir,  on  the  south  side 
thereof,"  with  an  almost  obliterated  epitaph,  which  began — 

"  Here  lies  one  conquer'd  that  hath  conquer'd  kings  !  " 
for  it  covers  the  remains  of  Captain  John  Smith  (1579— 

*  See  The  Builder,  Aug.  21,  1875. 


l7o  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

1631),  "sometime  Governour  of  Virginia  and  Admirall  of 
New  England,"  and  author  of  many  works  upon  the  History 
of  Virginia.  The  three  Turks'  Heads  which  are  still  visible 
on  his  shield  of  arms  were  granted  by  Sigismund,  Duke  of 
Transylvania,  in  honour  of  his  having,  in  three  single  com- 
bats, overcome  three  Turks  and  cut  off  their  heads,  in  the 
wars  of  Hungary  in  1602.  A  ballad  entitled  "  The  Honour 
of  a  London  Prentice,  being  an  account  of  his  matchless 
manhood  and  brave  adventures  done  in  Turkey,  and  by 
what  means  he  married  the  king's  daughter,"  tells  how 
Smith  killed  one  of  these  Turks  by  a  box  on  the  ear.  and 
how  he  tore  out  the  tongue  of  a  lion  which  came  to  devour 
him! 

"Wherever  upon  this  continent  (of  America)  the  English  language  is 
spoken,  his  deeds  should  be  recounted  and  his  memory  hallowed.  .  .  . 
Poetry  has  imagined  nothing  more  stirring  and  romantic  than  his  lif? 
and  adventures,  and  History  upon  her  ample  page  has  recorded  few 
more  honourable  and  spotless  names." — C.  S.  Ililliard,  Life  of  Captain 
Joh?t  Smith. 

"I  made  acquaintance  with  brave  Captain  Smith  as  a  boy,  in  my 
grandfather's  library  at  home,  where  I  remember  how  I  would  sit  at 
the  good  man's  knees,  with  my  favourite  volume  on  my  own,  spelling 
out  the  exploits  of  our  Virginian  hero.  I  loved  to  read  of  Smith's 
travels,  sufferings,  captivities,  escapes,  not  only  in  America,  but 
Europe." — Thackeray's  "  Virginians." 

John  Rogers,  the  Smithfield  martyr,  was  vicar  of  St. 
Sepulchre's,  having  previously  been  chaplain  to  the  mer- 
chant-adventurers of  Antwerp,  where  he  became  the  friend 
of  Tyndale,  the  translator  of  the  Bible,  whose  work  was 
finally  carried  out  by  him  after  Tyndale's  death. 

"  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  first  complete  English  Bible  came  from 
Antwerp  under  his  superintendence  and  auspices.  It  bore  then,  and 
still  bears,  the  name  of  Matthews'  Bible.     Of  Matthews,  however,  no 


ST.  SEPULCHRE'S.  171 

trace  has  ever  been  discovered.  He  is  altogether  a  myth,  and  there  is 
every  reason  for  believing  that  the  untraceable  Matthews  was  John 
Rogers.  If  so,  Rogers  was  not  only  the  proto-martyr  of  the  English 
Church,  but,  with  due  respect  for  Tyndale,  the  proto-martyr  of  the 
English  Bible,  which  first  came  whole  and  complete  from  his  hands. 
The  fact  rests  on  what  appears  to  be  the  irrefragable  testimony  of  his 
enemies.  On  his  trial  Rogers  was  arraigned  as  John  Rogers  alias 
A/ait/iews." — Dean  Miltnan. 

It  is  the  bell  of  St.  Sepulchre's  which  is  tolled  when 
prisoners  in  Newgate  are  executed,  and  by  an  old  custom  z 
nosegay  was  presented  at  this  church  to  every  prisoner  who 
was  on  his  way  to  Tyburn.  The  church  clock  still  regulates 
the  hour  of  executions,  and  the  church  bellman  used  to  go 
under  the  walls  of  Newgate  on  the  night  before  an  execu- 
tion and  ring  his  bell  and  recite — 

"  All  you  that  in  the  condemned  hold  do  lie, 
Prepare  you,  for  to-morrow  you  shall  die  ; 
Watch  all  and  pray,  the  hour  is  drawing  near, 
That  you  before  the  Almighty  must  appear ; 
Examine  well  5'ourselves,  in  time  repent, 
That  you  may  not  to  eternall  flames  be  sent, 
And  when  St.  Sepulchre's  bell  to-morrow  lulls, 
The  Lord  above  have  mercy  on  your  souls. 

Past  twelve  o'clock  !  " 


CHAPTER  V. 
SMITHFIELD,  CLERKENWELL,  AND  CANONBURY. 

BY  St.  Sepulchre's  Church  is  the  entrance  of  Giltspur 
Street,  which  was  formerly  a  continuation  of  Knight- 
rider  Street,  and  is  named  from  the  gilded  spurs  of  the 
knights  who  rode  that  way  to  the  tournaments.  Near  the 
end  of  Giltspur  Street  on  the  left  is  the  entrance  of  Cock 
Lane,  of  which  we  shall  hear  more  when  we  reach  Canon- 
bury,  and  hard  by  is  Pie  Corner,  where  the  Great  Fire 
ended,  which  began  in  Pudding  Lane.  It  is  probably  some 
association  with  these  names  which  caused  the  inscription 
(now  obliterated)  beneath  the  commemorative  figure  of  a 
very  fat  boy  (once  painted  in  colours),  still  existing  against 
the  wall  of  a  public-house  near  the  corner  of  Cock  Lane  : — 
"This  boy  is  in  memory  put  up  of  the  late  Fire  of  London, 
occasioned  by  the  sin  of  gluttony,  1666."  Pie  Corner  is 
frequently  mentioned  in  the  Plays  of  Ben  Jonson,  Mas- 
singer,  and  Shadwell.  Hard  by  is  Hosier  Street,  which 
was  the  especial  centre  for  the  hosiers  in  the  fourteenth 
century. 

Giltspur  Street  leads  into  Smithfield  or  Smoothfield, 
around  which  many  of  London's  most  sacred  memories  are 
folded.     But  as  its  market  is  the  first  object  which  strikes 


SMITHFIELD  MARKET.  173 

the  eye,  we  are  naturally  drawn  first  to  notice  its  great 
cattle-iair,  which  is  not  without  its  reminiscences,  for  it  is 
celebrated  by  Shakspeare.     Falstaff  asks — 

"  Where's  Bardolph  ?  " 

and  a  page  answers — 

"He's  gone  into  Smithfield  to  buy  your  worship  a  horse." 

The  first  market — "  Bartholomew  Fair  " — was  established 
here  by  Rahere,  king's  jester  to  Henry  I.,  by  whom  it  was 
granted  for  the  eve  of  St.  Bartholomew,  the  day  itself,  and 
the  day  after.  Ben  Jonson's  coarsest  and  wittiest  comedy, 
Bartholomew  Fair,  lets  us  into  many  of  its  attendant  abuses 
and  customs,  especially  that  of  having  booths  at  which 
pigs  were  dressed  and  sold — the  "  little  tidy  Bartholomew 
boar-pigs"  of  Shakspeare.*  In  the  reign  of  Charles  II. 
the  duration  of  the  Fair  was  extended  from  three  to 
fourteen  days,  and  Pepys  "  at  Bartholemew  Fayre,  did  find 
my  Lady  Castlemaine  at  a  puppet-show,  and  the  street  full 
of  people  expecting  her  coming  out."  Gradually  Smithfield 
grew  to  be  the  great  and  only  cattle-market  of  London. 
As  many  as  210,757  cattle,  and  1,518,510  sheep,  were  sold 
here  annually ;  but  the  market  was  always  inconvenient, 
and  was  a  great  nuisance  to  its  neighbourhood.  Dickens 
describes  its  miseries  in  his  picture  of  Smithfield  in  "  Oliver 
Twist  "— 

"It  was  market  morning,  the  ground  was  covered  nearly  anlde-dcep 
with  filth  and  mire,  and  a  thick  steam  perpetually  rising  from  the 
reeking  bodies  of  the  cattle,  and  mingling  with  the  fog  which  seemed 
to  rest  upon  the  chimney-tops,  hung  heavily  above.  All  the  pens  in 
the  centre  of  the  large  area,  and  as  many  temporary  ones  as  could  be 

*  Hetirv  IV.,  act  ii.  sc.  iv. 


174  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

crowded  into  the  vacant  space,  were  filled  with  sheep ;  and  tied  up  to 
posts  by  the  gutter-side  were  long  lines  of  oxen,  three  or  four  deep. 
Countrymen,  butchers,  drovers,  hawkers,  boys,  thieves,  idlers,  and 
vagabonds  of  every  low  grade,  were  mingled  together  in  a  dense  mass. 
The  whistling  of  drovers,  the  barking  of  dogs,  the  bellowing  and 
plunging  of  beasts,  the  bleating  of  sheep,  and  grunting  and  squeaking 
of  pigs  ;  the  cries  of  hawkers,  the  shouts,  oaths,  and  quarrelling  on  all 
sides,  the  ringing  of  bells,  and  the  roar  of  voices  that  issued  from  every 
public-house;  the  crowding,  pushing,  driving,  beating,  whooping,  and 
yelling,  the  hideous  and  discordant  din  that  resounded  from  every 
corner  of  the  market,  and  the  unwashed,  unshaven,  squalid,  and  dirty 
figures  constantly  running  to  and  fro,  and  bursting  in  and  out  of  the 
throng,  rendered  it  a  stunning  and  bewildering  scene,  which  quiie  con- 
fused the  senses." 

The  market  for  living  animals  in  Smith  field  was  abolished 
in  1852,  when  the  new  Meat-Market  was  built.  It  is  a 
perfect  forest  of  slaughtered  calves,  pigs,  and  sheep,  hanging 
from  cast-iron  balustrades — actually  75  acres  of  meat. 

In  the  open  space  now  occupied  by  the  market  tour- 
naments were  formerly  held.  Edward  III.,  forgetting  his 
good  queen  Philippa,  shocked  London  by  parading  her 
maid  Alice  Pierce  as  his  mistress,  as  "  the  Lady  of  the 
Sun,"  at  a  public  tournament  in  Smithfield  in  1374. 
Another  famous  tournament  was  held  here  by  Richard  II., 
to  celebrate  the  arrival  of  his  child-queen  Isabel.  It 
was  here  that  Wat  Tyler  was  killed  on  the  15  th  of  June, 
1 38 1.  His  partisans  had  been  everywhere  successful,  had 
broken  into  the  Tower  of  London  and  beheaded  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  had  broken  into  the  Tower 
Royal  and  terrified  the  Fair  Maid  of  Kent,  had  broken  into 
and  pillaged  the  palace  of  John  of  Gaunt  at  the  Savoy.  At 
length  the  young  King  Richard  agreed  to  hear  fully  the 
demands  of  the  Commons  in  Smithfield.  They  met,  the 
King    standing,  says  Stow,  "  towards    the    east    near    St. 


SMITHFIELD.  175 

Bartholomew's  Priory,  and  the  Commons  towards  the  west 
in  order  of  battle."  The  insolence  of  Wat  Tyler's  manner 
knew  no  bounds,  he  drew  his  dagger  upon  the  knights  whom 
the  king  sent  to  meet  him ;  finally,  he  approached  the  king 
and  seized  the  bridle  of  his  horse.  It  was  then  that  the 
Lord  Mayor,  Walworth,  plunged  a  dagger  into  his  throat.  It 
was  a  terrible  crisis,  and  a  massacre  was  only  evaded  by  the 
presence  of  mind  of  PJchard  II.,  then  only  in  his  fifteenth 
year,  who  rode  at  once  up  to  the  rebels  and  said,  "  Why 
this  clamour,  my  liegemen  ?  What  are  ye  doing  ?  Will  you 
kill  your  King?  Be  not  displeased  for  the  death  of  a  traitor 
and  a  scoundrel.  I  will  be  your  captain  and  your  leader: 
follow  me  into  the  fields,  and  I  will  grant  you  all  you  ask." 
The  insurgents,  captivated  by  his  courage,  at  once  allowed 
themselves  to  be  led  into  Islington  Fields,  where  they  were 
quietly  dispersed  without  difficulty,  and  Jack  Straw,  Wat 
Tyler's  second  in  command,  was  afterwards  hanged  in 
Sinithfield. 

The  Elms  in  Smithfield  "  betwixt  the  horse-pool  and  the 
river  of  the  Wels  or  Turnmill  Brook  "*  was  the  place  for 
public  executions  before  it  was  removed  to  Tyburn  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  IV.  It  was  here  that  William  Fitzosbert, 
surnamed  the  Longbeard,  the  first  popular  reformer,  was 
hanged  and  beheaded  in  (1196)  the  reign  of  Richard  I. 
Here  Sir  William  Wallace  was  executed  on  St.  Bartholomew's 
Eve,  1305,  being  dragged  by  horses  from  the  Tower,  hung, 
and  then  quartered  while  he  was  still  living.  Here  also 
Mortimer,  the  favourite  of  Queen  Isabella  the  Fair,  was 
hung  by  her  eighteen-y ears- old  son  Edward  III.  Endless 
persons  were  burnt  here  for  witchcralt;  two  persons  were 

*  Stow,  p.  142. 


1 76  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

boiled  alive  here  for  poisoning;*  but  most  of  all  is  the  name 
of  Smithfield  connected  with  religious  persecutions  and  in- 
tolerance—  Catholics  burning  Protestants;  then,  Protestants 
Catholics;  then,  Catholics  Protestants  again;  those  who 
had  cruelly  caused  the  sufferings  of  others  often  in  their 
turn  having  to  endure  the  same.  Kings  and  princes  were 
themselves  sometimes  present,  and  took  a  part  at  these 
horrible  scenes ;  thus  in  Sir.  N.  H.  Nicholas'  "  Chronicle  of 
London"  (1089  to  1483)  we  read  of  the  Prince  of  Wales 
assisting  at  the  death  of  John  Badby,  who  was  burnt  in  a 
tun  filled  with  fire,  a  ceremony  of  cruelty  which  was  peculiar 
to  him  alone. 

"This  same  yere  there  was  a  clerk  that  beleved  nought  on  the  sacra- 
nvnt  of  the  auter,  that  is  to  saye,  Godes  body,  which  was  dampned 
and  brought  into  Smythfield  to  be  burnt,  and  was  bour.de  to  a  stake 
where  as  he  schulde  be  burnt.  And  Henry,  Prynce  of  Walys,  thanne 
the  kynge's  eldest  sone,  consalled  him  for  to  forsake  his  heresye  and  hold 
the  righte  way  of  holy  chin  he.  And  the  prior  of  seynt  Bertelmewes 
in  Smythfield  biO'iuhte  'he  holy  sacrament  of  Godes  body,  with  xij 
torches  lyght  before,  and  in  this  wyse  cam  to  the  cursed  heretyk  :  and 
it  was  asked  hym  how  he  beleved  :  and  he  ansuerde,  that  he  beleved 
well  that  it  was  hallowed  bred  and  nought  Godes  body  ;  and  thanne 
was  the  tonne  put  over  hym  and  fyre  kyndled  therein  ;  and  whanne  the 
v  recche  felt  the  fyre  he  cryed  mercy  ;  and  anon  the  prynce  comanded 
to  take  away  the  tonne  and  to  quenche  the  fyre,  the  whiche  was  don 
anon  at  his  comandement ;  and  thanne  the  prynce  asked  hym  if  he 
wolde  forsake  his  heresye  and  taken  hym  to  the  faithe  of  holy  chirche, 
whiche  if  he  wolde  dou,  he  schulde  have  hys  lyf  and  good  ynow  to 
1  ven  by;  and  the  cursed  shrew  wolde  nought,  but  contynued  ioith  in 
his  heresye  ;  wherefore  he  was  brent." 

Passing  rapidly  on  to  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  we  find 
in  1539,  Forest,  an  Observant  Friar,  burnt  for  denying  the 
King's   supremacy,   and  Latimer,    himself  burnt   in    1556, 

*  The  last  was  a  woman  ;  the  first,  in  1531,  was  the  cook  of  Fieher,  Bishop  of 
Rochester,  whom  he  was  accused  of  trying  to  poison  in  his  soup. 


SMITHFIELD  MARTYRS.  177 

coolly  preaching  patience  while  the  victim  writhed  and 
moaned  in  his  death  struggles.  And  soon  afterwards  we 
find  Cranmer,  also  burnt  himself  in  1556,  adjuring  Edward 
VI.  to  burn  Joan  Butcher,  the  Maid  of  Kent,  who  was 
troubled  with  some  scruples  as  to  the  Incarnation,  and  the 
amiable  King  replying  in  horror — "What,  my  lord  !  Will 
ye  have  me  send  her  quick  to  the  devil,  in  her  error?" 
"  So  that  Dr.  Cranmer  himself  confessed,  that  he  had 
never  so  much  to  do  in  all  his  life,  as  to  cause  the  king  to 
put  to  his  hand,  saying  he  would  lay  all  the  charge  thereof 
upon  Cranmer  before  God." 

Of  the  long  line  of  sufferers  for  the  Protestant  faith, 
generally  on  the  question  of  transubstantiation,  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  VIII.,  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  was  Sir 
William  Askew's  beautiful  daughter  Anne,  whom  Wriothes- 
ley,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  tortured  with  his  own  hands,  and 
who  lost  the  use  of  her  feet  by  her  extreme  sufferings  upon 
the  rack  to  make  her  disclose  the  name  of  those  court 
ladies  of  Queen  Katherine  Parr  who  shared  her  opinions. 
The  account  in  Foxe  of  her  death  is  too  pictorial 
to  omit. 

"The  day  of  her  execution  (1546)  being  appointed,  this  good 
woman  was  brought  into  Smilhfteld  in  a  chair,  because  she  could  not 
go  on  her  feet,  by  means  of  her  great  torments.  When  she  was 
brought  unto  the  stake,  she  was  tied  by  the  middle  with  a  chain,  that 
held  up  her  body.  When  all  things  were  thus  prepared  to  the  fire, 
Dr.  Shaxton,*  who  was  then  appointed  to  preach,  began  his  sermon. 
Anne  Askew,  hearing  and  answering  again  unto  him,  when  he  said 
well,  confirmed  the  same  ;  when  he  said  amiss,  'There,'  said  she,  'he 
misseth,  and  speaketh  without  the  book.' 

"The  sermon  being  finished,  the  martyrs,  standing  there  tied  at 
three  several  stakes  ready  to  their  martyrdom,  began  their  prayers. 
The  multitude  and  concourse  of  the  people  was  exceeding  ;  the  place 

*  The  renegade  Bishop  of  Salisbury. 

VOL.   I.  N 


1-8  ALKS  JN  LOXDOX. 

where  '.hev  stood  being  railed  about  to  keep  out  the  press.  Upon  the 
bench  under  St.  Bartholomew's  Church  sate  Wriothesley,  chancellor 
of  England  :  Duke  of  N   :  oik,  the  old   Karl  of  Bedford,  the 

Lord  M.v  vers  cth.rs.      '.  .  e  tire  should  be  set  unto 

them,  one  of  the   be:  that  they   had   gunpowder  about 

them,  and  being  alarmed  lest  the  faggots,  by  strength  of  the  gun- 
er,  would  come  flying  about  their  ears,  began  to  be  afraid  ;  but 
the  Earl  of  Bedford,  declaring  unto  him  how  the  gunpowder  was  not 
laid  under  the  faggots,  but  only  about  their  bodies,  to  rid  them  out  of 
their  pain  ;  which  having  vent,  t^ere  was  no  danger  to  them  of  the 
faggots,  so  diminished  that  fear. 

"  Then  Wriothesley,  lord  chancellor,  sent  to  Anne  Askew  letters, 
offering  her  the  king's  pardon  if  she  would  recant  ;  who,  reiusing 
once  to  look  up^:.  :nade  this  answer  again,  that  she  came  not 

thither  to  deny  her  Lord  and  Master.  Then  were  the  letters  likewise 
1  to  the  others,  who,  in  like  manner,  following  the  constancy  of 
the  woman,  denied  not  only  to  receive  them,  but  also  to  look  upon 
them.  Whereupon  the  Lord  Mayor,  commanding  fire  to  be  put 
unto  them,  cried  with  a  '   ad  voice,  '  Fi  !  ' 

"And  thus  the  good  Anne  Askew,  with  these  blessed  martyrs,  being 
troubled  so  many  manner  of  ways,  and  having  passed  through  so 
many  torments,  now  ended  the  long  course  of  her  agonies,  being 
compassed  in  with  flames  of  fire." 

With  the  reiain  of  Mary,  who  was  educated  in  cruelty  by 
her  husband  Philip,  the  executions  for  religion  became 
ten  times  more  frequent  than  before.  The  martyr-proces- 
sion was  heralded  1555  by  John  Rogers.  Vicar  of  - 
Sepulchre's,  who  had  been  converted  to  the  Prote^ 
faith  at  Antwerp  by  conversations  with  William  Tyndall 
and  Miles  Coverdale. 

"  As  he  was  led  from  his  prison  to  SmithSeld,  his  wife  and  nine 
children  (another  was  about  to  be  born)  stood  watching  his  '  triumph,' 
almost  with  joyousness.  With  that  wife  and  children  he  had  been 
refused  a  parting  interview,  by  Gardiner  first,  when  in  prison,  by 
Bonner  afterwards  just  before  his  execution — for  what  had  a  conse- 
crated priest  to  do  with  wife  and  children  ?  John  Rogers  passed  on, 
is  to  his  death,  but  to  a  wedding.  This  is  not  the  language  of  an 
admiring  martyrologist,  or  a  zeal-deluded  Protestant,  but  of  Noailles, 
the  Cathobc  French  amb:  — 1 


XAIITHFIELD  MARTYRS.  170 

Rogers  was  offered  a  pardon  if  he  would  revoke  his 
expressions  about  transubstantiation,  but  he  answered, 
u  That  which  I  have  preached  will  I  seal  with  my  blood ;  at 
the  day  of  Judgement  it  will  be  known  whether  I  am  a 
heretic,"  and,  being  bound  to  the  stake,  washed  his  hands 
in  the  flame,  as  one  feeling  no  hurt,  and  so  died  bravely 
in  sight  of  his  own  church-tower.  "  He  was.';  says  Foxe, 
"  the  proto-martyr  of  all  the  blessed  company  that  suffered 
in  Queen  Mary's  time,  that  gave  the  first  adventure  upon 
the  fire.'' 

To  thooe  who  study  the  story  of  the  executions  in  Smith- 
field  it  will  be  striking,  how,  in  the  midst  of  a  Catholic 
population,  the  English  feeling  of  injustice  towards  the 
victims,  and  indignation  at  the  cruelty  of  their  persecutors, 
especially  against  Bonner,  Bishop  of  London,  always  made 
the  spectators  sympathize  with  the  sufferers,  and  only  fear 
lest  they  should  be  induced  by  terror  to  recant  at  the  last. 
Thus,  when  John  Cardmaker,  Prebendary  of  Wells,  was 
brought  to  Smithfield  (1555)  with  John  Warne  an  uphol- 
sterer 01  VYalbrook — 

'■  The  people  were  in  a  marvellous  dump  and  sadness  thinking 
that  Cardmaker  would  recant  at  the  burning  of  Warne.  But  his 
prayers  being  ended,  he  rose  up,  put  off  his  clothes  unto  his  shirt, 
went  with  bold  courage  to  the  stake,  and  kis-ed  it  sweet!}- :  he  took 
Warne  by  the  hand,  and  comforted  him  heartily  ;  and  so  gave  him- 
sell  to  be  also  bound  to  the  stake  most  gladly.  The  people  seei:.g 
this  so  suddenly  done,  contrary  to  their  fearful  expectation,  as  men 
delivered  out  of  a  great  doubt,  cried  out  with  joy,  saying,  '  God  be 
praised  !  the  Lord  strengthen  thee,  Cardmaker ;  the  .Lord  Je^ui 
receive  thy  spirit ! '  " 

Amongst  the  most  remarkable  of  the  after  sufferers  was 
John  Bradford,  who  died  embracing  the  stake  and  comfort- 
ing his  fellow  sufferer  ;    and  John  Phiipot,  Archdeacon  of 


i8o  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Winchester,  who  knelt,  like  St.  Andrew,  at  first  sight  of  his 
stake. 

"  And  when  he  was  come  to  the  place  of  suffering,  he  kissed  the 
stake,  and  said,  '  Shall  I  disdain  to  suffer  at  this  stake,  seeing  my 
Redeemer  did  not  refuse  to  buffer  a  most  vile  death  upon  the  cro^s 
for  me  ? '  And  then  with  an  obedient  heart  full  meekly  he  said 
the  106th,  the  107th,  and  the  1.08th  Psalms.  .  .  .  Then  they  bound 
him  to  the  stake,  and  set  fire  to  that  constant  martyr." 

Two  hundred  and  seventy-seven  persons  in  all  had  been 
burnt  here  before,  in  the  words  of  Fuller,  "  the  hydropical 
humour  which  quenched  the  life  of  Mary  extinguished  al-o 
the  fires  of  Smithfield."  The  only  memorial  now  existing 
of  the  sufferings  for  truth's  sake  which  Smithfield  witnessed 
is  to  be  found  in  an  inscribed  stone  in  the  outer  wall  of  St. 
Bartholomew's  Hospital,  saying — "Within  a  few  yard,  of 
this  spot,  John  Rogers,  John  Bradford,  John  Philpot, 
servants  of  God,  suffered  death  by  fire  for  the  faith  of 
Christ,  in  the  years,  1555,  1556,  1557." 

The  part  of  Smithfield  which  is  on  the  right  as  we  enter 
it  is  girdled  by  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital  and  the  remains 
of  St.  Bartholomew's  Priory,  alike  founded  in  the  early  part 
of  the  twelfth  century  by  Rahere  or  Rayer — "  a  pleasant- 
witted  gentleman,"  says  Stow,  "  and  therefore  in  his  time 
called  the  king's  minstrel."  *  On  his  way  to  Rome  on  a 
pilgrimage,  he  imagined  in  a  vision  that  he  was  carried  by 
a  great  beast  having  four  feet  and  two  wings  to  a  very  lofty 
place,  whence  he  saw  the  entrance  and  the  horrors  of  the 
bottomless  pit.  From  this  he  was  rescued  by  a  majestic 
personage,  who  revealed  himself  as  St.  Bartholomew,  and 
commanded  him  to  build  a  church  in  his  honour  on  a  site 
which  he  indicated,  bidding  him  be  under  no  apprehensions 

*  Stow,  p.  140. 


ST.   BARTHOLOMEW  THE   GREAT. 


181 


as  to  expense,  for  he  would  supply  the  funds.  Rail  ere, 
returning,  obtained  the  royal  sanction  for  his  work,  which 
was  speedily  assisted  by  miraculous  agency,  for  a  marvellous 
light  was  believed  to  shine  on  the  roof  of  the  church  as  it 
arose,  the  blind  who  visited  it  received  their  sight,  cripples 
went  away  with  their  limbs  restored,  and,  the  hiding-place 
of  a  choral  book  stolen  by  a  Jew  was  marvellously  revealed. 
Rahere  died  in  1143  leaving  thirteen  monks  in  his  founda- 


Ihe  Gate  of  St.  Bartholomew's. 


tion.  The  monastery  was  at  one  time  one  of  the  largest 
religious  houses  in  London,  its  precincts  extending  as  far  as 
Aldersgate  Street.  But  nothing  is  left  now  of  the  monastic 
buildings,  though  part  of  the  cloisters  existed  within  the 
memory  of  living  persons.  The  Prior's  house  stood  behind 
the  church,  between  it  and  Red  Lion  Passage. 

Built  up  in  the  old  houses  facing  the  market — which 
look  little  altered  since  they  were  represented  in  the  print 
in.  which   the   Lord  Mayor  and  the   old  Dukes  are  sitting 


182 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


.beneath  them  in  a  kind  of  tent,  watching  the  execution  of 
Anne  Askew — is  an  old  Gothic  gateway.  It  is  an  early 
English  arch,  with  several  rows  of  dogtooth  ornament 
between  its  mouldings.  Through  its  iron  gate  we  look 
upon  the  blackened  churchyard,  with  the  ghastly  tombs,  of 


In  St.  Bartholomew's. 


St.  Bartholomew'  the  Great,  with  a  brick  tower  of  1650. 
But  to  enter  the  church  we  have  to  seek  the  key  in  the 
neighbouring  Cloth  Fair." 

Grand  as  St.  Bartholomew's  still  is,  it  is  only  the  choir  of 

*  The  keys  are  kept  at  No.  i,  Church  Passage,  Cloth  Fair. 


ST.  BARTHOLOMEW  THE   GREAT.  183 

the  monastic  church,  w'fh  the  first  bay  of  the  nave  and 
fragments  of  the  transepts.  The  choir  has  a  triforium 
and  clerestory,  and  is  entirely  surrounded  by  an  ambula- 
tory. The  narrow  stilted  horseshoe  arches  of  the  apse  are 
very  curious.  Of  the  arches  which  supported  the  tower, 
two  are  round,  the  others  (towards  the  transepts)  slightly 
pointed.  The  general  effect  of  this  interior  is  greatly 
enhanced  by  having  its  area  kept  open,  with  chairs  in  the 
place  of  pews,  allowing  the  lines  of  the  architecture  and 
the  bases  of  the  pillars  to  be  seen. 

"It  is  recorded  *  that  three  Greek  travellers  of  noble  family  were 
present  at  the  foundation,  and  foretold  the  future  importance  of  the 
church.  They  were  probably  merchants  from  Byzantium,  and  it  has 
been  conjectured  that  they  were  consulted  by  the  founder  respecting 
the  plan  and  architectural  character  of  the  church." — Rick/nan. 

It  is  this  monastic  choir,  as  we  now  see  it,  which  wit- 
nessed a  strange  scene  when  (1247)  the  Provencal  Arch- 
bishop Boniface,  uncle  of  Henry  III.'s  queen,  Ellinor, 
irritated  at  a  want  of  deference  on  the  part  of  the  sub-prior, 
rushed  upon  him,  slapped  him  in  the  face,  tore  his  cope  to 
fragments,  and  trampled  it  under  foot,  and  finally,  being 
himself  in  full  armour  under  his  vestments,  pressed  him 
against  a  pillar  so  violently  as  almost  to  kill  him.  A  general 
scrimmage  ensued  between  the  monks  and  the  attendants  of 
the  archbishop,  and  as  the  inhabitants  of  Smithfield  poured 
in  to  the  assistance  of  the  former,  Boniface  was  forced  to  ily 
to  Lambeth,  followed  by  shouts  that  he  was  a  ruffian  and 
cruel,  unlearned  and  a  stranger,  and  moreover  that  he  had 
a  wife  ! 

The  last  prior  was  Fuller,  previously  prior  of  Waltham. 

*  Mon.  Ang.  vol.  vi.  p.  294. 


if?4 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


Under  his  predecessor,  Prior  Bolton  (1506  to  1532),  a 
great  deal  of  restoration  was  done,  marked  by  the  perpen- 
dicular work  inserted  on  the  old  Norman  building.  Espe- 
cially noteworthy  is  the  oriel  called  Prior  Bolton's  pew, 
projecting  over  the  south  side  of  the  choir,  where  the  prior 


Prior  Bolton's  Pew. 


sate  during  service,  or  whence  the  sacristan  watched  the 
altar.  It  is  adorned  with  the  rebus  of  its  builder— a  bolt 
through  a  ton.*  There  are  similar  oriels  at  Malmesbury 
and  in  Exeter  Cathedral. 

*  The  well-known  Inn  in  Fleet  Street  "  the  Bolt  in  Tun  "  took  its  name  from  the 
rebus  of  Prior  Bolton. 


ST.   BARTHOLOMEW  THE   GREAT. 


i*S 


On  the  north  of  the  choir  is  the  tomb  erected  in  the 
fifteenth  century  to  the  founder,  Rahere,  with  a  beautifully 
groined  canopy.  At  the  foot  of  his  sleeping  figure  stands 
a  crowned  angel,  and  on  either  side  kneels  a  monk,  with 
a  Bible  open  at  Isaiah  li.,  and  the  words,  "  The  Lord  shall 


Rahere's  Tomb. 


comfort  Zion  :  He  will  comfort  all  her  waste  places ;  and 
He  will  make  her  wilderness  like  Eden,  and  her  desert  like 
the  garden  of  the  Lord  ;  joy  and  gladness  shall  be  found 
therein,  thanksgiving,  and  the  voice  of  melody." 

On  the  north  wall,  also,  is  the   monument   of  Robert 


1 86  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Chamberlayne,  ambassador,  with  two  grand  angels  drawing 
the  curtains  of  a  tent  within  which  he  is  kneeling  in  armour. 
Behind,  in  the  ambulatory,  are  two  recesses  ;  that  nearest 
the  east  end  was  part  of  the  WalC-ra  Chapel,  where 
Walden,  Bishop  of  London,  was  buried.  From  a  very 
humble  sphere  he  rose  to  be  Dean  of  York,  Treasurer  of 
Calais,  Secretary  to  the  King,  and  Treasurer  of  England. 
When  Archbishop  Arundel  was  banished  by  Richard  \l. 
Walden  was  made  archbishop,  but  when  Arundel  returned 
with  Henry  IV.,  he  was  deposed,  though  he  was  generously 
made  Bishop  of  London  by  his  rival. 

"He  may  be  compared,"  says  Fuller,  "to  one  so  jaw-fallen  with 
ovtrlong  fasting,  that  lie  cannot  eat  meat  when  brought  unto  him; 
and  his  spirits  were  so  depressed  with  his  former  iil-fortunes,  that  he 
could  not  enjoy  himself  in  his  new  unexpected  happiness." 

Making  the  round  of  the  ambulatory,  behind  the  grand 
Norman  pillars  of  the  choir,  we  find  a  number  of  cm  ions 
monuments.  The  first  is  that  of  Dr.  Francis  Anthony  (flb. 
1623),  who  invented  and  believed  in  an  extraordinary 
medicine  which  was  to  work  universal  cures — aurum  poiabde, 
being  extract  or  honey  of  gold,  capable  of  being  dissolved 
in  any  liquid  whatsoever.  Dr.  Anthony  published  a  learned 
defence  of  his  discovery,  intended  to  show  that  "after  inex- 
pressible labour,  watching,  and  expense,  he  had,  through 
the  blessing  of  Cod,  attained  all  he  had  sought  for  in 
his  inquiries."  The  medicine  obtained  great  celebrity  in 
the  reign  of  James  I.,  and  Dr.  Anthony  lived  in  much 
honour  in  Bartholomew  Close,  and  bequeathed  the  secret 
of  aurum  potabile  to  his  son,  who  wrote  on  his  monu- 
ment, which  bears  three  pillars  encircled  by  a  wreath,  the 
epitaph — 


ST.   BARTHOLOMEW   THE   GREAT.  187 

* 
"  There  needs  no  verse  to  beautify  thy  praise, 
Or  keep  in  memory  thy  spotless  name ; 
Religion,  virtue,  and  thy  skill  did  raise 
A  three-fold  pdlar  to  thy  lasting  fame. 
Though  poisonous  Envy  ever  sought  to  blame 
Or  hide  the  Iruits  of  thy  intention, 
Yet  shall  they  all  commend  that  high  design 
Of  purest  gold  to  make  a  medecine, 
That  feel  thy  he!p  by  that  thy  rare  invention." 

The  next  monument  is  that  of  Rycroft  (1677),  who  trans- 
lated the  polyglot  Bible.  It  rests  upon  the  volumes  of  his 
work.  Then  comes  a  monument  to  John  Whiting,  with  the 
pretty  epitaph — 

"  Sliee  first  deceased,  he  for  a  little  try'd 
To  live  without  her,  Hk'd  it  not,  and  dy'd." 

Passing  the  piers    which  formed    the    boundary   of   the 

Lady  Chapel,  we  reach  the  fine  bust  of  James  Rivers  (1641), 

which  is  probably  the  work  of  Hubert  de  Sceur,  who  lived 

close  by  in  Cloth  Fair.     Beneath,  written  at  the  beginning 

of  the  Civil  War,  are  the  verses — 

••  Within  this  hollow  vault  there  rests  the  frame 
Of  the  high  soul  that  once  inform'd  the  same; 
Torn  from  the  service  of  the  state  iu's  prime 
Bv  a  disease  malignant  as  the  time  : 
Whose  life  and  death  design'd  no  other  end 
Than  to  -.erve  God,  his  country,  and  his  friend ; 
Who,  when  ambition,  tyranny,  and  pride 
ConquerM  the  age,  conquer'd  himself  and  died." 

The  next  monument,  of  Edward  Cooke,  "  philosopher 
and  doctor,"  is  of  a  kind  of  marble  which  drips  with  water 
in  damp  weather,  and  has  the  appropriate  epitaph — 

"  Unsluice,  ye  briny  floods.     What !  can  ye  keep 
Your  eyes  from  teares,  and  see  the  marble  weep  ? 
Burst  out  for  shame;  or  if  ye  find  noe  vent 
lor  tcaies,  yet  stay  and  see  the  stones  relent." 


1 88  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

The  magnificent  alabaster  tomb  beyond  this  is  that  of 
Sir  Walter  Mildmay  (1689),  who  was  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  founder  of  Emanuel 
College  at  Cambridge.  Fuller  records  how,  being  sup- 
posed to  have  a  leaning  towards  Puritanism,  when  he  came 
to  court  after  the  foundation  of  his  college,  Elizabeth 
saluted  him  with  "  Sir  Walter,  I  hear  you  have  made  a 
Puritan  foundation."  "  No,  madam,"  he  replied  ;  "  far  be 
it  from  me  to  countenance  anything  contrary  to  your 
established  laws ;  but  I  have  set  an  acorn  which,  when  it 
becomes  an  oak,  God  knows  what  will  be  the  fruit  thereof." 
Sir  Walter  was  one  of  the  commissioners  to  Mary  Queen 
of  Scots  at  Fotheringay,  and  might  have  risen  to  the 
highest  offices  had  he  been  more  subservient  to  Elizabeth. 
Fuller  tells  how,  "  being  employed,  by  virtue  of  his  place, 
to  advance  the  Queen's  treasure,  he  did  it  industriously, 
faithfully,  and  conscionably,  without  wronging  the  subject, 
being  very  tender  of  their  privileges,  insomuch  that  he 
once  complained  in  Parliament  that  many  subsidies  were 
granted  and  no  grievances  redressed  ;  which  words  being 
represented  with  disadvantage  to  the  queen,  made  her  to  dis- 
affect  him  ;"  so  that  he  lived  afterwards  "  in  a  court  cloud, 
but  in  the  sunshine  of  his  country  and  a  clear  conscience." 
On  the  south  wall  of  the  choir,  near  this,  is  the  monument 
of  the  Smallpage  family  (1558),  with  two  admirably  powerful 
busts.  The  register  of  this  church  commemorates  the 
baptism  of  Hogarth  the  painter,  November  28th,  1697. 

St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital,  founded  by  Rahere  in  1123, 
and  refounded  by  Henry  VIII.  upon  the  dissolution  of 
monasteries,  is  open  to  all  sufferers  by  sickness  or  accident, 


571   BARTHOLOMEW  THE  LESS.  189 

and  admits  upwards  of  one  hundred  thousand  patients 
in  the  course  of  the  year.  Its  handsome  buildings  sur- 
round a  large  square  with  a  fountain,  and  are  approached 
from  Smithfield  by  a  gateway  of  1702,  adorned  with  a  statue 
of  Henry  VIII.,  and  figures  of  Sickness  and  Lameness. 

Just  within  the  gate  is  the  Church  of  St.  Bartholomew  the 
Less.  It  was  built  by  Rahere  immediately  after  his  return 
from  his  penance  at  Rome.  The  tower  contains  some 
Norman  arches  of  the  founder's  time,  but  the  church  was 
modernised  by  Dance  in  1789,  and  rebuilt  by  Hardwick  in 
1823  :  the  interior  is  octagonal.  In  the  ante-chapel  is  an 
inscription  to  John  Freke  (1756),  the  surgeon  represented 
by  Hogarth  as  presiding  over  the  dissecting  table  in  his 
"Stages  of  Cruelty,"  and  on  the  floor  the  brasses  of  William 
and  Alicia  Markeby  (1439).  On  the  north  wall,  near  the 
altar,  is  the  monument  of  the  wile  of  Sir  Thomas  Bodley, 
founder  of  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford  ;  and  opposite  it 
that  of  R.  Balthorpe,  serjeant-surgeon  to  Queen  Elizabeth. 
James  Heath,  Carlyle's  "  Carrion  Heath,"  the  slanderer  of 
Cromwell,  was  buried  in  the  church  in  1664,  "near  the 
screen  door."  The  parish  register  records  the  baptism  of 
Inigo  Jones,  whose  father  was  a  clothworker  residing  in 
the  neighbouring  Cloth  Fair. 

The  Great  Hall  (ring  at  the  door  on  left  in  the  court- 
yard) is  approached  by  a  wide  oak  staircase,  the  walls  of 
which  were  gratuitously  painted  by  Hogarth  in  1736  with 
two  immense  pictures  of  "  The  Good  Samaritan  "  and  "  The 
Pool  of  Bethesda."  In  his  manuscript  notes  Hogarth  says 
with  regard  to  these  pictures — 

*•  I  enteitained  some  thoughts  of  succeeding  in  what  the  puffers  in 
booki  call  '  the  great  style*  of  history  painting;  so  that,  without  having 


190  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

had  a  stroke  of  this  grand  business  before,  I  quitted  small  portraits 
and  familiar  conversations,  and  with  a  smile  at  my  own  temerity  com- 
menced history  painting,  and  on  a  great  staiicase  at  St.  Bartholomew's 
Hospital  painted  two  Scripture  stories  with  figures  seven  feet  high. 
These  I  presented  to  the  charity,  and  thought  they  might  serve  as  a 
specimen  to  show  that,  were  there  an  inclination  in  England  for 
encouraging  historical  pictures,  such  a  first  essay  might  prove  the 
painting  them  more  easy  attainable  than  is  generally  imagined.  But 
as  Religion,  the  great  promoter  of  this  style  in  other  countries, 
rejected  it  in  England,  and  I  was  unwilling  to  sink  into  a  portrait- 
manufacturer — and  still  ambitious  of  being  singular,  I  soon  dropped 
all  expectations  of  advantage  from  that  source,  and  returned  to  the 
pursuit  of  my  former  dealings  with  the  public  at  large." 

In  the  frieze  below  the  large  subjects  are  the  Foundation 
of  the  Hospital  by  Rahere,  and  his  Burial — probably  by 
another  hand. 

The  Great  Hall  or  Court-room  contains — 

Vincenzo  Carducci.     St.  Bartholomew. 

Hans  Holbein  ?  Henry  VIII.,  life-size,  in  a  fur-lined  gold-embroidered 
robe,  with  a  black  hat  and  white  feather. 

Sir  G.  Kneller.     Dr.  RadcUffe. 

Sir  jf.  Reynolds.  Percival  Pott,  Surgeon  of  the  Hospital  and 
inventor  of  many  surgical  instruments,  17 13 — 1788.  A  seated  portrait 
in  his  71st  year. 

Sir  David  Wilkie.  Alderman  Matthias  Prince  Lucas,  President  of 
the  Hospital,  painted  1839. 

Just  beyond  St.  Bartholomew's  the  Great  is  the  entrance 
of  Cloth  Fair  (long  the  annual  resort  of  drapers),  whose 
name  is  now  the  only  relic  of  Bartholomew  Fair,  the  great 
London  carnival,  which,  originally  established  for  useful 
purposes  of  trade,  declined  during  its  existence  of  seven 
centuries  and  a  half  into  regular  saturnalia,  but  only  perished 
by  lingering  death  in  1855.  Cloth  Fair,  which  was  once  a 
great  centre  for  the  French  and  Flemish  merchants  in 
London,  having  escaped  the  Fire,  is  still  full  of  old  though 


CHARTERHOUSE  SQUARE.  19» 

squalid  houses  of  Elizabethan  or  Jacobian  date:  some 
are  older  still,  and  were  built  by  Lord  Rich,  one  of  the 
worst  of  the  favourites  of  Henry  VIII.,  to  whom  the 
priory  was  granted,  with  many  privileges,  at  the  Dissolu- 
tion. Here  the  Pie  Powder — Pied-Poudre — Court  was 
held  annually  at  the  public-house  called  the  Hand  and 
Shears  during  Bartholomew  Fair,  for  the  sorting  and 
correction  of  the  weights  and  measures  used  in  the  market, 
and  for  granting  licences  for  the  exhibition  in  the  fair. 
Blackstone  says,  "  The  lowest,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
most  expeditious,  court  of  justice  known  to  the  law  of 
England  is  the  Court  of  Pie-poudre,  curia  pedis  pulverizati 
— so  called  from  the  dusty  feet  of  the  suitors,"  or,  accord- 
ing to  Sir  Edward  Coke,  "because  justice  is  there  done 
as  speedily  as  dust  can  fall  from  the  foot."  Long  Lane, 
close  by,  is  commemorated  by  Congreve,  and  Duck  Lane 
by  Swift.  In  Bartholomew  Close  Milton  was  secreted  at 
the  Restoration,  till  his  pardon  was  signed. 

"Smithfield  Saloop,"  of  Turkish  origin,  a  drink  made  by 
boiling  the  bulbs  of  Orchis  mascula  and  Orchis  morio,  was 
long  the  most  popular  midnight  street  refreshment  in 
London,  being  considered  a  sovereign  cure  for  the  head- 
aches arising  from  drunkenness. 

Continuing,  along  the  east  side  of  the  Metropolitan  Meat 
Market,  we  reach  Charterhouse  Square,  where  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  were  many  handsome  palaces,  such  as 
Rutland  House  (still  commemorated  in  Rutland  Place)  and 
one  where  the  Venetian  ambassadors  used  to  lod^e.*  It  is 
now  a  quiet  green  amid  the  houses.  Here,  before  the  reign 
Oi  Edward  III.,  was  a  desolate  common  called  "  No  Man's 

•  Howell's  "  Londinopolis."  fol.  1657,  p.  J4J. 


193  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Land,"  between  the  lands  of  the  Abbey  of  Westminster  and 
the  gardens  of  the  Knights  of  St.  John  in  Clerkenwell.  In 
the  terrible  plague  of  1348,  when  thousands  of  bodies 
were  flung  loosely  into  pits  without  any  religious  service 
whatever,  Ralph  Stratford,  who  was  then  Bishop  of  London, 
purchased  these  three  desolate  acres,  and,  building  a  chapel 
there,  where  masses  should  be  perpetually  said  for  the 
repose  of  the  dead,  called  it  "  Pardon  Churchyard."  Fifty 
thousand  persons  were  buried  in  this  cemetery  and  in  the 
adjoining  Spital  Croft,  which  was  purchased  by  Sir  Walter 
Manny,  the  hero  of  Edward  III.'s  French  wars,  who,  in 
137 1,  founded  a  Carthusian  convent  here,  and  called  it 
"The  House  of  the  Salutation  of  the  Mother  of  God." 
The  story  of  the  dissolution  of  the  convent  is  one  of  the 
most  touching  of  the  time.  Prior  Houghton,  who  was 
then  superior,  spoke  too  openly  against  the  spoliation  of 
church  lands  by  the  king,  and  so  (1534)  drew  down  the 
wrath  of  the  royal  commissioners.  When  he  knew  that 
•.hey  were  suspected  of  treason,  he  gathered  his  community 
around  him,  and  exhorted  them  to  faith  and  patience. 
Maurice  Chauncy  describes  the  affecting  scene  which  fol- 
lowed : — 

"The  day  after  the  Prior  preached  a  sermon  in  the  chapel  on  the 
59th  Psalm — '  O  God,  Thou  hast  cast  us  off,  Thou  hast  destroyed  us ; ' 
concluding  with  the  words,  '  It  is  better  that  we  should  suffer  here  a 
short  penance  for  our  faults,  than  be  reserved  for  the  eternal  pains  of 
hell  hereafter; '  and  so  ending,  he  turned  to  us  and  bade  us  all  do  as 
we  saw  him  do.  Then  rising  from  his  place  he  went  direct  to  the 
eldest  of  the  brethren,  who  was  sitting  nearest  to  himself,  and  kneeling 
before  him,  begged  his  forgiveness  for  any  offence  which  in  heart, 
word,  or  deed,  he  might  have  committed  against  him.  Thence  he 
proceeded  to  the  next,  and  said  the  same ;  and  so  to  the  next,  through 
us  all,  we  following  him  and  saying  as  he  did,  each  from  each  imploring 
pardon." — Chauncy,  Historia  Martyrum,  quoted  by  Froude. 


CHAR  TERHO  USE.  1 93 

The  prior  and  several  of  the  monks  were  sentenced  to  be 
hung,  drawn,  and  quartered  at  Tyburn.  Sir  Thomas  More 
(who  had  himself  lived  for  four  years  in  the  Charterhouse — 
religiously,  without  vow,  giving  himself  up  to  meditation  and 
prayer)  saw  them  led  to  execution  from  his  prison  window, 
and  said  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Roper,  who  was  with  him, 
"  Lo,  dost  thou  not  see,  Megg,  that  these  blessed  fathers  be 
now  as  cheerfully  going  to  their  deaths  as  bridegrooms  to 
their  marriage."  Several  others  of  the  monks  were  after- 
wards executed,  and  ten  were  starved  to  death  in  Newgate; 
the  remainder  fled  to  Bruges. 

"  If  we  would  understand  the  true  spirit  of  the  time,  we  must  regard 
Catholics  and  Protestants  as  gallant  soldiers,  whose  deaths,  when  they 
fall,  are  not  painful,  but  glorious ;  and  whose  devotion  we  are  equally 
able  to  admire,  even  where  we  cannot  equally  approve  their  cause. 
Courage  and  self-sacrifice  are  beautiful  alike  in  an  enemy  and  in  a 
friend.  And  while  we  exult  in  that  chivalry  with  which  the  Smithfield 
martyrs  bought  England's  freedom  with  their  blood,  so  we  will  not 
refuse  our  admiration  to  those  other  gallant  old  men  whose  high  forms, 
in  the  sunset  of  the  old  faith,  stand  transfigured  on  the  horizon,  tinged 
with  the  light  of  its  dying  gloiy." — Froude,  ii.  341. 

The  buildings  of  the  Charterhouse  were  presented  to 
several  of  the  king's  favourites  in  turn,  and  in  1565  were 
sold  by  the  Norths  to  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  who  pulled 
down  many  of  the  monastic  buildings,  and  added  rooms 
more  fitted  to  a  palatial  residence.  Thomas  Howard,  Earl 
of  Suffolk,  second  son  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  beheaded 
for  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  sold  the  Charterhouse  for 
^13,000  to  Thomas  Sutton,  of  Camps  Castle,  in  Cam- 
bridgeshire, who  had  made  an  enormous  fortune  in  North- 
umbrian coal-mines.  He  used  it  to  found  (161 1)  a  hospital 
for  aged  men  and  a  school  for  children  of  poor  parents — 

vol.  1.  o 


i94  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

the  " taiple  good"  of  Bacon,  the  "masterpiece  of  English 
charity"  of  Fuller.  In  1872  the  school  was  removed  to 
Godalming,  supposed  to  be  a  more  healthy  situation, 
and  the  land  which  was  occupied  by  its  buildings  and 
playground  was  sold  to  the  Merchant  Tailors  for  their 
school.  But  the  rest  of  the  foundation  of  Sutton  still  exists 
where  he  left  it. 

The  Charterhouse  (shown  by  the  Porter)  is  entered  from 
the  Square  by  a  perpendicular  arch,  with  a  projecting  shelf 
above  it,  supported  by  lions.  Immediately  opposite  is  a 
brick  gateway  belonging  to  the  monastic  buildings,  which  is 
that  where  the  "  arm  of  Houghton  was  hung  up  as  a  bloody 
sign  to  awe  the  remaining  brothers  to  obedience,"*  when  his 
head  was  exposed  on  London  Bridge.  The  second  court 
contains  the  Master's  house,  and  is  faced  by  the  great 
hall  of  the  Dukes  of  Norfolk.  By  a  door  in  the  right 
wall  we  pass  to  a  Cloister,  containing  monuments  to 
Thackeray,  John  Leech,  Sir  Henry  Havelock,  old  Car- 
thusians, and  Archdeacon  Hale,  long  a  master  of  the 
Charterhouse.  Hence  we  enter  Brook  Hall,  to  which 
Brook,  a  master  of  the  Charterhouse,  whose  picture 
hangs  here,  was  confined  by  Cromwell :  another  door 
leads  to  the  Chapel,  of  which  the  groined  entrance  dates 
'  from  monastic  times,  but  the  rest  is  Jacobian.  On  the  left 
of  the  altar  is  the  magnificent  alabaster  tomb  of  Sutton, 
who  died  Dec.  12,  161 1,  a  few  months  after  his  foundation 
of  the  Charterhouse.  The  upper  part  of  the  tomb  repre- 
sents his  funeral  sermon,  with  the  poor  Brethren  sealed 
round.  On  the  cornice  are  figures  of  Faith  and  Hope, 
Labour  and  Rest,  Plenty  and  Want.     The  whole  is  the  work 

•  Froude,  vi.  359. 


CHARTERHOUSE. 


*95 


of  Nicholas  Stone  and  Jansen  of  Sout/nvark.  Opposite,  is 
an  interesting  tomb  of  Francis  Beaumont,  an  early  master. 
The  monument  of  Edward  Law,  Lord  Ellenborough,  is  by 
Chantrey.  There  are  tablets  to  Dr.  Raine  and  other 
eminent  masters. 

The  old  Brick  Cloister  of  the  monastic  Charterhouse 
extends  along  one  side  of  the  playground,  on  one  side 
of    which    are    the   modern    buildings   of    the    Merchant 


Staircase  of  Norfolk  House. 


Tailors'  School.  All  the  movable  relics  of  Charterhouse 
School  were  taken  away  when  the  school  was  removed, 
and  nothing  remains  of  its  buildings,  but  the  place  is 
still  dear  to  many  Charterhouse  boys.  Richard  Lovelace, 
Isaac  Barrow,  Addison,  Steele,  John  Wesley,  Sir 
William  Blackstone,  Grote,  Thirlwall,  Julius  Hare,  Sir 
Henry  Havelock,  Sir  Charles  Eastlake,  Thackeray,  and 
John  Leech  were  Carthusians.  A  grand  Staircase  of  Queen 
Elizabeth's   time,  with    the    greyhound  of  Sutton   on  the 


iq6 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


banisters,  leads  to  the  Officers'  Library,  with  a  portrait 
of  Daniel  Ray,  who  gave  its  books  ;  and  to  the  Drawing 
Room  of  old  Norfolk  house,  with  a  beautiful  ceiling,  and  a 
noble  fire-place  painted  in  Flanders,  with  figures  of  Faith, 
Hope,  and  Charity,  the  Twelve  Apostles,  and,  in  the  centre, 
the  Royal  Arms,  with  C.  R.  on  the  tails  of  the  Lion  and 
Unicorn.     There  are  some  fine  old  tapestries  in  this  room 


Washhouse  Court,  Exterior. 


— one  of  them  representing  the  Siege  of  Calais.  It  was 
these  rooms  which  (then  belonging  to  Lord  North)  were 
used  by  Elizabeth  on  her  first  arrival  in  London  from 
Bishops  Hatfield,  before  her  coronation. 

The  Pensioners'  Hall,  where  the  Poor  Brethren  dine,  was 
the  hall  of  Norfolk  House.  It  has  a  noble  roof,  semi- 
circular in  the  middle  flat  at  the  sides,  supported  by  large 


CHA  R  TERHO  USE. 


'97 


oaken  brackets.  The  chimney-piece  is  adorned  with  the 
arms  of  Sutton,  and  the  cannon  at  the  sides  were  added 
by  him  to  commemorate  his  having  commanded  artillery 
against  the  Scots,  and  having  fitted  up  a  vessel  against 
the  Spanish  Armada. 

On  the  left  of  the  northern  quadrangle  is  the  venerable 
Washhouse  Court,  or  Poplar  Court,  the  outer  wall  of  which, 


Washhouse  Court,  Interior. 


being  part  of  the  monastic  buildings,  is  adorned  with  a 
cross,  I.H.S.,  &c,  in  the  brickwork.  It  is  in  one  of  the 
little  houses  of  this  court  that  Thackeray  paints  the  beauti- 
ful close  of  Thomas  Newcome's  life.  Elkanah  Settle,  the 
rival  of  Dryden,  died  here  in  1723 — 4.  The  Preachers' 
Court  and  Pensioners'  Court  are  miserable  works  of  Blore. 

We   cannot    leave    the    Charterhouse    without    quoting 
Thackeray's  touching  reminiscence  of  his  founder's  day  ; — 


193  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

"The  death-Jay  of  the  founder  is  still  kept  solemnly  by  the  Cister- 
cians. In  their  chapel,  where  assemble  the  boys  of  the  school,  and 
the  fourscore  old  men  of  the  hospital,  the  founder's  tomb  stands — a 
huge  edifice,  emblazoned  with  heraldic  decorations  and  clumsy  carved 
allegories.  There  is  an  old  hall,  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  architec- 
ture of  James's  time.  An  old  hall?  Many  old  halls,  old  staircases, 
old  passages,  old  chambers  decorated  with  old  portraits,  walking  in 
the  midst  of  which  we  walk,  as  it  were,  in  the  early  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. To  others  than  Cistercians,  Grey  Friars  is  a  dreary  place, 
possibly.  Nevertheless  the  pupils  educated  there  love  to  revisit  it, 
and  the  oldest  of  us  grow  young  again  for  an  hour  or  two  as  we  come 
back  into  thoce  scenes  of  childhood. 

"  The  custom  of  the  school  is,  that  on  the  I2th  of  December,  the 
Founder's  Day,  the  head  gown-boy  shall  recite  a  Latin  oration,  in 
praise  Fundatoris  Nostri,  and  upon  other  subjects,  and  a  goodly  com- 
pany of  old  Cistercians  is  generally  brought  together  to  attend  this 
oration  ;  after  which  we  go  to  chapel  and  have  a  sermon ;  after  which 
we  adjourn  to  a  great  dinner,  where  old  condisciples  meet,  old  toasts 
are  given,  and  speeches  are  made.  Before  marching  from  the  oration- 
hall  to  chapel,  the  stewards  of  the  day's  dinner,  according  to  old- 
fashioned  rite,  have  wands  put  into  their  hands,  walk  to  church  at  the 
head  of  the  procession,  and  sit  there  in  places  of  honour.  The  boys 
are  already  in  their  seats,  with  smug  fresh  faces,  and  shining  white 
collars ;  the  old  black-gowned  pensioners  are  on  their  benches,  the 
chapel  is  lighted,  and  the  founder's  tomb,  with  its  grotesque  carvings, 
monsters,  heraldries,  darkles  and  shines  with  the  most  wonderful 
shadows  and  lights.  There  he  lies,  Fundator  Noster,  in  his  ruff  and 
gown,  awaiting  the  Great  Examination  Day.  We  oldsters,  be  we  ever 
so  old,  become  boys  again  as  we  look  at  that  familiar  old  tomb,  and 
think  how  the  seats  are  altered  since  we  were  here,  and  how  the 
doctor — not  the  present  doctor,  the  doctor  of  our  time — used  to  sit 
yonder,  and  his  awful  eye  used  to  frighten  us  shuddering  boys,  on 
whom  it  lighted  ;  and  how  the  boy  next  us  would  kick  our  shins  during 
service  time,  and  how  the  monitor  would  cane  us  afterwards  because 
our  shins  were  kicked.  Yonder  sit  forty  cherry-cheeked  boys,  thinking 
about  home  and  holidays  to-morrow.  Yonder  sit  some  threescore  old 
gentlemen — pensioners  of  the  hospital,  listening  to  the  prayers  and  the 
psalms.  You  hear  them  coughing  feebly  in  the  twilight — the  old 
reverend  blackgowns.  Is  Codd  Ajax  alive  ?  you  wonder.  The  Cistercian 
lads  called  these  old  gentlemen  '  codds,'  I  know  not  wherefore — but  is 
old  ("odd  Ajax  alive  ?  I  wonder,  or  Codd  Soldier,  or  kind  old  Codd 
Gentleman,  or  has  the  grave  closed  over  them  ?  A  plenty  of  candles 
light  up  this  chapel,  and  this  scene  of  age  and  youth,  and  early  memo- 


ST.  JOHN'S  GATE.  199 

ries,  and  pompous  death.  How  solemn  the  well-remembered  prayers 
are,  here  uttered  again  in  the  place  where  in  childhood  we  used  to 
hear  them  !  How  beautiful  and  decorous  the  rite  !  How  noble  the 
ancient  words  of  the  supplications  which  the  piiest  utters,  and  to  which 
generations  of  past  children,  and  troops  of  bygone  seniors,  have  cried 
'  Amen,'  under  those  arches !  The  service  for  Founder's  Day  is  a 
special  one,  one  of  the  Psalms  selected  being  the  thirty-seventh,  and 
we  hear — '  23.  The  steps  of  a  good  man  are  ordered  by  the  Lord : 
and  he  delighteth  in  his  way.  24.  Though  he  fall,  he  shall  not  be 
utterly  cast  down ;  for  the  Lord  upholdcth  him  with  his  hand.  25. 
I  have  been  young,  and  now  am  old :  yet  have  I  not  seen  the  righteous 
forsaken,  nor  his  seed  begging  bread.'  " 

Returning  to  Smithfield,  on  the  right,  where  St.  John's 
Lane  falls  into  St.  John's  Street,  Sir  Baptist  Hicks,  a  city 
mercer,*  built,  in  1612,  the  Sessions  House,  where  the 
regicides  and  the  conspirators  in  the  Popish  plot  were  tried, 
where  William,  Lord  Russell,  was  condemned  to  death,  and 
Count  Konigsmarck,  the  notorious  assassin  of  Mr.  Thynne, 
was  acquitted.  The  distances  on  the  great  north  road 
were  marked  from  Hicks'  Hall.  The  Court  House  was 
removed  to  Clerkenwell  Green  in  1782.  Opposite  the  site 
of  the  old  building  is  the  Cross  Keys  Inn,  a  favourite  resort 
of  Richard  Savage.  Turning  into  St.  John's  Lane,  we  see 
the  way  closed  by  the  old  Gateway  of  the  Knights  of  St. 
John  of  Jerusalem,  of  which  Dr.  Johnson  said  to  Boswell 
that,  when  he  first  saw  it,  he  "  beheld  it  with  reverence." 
The  old  public-house  of  Baptist's  Head  (from  Sir  Baptist 
Hicks),  on  the  right  of  the  lane,  was  the  house  of  Sir 
Thomas  Forster,  a  judge,  who  died  in  16 12.  His  arms 
appear  over  a  fire-place  in  the  tap-room. 

The  Priory  of  St.  John,  the  chief  English  seat  of  the 

•  He  was  afterwards  created  Viscount  Campden,  his  eldest  daughter  married 
Lord  Noel,  and  the  well-known  preacher,  Baptist  Noel,  derived  his  odd  nam« 
from  this  ancestor. 


aoo 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


Knights  Hospitallers  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem*  was  founded  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  I.  (i  ioo)  by  a  baron  named  Jordan  Briset 
and  Muriel  his  wife,  and  was  consecrated  in  1185  by  Hera- 
clius,  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  (buried  in  the  Temple  Church), 
who  here  urged  Henry  to  undertake  a  crusade,  and  fell  into 
a  great  rage  on  his  refusal.  John  knighted  Alexander  of 
Scotland  here,  and  Edward  I.  came  hither  to  spend  his 
honeymoon  with  Eleanor.  This  early  Priory  was  so  large 
that,  when  it  was  burnt  by  the  rebels  under  Wat  Tyler, 
the  conflagration  lasted  seven  days.  All  the  other  houses  of 
the  knights  in  London  were  destroyed  by  the  insurgents  at 
the  same  time,  and  the  prior,  Sir  Robert  Hales,  was  be- 
headed, in  revenge  for  his  having  advised  the  king  (Richard 
II.)  to  make  no  terms  with  the  commons.  The  Priory, 
however,  was  soon  rebuilt,  and  Henry  IV.  and  V.  frequently 
stayed  there,  and  it  was  there  that — finding  how  ill  it  would 
be  received  by  the  people  of  England — Richard  III.  gave  a 
public  denial  to  the  rumours  of  his  intended  marriage  with 
his  niece  Elizabeth  of  York.  The  Order  of  St.  John  was 
suppressed  by  Henry  VIII.  on  pretext  that  the  knights 
denied  his  supremacy,  two  of  those  who  opposed  him 
being  beheaded,  and  a  third  hung  and  quartered.  But  the 
Priory  still  continued  to  be  the  resort  of  royalty,  and  Mary 
resided  here  frequently  during  the  reign  of  Edward  VI., 
and  rode  hence  to  pay  state  visits  to  her  brother,  attended 
by  a  great  troop  of  Catholic  ladies  and  gentlemen.  The 
buildings  of  the  Priory  perished  for  the  most  part  when 
they  were  blown  up  by  the  Protector  Somerset,  who  intended 
to  use  them  in  building  his  palace  in  the  Strand. 

The  south  Gate  of  St.  John's  Priory,  lately  repurchased  by 

*  Afterwards  called  Kn^hts  of  Rhodes,  and  lastly  Knights  of  Malta. 


S7\   JOHN'S  GATE. 


2d 


the  Order  of  the  Knights  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  was  built 
as  we  now  see  it  by  Sir  Thomas  Docwra,  Prior,  in  1 504.  It  is 
a  fine  specimen  of  perpendicular  architecture.  On  the  outside 
are  two  shields  adorned  with  the  arms  of  the  Order  and  of 
Docwra.     In  the  centre  of  the  groined  roof  is  the  Lamb 


St.  John's  Gate,  Clerkenwell. 


bearing  a  flag,  kneeling  on  the  clasped  gospels.  The  old' 
rooms  above  the  gate  are  highly  picturesque,  and  have  been 
filled  with  an  interesting  series  of  memorials  relating  to  its 
history.  This  collection  is  rather  literary  than  military  or 
monastic,  for  here  Cave  the  printer  started,  in  January  1731, 


202 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


The  Gentleman's  Magazine,  which  has  always  borne  a  picture 
of  the  gate  on  its  cover,  so  that  its  appearance  is  familiar 
to  thousands  who  have  never  beheld  it.  Dr.  Johnson, 
previously  unknown,  used  to  work  for  Cave  at  so  much 


Dr.  Johnson's  Chair,  St.  John's  Gate. 


per  sheet,  and  for  some  time  was  almost  wholly  dependent 
upon  his  magazine  articles.  The  accounts  which  he  gave 
of  the  marvellous  powers  of  his  friend  Garrick  inspired 
Cave  with  a  desire  to  see  him  act,  and  in  the  old  room, 
which  is  now  the  dining-hall  of  the  tavern,  Garrick  is  said 


57".   JOHN'S,    CLERKENWELL.  203 

to  hive  made  his  debut  before  a  select  audience  in  Fielding's 
Mock  Doctor.  An  old  chair,  placed  beneath  his  bust  in  this 
room,  is  still  shown  as  "  Dr.  Johnson's  chair."  After  he 
had  anonymously  published  his  "  Life  of  Richard  Savage," 
Walter  Harte,  author  of  the  "  Life  of  Gustavus  Adolphus," 
dined  with  Cave  at  St.  John's  and  greatly  commended  the 
book.  Soon  afterwards  Cave  told  him  that  he  had  uncon- 
sciously given  great  pleasure  to  some  one  when  he  was 
dining  with  him,  and  on  the  inquiry,  "  How  can  that  be?" 
reminded  him  of  the  plate  of  food  which  had  been  sent 
behind  the  screen  at  dinner,  and  told  him  that  Johnson, 
the  author  of  the  book  he  commended,  considered  himself 
too  shabbily  dressed  to  appear,  but  had  devoured  the 
praises  with  his  dinner. 

St.  John's  Square  marks  the  courtyard  of  the  Priory. 
The  nave  and  aisles  and  the  stately  tower  of  the  church 
were  destroyed  by  Somerset.  A  remnant  of  the  choir, 
mauled  and  defaced,  long  used  as  a  Presbyterian  meeting- 
house and  gutted  in  Sacheverell's  riots,  is  now  St.  Johns 
Church.  Langhorne  the  poet  was  its  curate  in  1764.  The 
bases  of  some  of  the  old  pillars  may  be  traced  in  the  upper 
church,  but  it  has  nothing  really  noticeable  except  its  pic- 
turesque and  beautiful  Crypt,  consisting  of  four  bays,  two  of 
them  semi-Norman  and  two  early  English.  The  voussoirs 
of  the  arch-ribs,  instead  of  being  cut  to  a  curve — i.e.. 
following  the  line  struck  from  a  centre — are  each  of  them, 
straight,  the  necessary  curvature  being  obtained  by  making 
these  voussoirs  so  small  that  their  want  of  curvature  is 
scarcely  perceptible.*  Here  the  light  streams  in  among 
the  well-preserved   arches  from  a  little   graveyard,  which 

•  See  a  paper  by  Pettit  Griffith,  F.S.A.,  quoted  in  the  Bolder  of  July  I,  18/6. 


204 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


contains  the  tomb  of  the  father  and  mother  and  other  rela- 
tions of  Wilkes  Booth,  the  murderer  of  President  Lincoln. 

Till  a  few  years  ago  people  frequently  came  to  this  crypt 
to  visit  the  coffin  (now  buried)  of  "  Scratching  Fanny,  the 
Cock  Lane  Ghost,"  which  had  excited  the  utmost  attention 
in  1762,  being,  as  Walpole  said,  not  an  apparition,  but  an 
audition.  It  was  supposed  that  the  spirit  of  a  young  lady 
poisoned   by  a   lover  to  whom   she   had   bequeathed  her 


Crypt  of  St.  John's,  Clerkenwell. 


property,  came  to  visit,  invisibly,  but  with  very  mysterious 
noises,  a  girl  named  Parsons  who  lived  in  Cock  Lane 
(between  Smithfield  and  Holborn)  and  was  daughter  to  the 
clerk  of  St.  Sepulchre's  Church.  Horace  Walpole  went 
to  see  the  victim,  with  the  Duke  of  York,  Lady  Northum- 
berland, Lady  Mary  Coke,  and  Lord  Hertford,  but  after 
waiting  till  half-past  one  in  the  morning  in  a  suffocating 
room  with  fifty  people  crowded  into  it,  he  was  told  that 


ST.   JOHN'S,    CLERKENWELL.  205 

the  ehost  would  not  come  that  night  till  seven  in  the  morn- 
ing. •'  when,"  says  Walpole,  "  there  were  only  prentices  and 
old  women."  At  length,  the  ghost  having  promised,  by  an 
affirmative  knock,  tl'it  she  would  attend  any  one  of  her 
visitors  in  the  vaults  of  St.  John's  Church,  and  there  knock 
upon  her  coffin,  an  investigation  was  made,  of  which  Dr. 
Johnson,  who  was  present,  has  left  a  description  : — 

"  About  ten  at  ni^ht.  the  gentlemen  met  in  the  chamber  in  which 
the  gill,  supposed  to  be  distuibed  by  a  spirit,  had  with  proper  caution 
been  put  to  bed  by  several  ladies.  They  sate  rather  more  than  an 
hour,  and  hearing  nothing,  went  down-stabs,  where  they  interrogated 
the  father  of  the  girl,  who  denied  in  the  strongest  terms  any  knowledge 
or  belief  of  fraud.  While  they  were  inquiiing  and  deliberating,  they 
were  summoned  into  the  girl's  chamber  by  some  ladies  who  were  near 
her  bed,  and  who  had  heard  knocks  and  scratches.  "When  the  gentle- 
men entered,  the  girl  declaied  that  she  felt  the  spiiit  like  a  mouse 
upon  her  back,  when  the  spirit  was  very  sol*  mnly  required  to  manifest 
its  existence  by  appeal  ance,  by  impression  on  the  hand  or  body  of 
any  prest-nt,  or  any  other  agency ;  but  no  evidence  of  any  preter- 
natural power  was  exhibited.  The  spiiit  was  then  very  seriously 
advertised  that  the  person  to  whom  the  promise  was  made  of  striking 
the  coffin  was  then  about  to  visit  the  vault,  and  that  the  performance 
of  the  promise  was  then  claimed.  The  company  at  one  o'clock  went 
into  the  church,  and  the  gentleman  to  whom  the  promise  was  made 
went  with  another  into  the  vault.  The  spirit  was  solemnly  required  to 
perform  its  promise,  but  nothing  more  than  silence  ensued  ;  the  per- 
son supposed  to  be  accused  by  the  spiiit  then  went  down  with  several 
others,  but  no  effect  was  perceived.  Upon  their  return  they  examined 
the  girl,  but  could  draw  no  confession  from  her.  Between  two  and 
three  she  desired  and  was  permitted  to  go  home  with  her  father.  It 
is  therelore  the  opinion  of  the  whole  assembly  that  the  child  has  some 
art  of  making  or  counterfeiting  a  paiticular  noise,  and  that  there  is  no 
agency  of  any  higher  cause." 

The  failure  of  the  investigation  led  to  the  discovery  that 
the  father  of  the  girl  who  was  the  supposed  object  of 
spiritual  visitation  had  arranged  the  plot  in  order  to  frighten 
the  man  accused  of  murder  into  remitting  a  loan  which  he 


206  WALKS  IN  LONDON1. 

had  received  from  him  whilst  he  was  lodging  in  his  house. 
Parsons  was  imprisoned  for  a  year,  and  placed  three  times 
in  the  pillory,  where,  however,  instead  of  maltreating  him, 
the  London  mob  raised  a  subscription  in  his  favour.  The 
account  of  the  nocturnal  expedition  of  Dr.  Johnson  and  his 
friends  to  the  crypt  caused  great  amusement,  which  was 
enhanced  by  the  appearance  of  Churchill's  poem  of  "  The 
Ghost." 

"  Through  the  dull  deep  surrounding  gloom, 
In  close  array,  t'wards  Fanny's  tomb 
Adventured  forth  ;  Caution  before, 
With  heedful  step,  a  lanthorn  bore, 
Pointing  at  graves  ;  and  in  the  rear, 
Trembling  and  talking  loud,  went  Fear. 

•  •  *  •  • 

Thrice  each  the  pond'rous  key  apply'd 
And  thrice  to  turn  it  vainly  try'd, 
Till,  taught  by  Prudence  to  unite, 
And  straining  with  collected  might, 
The  stubborn  wards  resist  no  more, 
But  open  flies  the  growling  door. 
Three  paces  back  they  fell,  amazed, 
Like  statues  stood,  like  madmen  gazed. 

•  *  •  »  • 

Silent  all  three  went  in  ;  about 

All  three  turn'd  silent,  and  came  out." 

A  house  on  the  west  side  of  St.  John's  Square,  destroyed 
in  erecting  a  new  street  in  1877,  was  Burnet  House,  the 
residence  of  the  famous  Whig  Bishop  of  Salisbury  (1643 — 
1 7 15)  who  was  author  of  the  "  History  of  the  Reformation  " 
and  of  his  "  Own  Times,"  and  who  courageously  attended 
Lord  Russell  to  the  scaffold.  Ledbury  Place  occupies  the 
site  of  the  Bishop's  garden. 

Clerkenwell  is  now  the  especial  abode  of  London  clock- 
makers  and  working-jewellers  and  makers  of  meteorological 


NEWCASTLE  HOUSE.  307 

and  mathematical  instruments.  Jewellers'-work  which  is 
intrusted  to  West-end  jewellers  is  generally  sent  here  to  be 
executed.  But  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
when,  as  we  may  see  by  Ralph  Aggas's  map,  it  was  still 
almost  in  the  country,  a  great  number  of  the  nobility 
resided  there.  Aylesbury  Street  commemorates  the  house 
of  the  Earls  of  Aylesbury,  Berkeley  Street  that  of  the  Earls 
of  Berkeley.  Various  streets  and  squares  are,  Compton, 
Northampton,  Perceval,  Spencer,  Wynyate,  and  Ashby, 
from  the  different  names  and  titles  of  the  Northampton 
family.  Newcastle  Place  occupies  the  site  of  the  great 
house  of  William  Cavendish,  Duke  of  Newcastle,  who  was 
fined  three-quarters  of  a  million  by  Cromwell ;  and  of  his 
wife  Margaret  Lucas,*  the  would-be  learned  lady,  who  pub- 
lished ten  folio  volumes  which  nobody  ever  read,  and  who, 
when  an  old  woman,  always  had  a  footman  to  sleep  in  her 
dressing-room,  and  called  out  "  John  "  whenever  a  fugitive 
thought  struck  her  in  the  night,  and  bade  him  get  up,  light 
a  candle,  and  commit  it  to  paper  at  once.  This  is  the 
lady  of  whom  Pepys  wrote — 

"April  26,  1667.  Met  my  Lady  Newcastle,  with  her  conches  and 
footmen,  all  in  velvet ;  herse  f,  whom  I  never  saw  before,  as  I  have 
heaid  her  often  described,  for  ali  the  town  talk  is  nowadays  of  her 
extravagance,  with  her  velvet  caps,  her  hair  about  her  ears,  many  black 
patches,  because  of  pimples  about  her  mouth,  naked  necked,  without 
anything  about  it,  and  a  black  Just  au  corps." 

"  Of  all  the  riders  upon  Pegasus,  there  have  not  been  a  more  fantastic 
couple  than  his  Grace  and  his  faithful  Duchess,  who  was  never  off  her 
pillion. ' '—  Walpolt. 

Newcastle  House  was  afterwards  inhabited  by  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Henry,  second  Duke  of  Newcastle,  whose  first 

•  Their  tomb  is  in  the  North  Transept  of  Westminster  Abbey. 


208  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

husband  was  Christopher  Monk,  second  Duke  of  Albemarle. 
As  his  widow  her  immense  riches  turned  her  brain,  and  she 
declared  she  would  marry  none  except  a  sovereign  prince. 
The  first  Duke  of  Montague,  however,  gained  her  hand  by 
making  her  believe  he  was  the  Emperor  of  China !  He 
treated  her  very  ill,  but  she  survived  him  for  thirty  years, 
and  died  at  ninety-six,  in  1738,  in  Newcastle  House,  served 
to  the  last,  as  a  sovereign,  on  bended  knee. 

If  we  go  from  St.  John's  Square  through  Jerusalem  Passage, 
the  house  at  the  corner  was  that  of  Thomas  Britton,  the 
"  musical  small-coal-man,"  well  known  from  his  concerts  in 
the  last  century. 

"  Though  doom'd  to  small-coal,  yet  to  arts  ally'd 
Rich  without  wealth,  and  famous  without  pride ; 
Musick's  best  patron,  judge  of  books  and  men, 
Belov'd  and  honor'd  by  Apollo's  train  : 
In  Greece  or  Rome  sure  never  did  appear 
So  bright  a  genius,  in  so  dark  a  sphere." — Prior. 

The  Sessions  House  on  Clerkenwell  Green  (now  a  paved 
square  on  the  hill-side)  is  worth  visiting,  for  it  was  built 
when  Hicks's  Hall  was  pulled  down,  and  contains,  on  the 
lower  floor,  its  fine  old  chimney-piece  of  James  the  First's 
time,  which  saw  the  condemnation  of  William,  Lord  Russell, 
and  the  services  of  his  devoted  wife  as  amanuensis, 

— "  that  sweet  saint  who  sate  by  Russell's  side 
Under  the  judgment  seat.* 

In  an  upper  room,  besides  the  portrait  of  Sir  Baptist  Hicks, 
are — 

Gainsborough.     Hugh,  Duke  of  Northumberland. 
Sir  T.  Lawrence.    W.  Main w.  ring,  Esq. 

•  Rogers'  "  Human  Life." 


ST.  JAMES'S  CHURCH,    CLERKENWELL.  209 

The  ugly  Church  of  St.  James  was  built  1788-92  on  the  site 
of  a  church  which  formed  the  choir  of  a  Benedictine 
nunnery  founded  by  Jordan  Briset  in  iroo.  There  is  a 
perfect  list  of  the  succession  of  the  prioresses  of  Clerken- 
well,  ending  with  Isabella  Sackville,  who  was  buried  near 
the  high  altar  of  the  old  church,  which  contained  many 
other  curious  monuments,  including  the  tomb  of  the 
founder  and  his  wife  Muriel  (1124),  who  were  buried  in  the 
chapter-house,  and  the  brass  of  John  Bell,  Bishop  of 
Worcester  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  The  most  remark- 
able monument,  a  lofty  canopied  altar  tomb,  was  that  of 
Sir  William  Weston,  last  Prior  of  St.  John's,  who  retired 
with  a  pension  of  ^1,000  a  year,  which  was  never  paid,  as 
he  died  of  a  broken  heart  on  the  day  when  the  final  disso- 
lution of  the  Priory  was  announced.  His  tomb  was  broken 
up  and  sold  on  the  destruction  of  the  old  church,  but  his 
effigy,  which  Weever  calls  "the  portraiture  of  the  dead  man 
in  his  shroud,  the  most  artificially  cut  in  stone  that  man 
ever  beheld,"  still  exists  amongst  the  coals  and  rubbish  in 
the  vaults  of  the  present  building.  Here  also,  standing 
erect  against  the  wall  by  the  side  of  a  prominent  sufferer 
for  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  is  the  interesting  though 
mutilated  effigy  of  Elizabeth  Sondes,  an  early  sufferer  for 
Protestantism,  who  was  in  waiting  on  the  Princess  Eliza- 
beth in  the  Tower,  and  who,  refusing  to  go  to  mass,  was 
forced  to  fly  to  Geneva.  After  Elizabeth  came  to  the 
throne  she  was  made  Woman  of  the  Bed  Chamber,  and 
marrying  Sir  Maurice  Berkeley  (who  gave  a  name  to  Berke- 
ley Street,  Clerkenwell),  Standard-bearer  to  Henry  VIII., 
Edward  VI.,  and  Elizabeth,  died  in  1585.  There  is  a 
handsome  tomb  in  the  vaults  to  Elizabeth,  Countess  of 

vol.  1.  P 


2io  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Exeter,  1653.  A  tablet  marks  the  place  where  Burnet,  the 
famous  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  is  buried,  who  died  in  St.  John's 
Square,  March  17,  1714-15.  He  was  borne  to  the  grave 
with  a  stately  funeral,  attended  by  many  of  the  bishops,  but 
the  rabble  threw  dirt  upon  his  coffin.  There  is  a  second 
memorial  to  Bishop  Burnet  in  the  porch  of  the  modern 
church,  on  which  his  mitre  is  represented  surmounting  the 
many  volumes  of  his  works.  A  good  monument  of  the 
period,  with  howling  cupids,  is  that  of  Elizabeth  Partridge, 
1702.  In  a  passage  to  the  right  of  the  altar  is  a  curious 
monument  to  one  of  the  Marshals  of  the  Company  of 
"  Finsbury  Archers  "  enrolled  as  "  Reginse  Katherinae  Sagi- 
tarii,"  in  honour  of  Katherine  of  Braganza,  inscribed — 

"  Sr  William  Wood  lyes  very  neare  this  stone, 
In's  time  in  archery  excell'd  by  none. 
Few  were  his  equalls.     And  this  noble  art 
Has  suff'er'd  now  in  the  most  tender  part. 
Long  did  he  live  the  honour  of  the  bow, 
And  his  lonf  life  to  that  alone  did  owe. 
But  how  can  art  secure  ?     Or  what  can  save 
Extreme  old  age  from  an  appointed  grave  ? 
Surviving  archers  much  his  losse  lament, 
And  in  respect  bestow'd  this  monument : 
Where  whistling  arrows  did  his  worth  proclaim, 
And  eterniz'd  his  memory  and  his  name. 

Obiit  Sept.  4,  Anno  Dni.  1691.    JEi&t.  82." 

It  is  grievous  that  the  monument  of  John  Weever  (1631), 
author  of  that  treasure-store  of  antiquity  the  "  Antient 
Funeral  Monuments "  (who  died  hard  by  at  his  house  in 
Clerkenwell  Close),  should  have  been  lost.  It  stood 
against  the  first  pillar  to  the  right  of  the  altar,  and  was 
inscribed — 


THE   CLERKS'    WELL.  2U 

"  Wec-ver,  who  laboured  in  a  learned  strain 
To  make  men  long  since  dead  to  live  again, 
And  with  expense  of  oyle  and  ink  did  watch 
From  the  worm's  mouth  the  sleeping  corps  to  snatch. 
Hath  by  his  industry  begot  a  way 
Death  (who  insidiates  all  things)  to  betray, 
Redeeming  freely,  by  his  care  and  cost, 
Many  a  sad  herse,  which  time  long  since  gave  lost : 
And  to  forgotten  dust  such  spirit  did  give, 
To  make  it  in  our  memories  to  live  ; 
For  wheresoe'er  a  ruined  tomb  he  found, 
His  pen  hath  built  it  new  out  of  the  ground  : 
'Twixt  Earth  and  him  this  interchange  we  find, 
She  hath  to  him,  he  been  to  her  like  kind  : 
She  was  his  mother,  he  (a  grateful  child) 
Made  her  his  theme,  in  a  large  work  compil'd 
Of  Funeral  Relicks,  and  brave  structures  rear'd 
On  such  as  seemed  unto  her  most  indear'd — 
Alternately  a  grave  to  him  she  lent, 
O'er  which  his  book  remains  a  monument."  * 


[In  the  hollow  north  of  the  church  is  the  Clerkenwdl 
House  of 'Detention,  where  a  mark  in  the  outer  wall,  showing 
where  it  has  been  rebuilt,  is  a  memorial  of  the  Fenian 
explosion  of  Dec.  13,  1867,  which  had  as  its  object  the 
rescue  of  the  prisoners  Burke  and  Casey.] 

From  the  church,  the  ground  slopes  rapidly  to  the  valley 
of  the  Fleet,  which  was  here  called  the  River  of  Wells, 
from  the  number  of  springs  which  fell  into  it.  One  of 
these  was,  till  lately,  marked  by  an  inscription  on  a  pump 
at  the  corner  of  Ray  Street,  and  was  interesting  as  the 
Clerks'  Well — "  Fons  Clericorum  " — which  gave  Clerken- 
well  its  name,  and  which,  says  Stow,  "  took  its  name  from 
the  parish  clerks  of  London,  who  of  old  time  were 
accustomed   there  yearly  to  assemble,  and  to  play  some 

•  Anotier  epitaph  is  given  by  Stripe,  but  is  of  doubtful  origin. 


»2  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

large  history  of  Holy  Scripture.  For  example,  of  later 
time— to  wit,  in  the  year  1390,  the  fourteenth  of  Richard  II. 
— I  read  that  the  parish  clerks  of  London,  on  the  18th  of 
July,  played  interludes  at  Skinner's  Well,*  near  unto  Clerks' 
Well,  which  play  continued  three  days  together ;  the  king, 
the  queen,  and  nobles  being  present." 

This  district  bore  a  very  evil  reputation  in  the  last 
century.  "  Hockley  in  the  Hole,"  which  has  disappeared 
in  recent  improvements,  was  a  nest  of  thieves,  and  the  site 
of  a  famous  rendezvous  for  the  baiting  of  bears  and  wolves. 
Fielding  makes  Jonathan  Wild  the  son  of  a  woman  at 
Hockley  in  the  Hole,  and  the  place  is  commemorated  in 
Gay's  "  Beggars'  Opera." 

Beyond  Farringdon  Road,  Cold  Bath  Square  takes  its 
name  from  an  ancient  "cold  spring  "  which  still  supplies  a 
bathing  establishment.  The  Cold  Bath  Fields  Prison  has 
been  much  altered  since  Southey  and  Coleridge  wrote  in 
"  The  Devil's  Walk  "— 

"  As  he  went  through  Coldbath  Fields  he  saw 
A  solitary  cell ; 
And  the  Devil  was  pleased,  for  it  gave  him  a  hint 
Por  improving  his  prisons  in  hell." 

Spa  Fields,  only  covered  with  houses  in  the  present 
century,  contain  the  Spa  Fields  Pantheon,  long  turned  into 
a  dissenting  chapel.  It  was  Shrubsole,  the  organist  of  this 
chapel,  who  composed  the  well-known  hymn — 

•'All  hail  the  power  of  Jesu's  name." 

Lady   Huntingdon,  who    bought    the  chapel,  lived    close 
by  in  an  old  house  on  the  east  side  of  it.     She  was  born 

•  This  well  had  already  disappeared  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. 


CLERKENWELL.  2 1 3 

in  1701,  was  converted  to  Methodism  by  her  sister-in-law 
Lady  Margaret  Hastings,  married  the  Earl  of  Huntingdon 
in  1728,  and  died  in  1791. 

At  26  Great  Bath  Street  lived  Emanuel  Swedenborg, 
author  of  "  The  True  Christian  Religion,"  and  here  he  died 
in  1772. 

If  we  return  up  the  hill  to  St.  John's  Street,  and  turn  to  the 
north,  we  pass,  at  the  corner  of  Ashby  Street  (on  the  site 
of  the  old  house  which  was  the  principal  residence  of  the 
Comptons  till  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century),  the 
Martyrs'  Memorial  Church  (St.  Peter's,  Clerkenwell),  built 
1869  by  E.  L.  Blackbume.  It  is  appropriately  decorated 
outside  with  statues  of  those  who  suffered  in  Smithfield  for 
the  Protestant  cause — Philpot,  Frith,  Rogers,  Tomkins, 
Bradford,  Anne  Askew,  and  others. 

Red  Bull  Yard,  opening  from  St.  John's  Street,  marks 
the  site  of  the  Red  Bull  Playhouse,  built  c.  1570,  where 
Heywood's  Plays  were  acted.  It  was  one  of  the  six 
Theatres  allowed  in  London  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  and 
is  mentioned  abusively  in  Prynne's  Satire.  During  the 
Commonwealth  it  seems  to  have  been  the  only  licensed 
Theatre,  and  was  used  for  performances  of  "  Drolls." 

"  When  the  publique  theatres  were  shut  up,  and  the  actors  for- 
bi  fden  to  present  us  with  any  of  their  tragedies,  because  we  had 
enough  of  that  in  earnest ;  and  of  comedies,  because  therein  the  vices  of 
the  age  were  too  lively  and  smartly  represented  ;  then  all  that  we 
could  divert  ourselves  with  were  these  humours  and  pieces  of  plays, 
which  passing  under  the  name  of  a  merry  conceited  fellow  called 
Bottom  the  Weaver,  Simpleton  the  Smith,  John  Swabber,  or  some 
such  title,  were  allowed  us,  and  that  by  stealth  too,  and  under  pretence 
of  rope-dancing,  or  the  like.  I  have  seen  the  Red  Bull  play-house, 
which  was  a  large  one,  so  full,  that  as  many  went  back  for  want  of 
room   as  had  entered ;  and,  as  meanly  as   you   now  think  of  these 


2i4  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

drolls,  tney  were  then  acted  by  the  best  comedians." — Kirkman.    Tht 
Wits,  or  Sport  upon  Sport.     1672. 

On  the  left,  on  some  of  the  highest  ground  in  London, 
Myddelton  Street,  Myddelton  Square,  and  Myddelton  Place 
commemorate  Sir  Hugh  Myddelton  the  inventor  of  the 
artificial  Neiv  River  which  brings  water  from  the  Chadswell 
Springs  between  Hertford  and  Ware  for  the  supply  of  the 
City  of  London  :  it  was  opened  in  1620. 

Encircled  by  these  memorials  of  a  man  who  was  one 
of  the  greatest  benefactors  of  London,  but  who  was  never 
appreciated  in  his  lifetime,  and  close  to  the  offices  of  the 
New  River  Head,  is  Sadler's  Wells,  where  was  a  holy  well, 
which  was  pretended  by  the  monks  of  Clerkenwell  to  owe 
its  healing  powers  to  their  prayers.  This  mineral  spring 
was  rediscovered  by  a  man  named  Sadler  in  1683,  it  was 
long  popular,  and,  possessing  the  same  chalybeate  qualities, 
was  called  the  New  Tunbridge  Wells.  The  Princesses 
Amelia  and  Caroline,  daughters  of  George  II.,  made  it  the 
fashion  by  coming  daily  to  visit  it  in  the  summer  of  1733. 
Sadler's  Wells  is  now  better  known  by  its  Theatre  (rebuilt 
1S76 — 77),  to  which  the  New  River,  which  flows  past  the 
house,  has  often  been  diverted,  and  used  for  aquatic  per- 
formances. Here  Grimaldi,  the  famous  clown,  became 
known  to  the  public,  and  here  Giovanni  Battista  Belzoni 
(son  of  a  barber  at  Padua),  afterwards  famous  as  an  African 
traveller,  used  to  perform  athletic  feats  in  1802,  as  "the 
Patagonian  Samson."  Sir  Hugh  Myddelton1  s  Tavern 
(rebuilt),  on  the  south  of  the  Theatre,  has  always  been  the 
resort  of  its  actors  and  actresses.  It  is  commemorated  in 
Hogarth's  "Evening,"  published  1738. 

Bagnigge    Wells,    another    mineral    spring,   where    Nell 


ISLINGTON.  21 S 

Gwynne  had  a  country  house,  and  whither  people  in  the 

last  century  used  to 

"  repair 
To  swallow  dust  and  call  it  air," 

has  disappeared  in  the  site  of  the  Phoenix  Brewery. 

St.  John's  Street  leads  to  Islington,  with  its  corner 
public-house  of  The  Angel,  well  known  as  an  omnibus- 
terminus.  The  wide  High  Street,  with  its  occasional  trees 
and  low  houses,  reminds  one  pleasantly  of  many  country 
villages  in  Hertfordshire  and  Essex.  On  the  left  is  the 
great  Agricultural  Hall  (measuring  384  feet  by  217),  opened 
in  1862.  Besides  the  usual  Cattle  Shows,  it  is  used  for 
Horse  Shows  and  Dog  Shows.  The  great  Horse  Show  takes 
place  in  the  summer,  in  the  week  between  Epsom  and 
Ascot  races. 

The  name  of  Islington  is  said  to  be  derived  from  Ishel- 
dun,  the  Lower  Fortress.  Its  pleasant  open  fields  were 
the  great  resort  for  archery,  which  was  almost  universally 
practised  till  the  reign  of  James  I.  Edward  III.  desired 
that  every  able-bodied  citizen  should  employ  his  leisure  in 
the  use  of  bows  and  arrows,  and  in  the  reign  of  Richard  II. 
an  act  was  passed  compelling  all  men-servants  to  practise 
archery  in  their  leisure  hours,  and  especially  on  Sundays 
and  holidays.  In  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  Islington  was 
covered  with  shooting  butts,  and  the  titles  of  Duke  ot 
Shoreditch,  Marquis  of  Islington,  and  Earl  of  Pancras  were 
popularly  given  to  the  king's  favourite  archers.  At  this 
time  every  father  was  enjoined  to  present  his  son  with  a 
bow  and  three  arrows  as  soon  as  he  should  be  seven  years 
old,  and  all  men  except  clergy  and  judges  were  compelled 
occasionally  to  shoot  at  the  butts.     By  a  statute  of  2-jrd 


216  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Henry  VIII.  men  above  twenty-four  were  not  allowed  to 
shoot  at  anything  under  220  yards,  and  the  most  distant 
mark  was  380  yards.* 

Few  districts  in  or  near  London  have  had  such  a  rapid 
increase  of  population  in  late  years  as  this.  "  The  Merry 
Milkmaid  of  Islington  "  would  no  longer  find  her  way  about 
her  pleasant  pastures.  In  the  time  of  Charles  I.,  says 
Macaulay,  "  Islington  was  almost  a  solitude,  and  poets 
loved  to  contrast  its  silence  and  repose  with  the  din  and 
turmoil  of  the  monster  London."  Yet  some  amongst  them 
had  a  presentiment  of  the  time  we  have  reached  when 
London  has  spread  over  the  whole,  and  the  web  of  streets 
is  woven  far  beyond  Islington. 

"  London  has  got  a  great  way  from  the  streame, 
I  think  she  means  to  go  to  Islington, 
To  eat  a  dish  of  strawberries  and  creame. 
The  city's  sure  in  progresse,  I  surmise, 
Or  going  to  revell  it  in  some  disorder 
Without  the  walls,  without  the  liberties, 
Where  she  neede  feare  nor  Mayor  nor  Recorder." 

Thomas  Freeman's  Epigrams.     1614. 

In  old  days,  as  still,  the  Inns  of  Islington  had  a  renown. 
One  of  these,  the  Queen's  Head,  pulled  down  in  1820,  was 
a  fine  old  house,  said  to  have  been  once  occupied  by  the 
Lord  Treasurer  Burleigh  : — 

**  The  Queen's  Head  and  Crown  in  Islington  town 
Bore,  for  its  brewing,  the  highest  renown." 

Highbury  Barn  at  Islington,  which  already  existed  in  the 
last  century  as  a  popular  music-hall,  commemorates  the 

•  Among  curious  books  on  archery  are  the  "Ayme  for  Finsburie  Archere," 
1628 ;  and  the  "  Ayme  for  the  Archers  of  St.  George's  Fields,"  1664. 


CANONBURY.  ai7 

great  barn  of  the  Priory  of  St.  John  of  Clerkenwell.  The 
Prior  had  a  country-house  here  from  1271  to  137 1,  when 
it  was  destroyed  by  Jadk  Straw. 

If  we  turn  to  the  left  by  Sir  Hugh  Myddelton's  statue, 
down  Upper  Street,  on  the  right  is  the  Church  of  St.  Mary, 
rebuilt  in  1751.  In  its  churchyard  George  Wharton,  son 
of  Lord  Wharton,  and  James  Stewart,  son  of  Lord  Blantyre, 
were  buried  in  one  grave  by  desire  of  James  I.  They 
fought  over  a  gambling  quarrel  in  their  shirts  only  (to  pre- 
vent suspicion  of  concealed  armour),  and  both  fell  mortally 
wounded. 

In  Prebend  Square,  to  the  east,  are  the  Countess  of 
Kent's  Almshouses,  where  Lambe's  Chapel,  pulled  down  in 
Cripplegate  by  the  Clothworkers'  Company,  was  re-erected 
in  1874 — 5.  It  contains  the  monument,  with  a  curious 
terra-cotta  half  figure,  of  William  Lambe,  the  founder, 
1495 — I58o-  He  was  buried  in  the  crypt  church  of  St. 
Faith,  under  old  St.  Paul's,  with  the  epitaph — 

"  O  Lambe  of  God,  which  sinne  didst  take  awaye, 
And  as  a  Lambe  was  offered  up  for  sinne  ; 
When  I,  poor  Lambe,  went  from  thy  flock  astraye  ; 
Yet  Thou,  good  Lord,  vouchsafe  thy  Lambe  to  winne 
Home  to  thy  fold,  and  hold  thy  Lambe  therein, 
That  at  the  day  when  lambes  and  goates  shall  sever, 
Of  thy  choice  lambes  Lambe  may  be  one  for  ever." 

After  following  Upper  Street  for  a  long  distance,  Canon- 
bury  Lane  leads  (right)  to  Canonbury  Square  and  its  sur- 
roundings. 

The  manor  of  Canonbury  was  given  to  the  Priory  of 
St.  Bartholomew  by  Ralph  de  Berners  before  the  time  of 
Henry  III.,  and  probably  obtained  its  name  when  the  first 


2l8 


WALK'S  IN  LONDON. 


residence  of  a  canon  or  prior  was  built  here — bury  or  burg 
meaning  "  dwelling."  Having  been  rebuilt  by  Prior  Bolton, 
the  last  Prior  but  one,  it  was  granted,  after  the  dissolution, 
to  Cromwell,  Earl  of  Essex.  On  his  attainder,  it  reverted 
to  the  crown,  and  again  on  the  attainder  of  the  Duke  of 
Northumberland,  to  whom  it  afterwards  fell.  It  was  then 
given  by  Mary  to  Thomas,  Lord  Wentworth,  who  sold  it,  in 


Canonbury  Tower. 


1570,  to  the  Sir  John  Spencer  whose  daughter  and  heiress 
eloped  with  the  first  Earl  of  Northampton  and  brought  her 
vast  property  into  the  Compton  family. 

Canonbury  is  a  wonderfully  still,  quiet,  picturesque  spot. 
Beyond  the  modern  squares,  rises,  unaltered,  the  rugged 
brick  tower,  called  Canonbury  Tower,  fifty-eight  feet  high, 
which  was  probably  built  by  Prior  Bolton,  though  it  was 
restored  by  Sir  John  Spencer.     At   the  end  of  the  last 


CANONBURY  TOWER.  119 

century  it  was  let  in  lodgings  to  various  literary  men  who 
resorted  thither  for  economy  and  the  purity  of  the  air.  The 
most  remarkable  of  these  was  Oliver  Goldsmith,  who 
stayed  here  with  Mr.  John  Newbury,  the  publisher  of  many 
popular  children's  bocks.     Washington  Irving  says — 

"Oliver  Goldsmith,  towards  the  close  of  1762,  removed  to  'Merry 
Islington,'  then  a  country  village,  though  now  swallowed  up  in 
omnivorous  London.  In  this  neighbourhood  he  used  to  take  his 
solitary  rambles,  sometimes  extending  his  walks  to  the  gardens  of  the 
'  White  Conduit  House,'  *  so  famous  among  the  essayists  of  the  last 
century.  While  strolling  one  day  in  these  gardens  he  met  three 
daughters  of  a  respectable  tradesman,  to  whom  he  was  under  some 
obligation.  With  his  prompt  disposition  to  oblige,  he  conducted  them 
about  the  garden,  treated  them  to  tea,  and  ran  up  a  bill  in  the  most 
open-handed  manner  imaginable.  It  was  only  when  he  came  to  pay 
that  he  found  himself  in  one  of  his  old  dilemmas.  He  had  not  the 
wherewithal  in  his  pocket.  A  scene  of  perplexity  now  took  place 
between  him  and  the  waiter,  in  the  midst  of  which  up  came  some  of 
his  acquaintances  in  whose  eyes  he  wished  to  stand  particulaily  well. 
When,  however,  they  had  enjoyed  their  banter,  the  waiter  was  paid, 
?.nd  poor  Goldsmith  was  enabled  to  carry  off  the  ladies  with  flying 
colours." — Life  of  Goldsmith. 

Ephraim  Chambers,  the  author  of  the  Cyclopaedia,  was 
one  of  those  who  took  lodgings  here,  and  here  he  died  in 
the  autumn  of  1739,  and  was  buried  in  the  cloister  of  West- 
minster Abbey.  The  Tower  is  now  let  to  the  "  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association."  Several  of  its  old  rooms  are 
panelled,  and  are  glorious  both  in  colour  and  in  the  deli" 
cacy  of  their  carving. 

Behind  the  Tower  is  Canonbury  Place,  where  Nos.  6, 
7,  8  were  once  united  as   Cationbury  House.      In  No.  6 

•  The  first  cricket  c  ub  in  London  met   at  the   White  Conduit   House,  aud 
Thomas   Lord,  who   established   the  famous   cricket    ground,   was  one   of    th« 

attendants  there. 


220  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

(now  called  "  No^hampton  House  "),  over  a  doorway,  is 
a  curious  carved  and  painted  coat  of  arms  of  "  Sir  Walter 
Dennys,  of  Gloucestershire,  who  was  made  a  knight  by 
bathing  at  the  creation  of  Arthur,  Prince  of  Wales,  in 
November,  1489."  A  passage  at  the  back  of  the  house  is 
of  Prior  Bolton's  time,  and  his  famous  "  rebus"  forms  one 
of  the  ornaments  of  a  low  arched  doorway.  Ben  Jonson 
alludes  to  "  Old  Prior  Bollon  with  his  bolt  and  ton." 

In  the  two  neighbouring  houses  are  most  magnificent 
stucco  ceilings  of  Sir  John  Spencer's  time,  very  richly  orna- 
mented. Some  of  them  belonged  to  a  great  banqueting 
hall,  ninety  feet  long,  now  divided  between  the  two  houses. 
The  initials  E.  R.  for  Queen  Elizabeth,  who  is  said  to  have 
stayed  here  between  her  accession  and  her  coronation, 
appear  amongst  the  ornaments.  Three  splendid  chimney- 
pieces  were  removed  by  the  late  Lord  Northampton  to 
Castle  Ashby  and  Compton  Winyates. 

We  may,  if  we  like,  return  to  the  west  end  of  London 
through  the  miserable  modern  streets  of  Pentotiville,  a 
district  of  Clerkenwell  which  takes  its  name  from  Henry 
Penton,  member  for  Winchester,  who  died  in  1812.  The 
Pentotiville  Model  Prison,  with  cells  for  solitary  imprison- 
ment, was  built  1840 — 42,  and  is  managed  on  the  most 
extravagant  footing,  with  a  cost  to  the  country  for  each 
prisoner  of  ^50  annually. 

King's  Cross,  so  called  from  a  miserable  statue  of 
George  IV.  which  is  now  removed,  was  called  Battle 
Bridge,  from  a  small  bridge  over  the  Fleet,  before  the 
statue  was  erected.  Some  say  that  a  battle  was  fought 
here  between  Alfred  and  the  Danes  ;  others  consider  this 
to  have  been  the  scene  of  the  great  battle  in  a.d.  61,  in 


MODERN  DISTRICTS.  221 

.vhich  the  Romans  under  Paulinus  Suetonius  gained  their 
great  victory  over  the  unfortunate  Boadicea,  and  in  which 
eighty  thousand  Britons  were  put  to  the  sword. 

North-west  of  King's  Cross  extends  the  modern  Sotners 
Town,  so  called  from  John,  first  Earl  Somers,  Lord  Chan- 
cellor in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  to  whom  the  estate 
belonged.  Farther  north  is  Camden  Town,  which  takes  its 
name  from  the  first  Earl  Camden,  who  acquired  large  pro- 
perty here  by  his  marriage  with  Miss  Jeffreys.  Farther 
north  still  is  Kentish  Town,  a  corruption  of  "  Cantilupe 
Town,"  a  name  which  records  its  possession  by  Walter 
de  Cantilupe,  Bishop  of  Worcester,  1236 — 66,  and  St. 
Thomas  de  Cantilupe,  Bishop  of  Hereford,  1275 — 82. 


CHAKFER  VL 
CHEAPSIDE. 

JUST  outside  St.  Paul's  Churchyard  on  the  north-east, 
we  are  in  the  sanctuary  of  St.  Martiu's-le-Grand, 
founded  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Confessor  by 
Ingelric,  Earl  of  Essex,  and  his  brother  Girard.  It  had  a 
collegiate  church  with  a  Dean  and  Chapter.  When  Henry 
VII.  built  his  famous  chapel,  the  estates  of  St.  Martin's 
were  conferred  upon  the  Abbey  of  Westminster  for  its 
support,  and  the  Abbots  of  Westminster  became  Deans  of 
St.  Martin's.  Here  the  curfew  tolled,  at  the  sound  of 
which  the  great  gates  of  the  city  were  shut  and  every 
wicket  closed  till  sunrise.*  The  rights  of  sanctuary  filled 
this  corner  of  London  with  bad  characters,  who  for  the 
most  part  employed  themselves  in  the  manufacture  of  false 
jewellery.  ''St.  Martin's  Lace"  was  made  of  copper;  I 
"  St.  Martin's  beads "  became  a  popular  expression,  and 
they  are  alluded  to  in  Hudibras.  It  is  in  the  sanctuary 
of  St.  Martin's  that  Sir  Thomas  More  describes  Miles 
Forest,  one  of  the  murderers  of  the  princes  in  the  Tower, 
as  "rotting  away  piecemeal."      The  privileges  of  the  place 

•  Riley,  p.  92.  t  Strype. 


CHEArSIDE.  223 

were  abolished  in  the  reign  of  James  I.,  to  the  great  advan- 
tage of  the  Londoners,  for — 

"  St.  Martin's  appears  to  have  been  a  sanctuary  for  great  disorders, 
and  a  shelter  for  the  lowest  sort  of  people,  rogues  and  ruffians,  thieves, 
felons,  and  murderers.  From  hence  used  to  rush  violent  persons, 
committers  of  riots,  robberies,  and  manslaughters ;  hither  they  brought 
in  taeir  preys  and  stolen  goods,  and  concealed  them  here,  or  shared 
and  sold  them  to  those  that  dwelt  here.  Here  were  also  harboured 
picklocks,  counterfeiters  of  keys  and  seals,  forgers  of  false  evidences, 
such  as  made  counterfeit  chains,  beads,  ouches,  plates,  copper  gilt  for 
gold,  &c." — Maitland. 

At  the  crossways  near  the  site  of  Paul's  Cross  now  stands 
B dines1  Statue  of  Sir  Robert  Peel.  From  this  there  is  one 
of  the  most  characteristic  views  in  London,  looking  down 
the  busy  street  of  Cheapside  (or  "  Market-side,"  from  the 
Saxon  word  "  Chepe,"  a  market).  This  is  the  best  point 
from  which  to  examine  the  beauties  of  the  steeple  of  Bow 
Church,  the  finest  of  the  fifty-three  towers  which  Wren  built 
after  the  Fire,  and  in  which,  though  he  had  more  work  than 
he  could  possibly  attend  to  properly,  he  never  failed  to 
exhibit  the  extraordinary  variety  of  his  designs.  It  is  a 
square  tower  (32  ft.  6  in.  wide  by  83  ft.  high)  above  which 
are  four  stories  averaging  38  ft.  each.  The  first  is  a  square 
belfry  with  Ionic  pilasters,  next  is  a  circular  peristyle  of 
twelve  Corinthian  columns,  third  a  lantern,  fourth  a  spire, 
the  whole  height  being  235  ft. 

"  There  is  a  play  of  light  and  shade,  a  variety  of  outline,  and  an 
elegance  of  detail,  in  this,  which  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  match  in 
any  other  steeple.  There  is  no  greater  proof  of  Wren's  genius  than  to 
observe  that,  after  he  had  set  the  example,  not  only  has  no  architect 
since  his  day  surpassed  him,  but  no  other  modern  steeple  can  compare 
with  this,  either  for  boauty  of  outline  or  the  appropriateness  with  which 
classical  details  are  applied  to  so  novel  a  purpose." — Fergusson. 


»24  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

No  one  -will  look  upon  Cheapside  for  the  first  time  with- 
out recalling  the  famous  tale  of  John  Gilpin — 

"Smack  went  the  whip,  round  went  the  wheel, 
"Were  never  folk  so  glad  ; 
Ste  stones  did  rattle  underneath 
As  if  Cheapside  were  mad." 

Before  the  time  of  the  Commonwealth,  Cheapside,  with 
its  avenue  of  stately  buildings,  and  its  fountains  and  statues 
dispersed  at  intervals  down  the  centre  of  the  street,  cannot 
have  been  unlike  the  beautiful  Maximilian's  Strasse  of  Augs- 
burg. Opposite  the  entrance  of  Foster  Lane  stood  "  the 
Little  Conduit."  Then,  opposite  the  entrance  of  Wood 
Street,  rose  the  beautiful  Cheapside  Cross,  one  of  the  nine 
crosses  erected  by  Edward  I.  to  Queen  Eleanor.  It  was 
gilt  all  over  for  the  arrival  of  Charles  V.  in  1522  ;  again  for 
the  coronation  of  Henry  VIII.  and  Anne  Boleyn ;  again  for 
the  coronation  of  Edward  VI.,  and  again  for  the  arrival  of 
the  Spanish  Philip.  In  15S1  it  was  "broken  and  defaced." 
In  1595  and  1600  it  was  "fastened  and  repaired,"  and  it 
was  finally  destroyed  in  1643,  when  Evelyn  went  to  London 
on  May  2  and  "saw the  furious  and  zealous  people  demolish 
that  stately  cross  in  Cheapside."  *  Beyond  the  cross,  at  the 
entrance  of  Poultry,  stood  "  the  Great  Conduit,"  where 
Jack  Cade  beheaded  Lord  Saye  and  Sele.  It  was  erected 
early  in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  ever  flowing  with  clear 
rushing  waters,  supplied  from  the  reservoir  where  Stratford 
Place  now  stands,  by  a  pipe  4,752  feet  in  length,  which 
crossed  the  fields  between  modern  Brook  Street  and  Regent 

•  See  the  curious  pamphlets  entitled  "  The  Downefall  of  Dagon,  or  the  taking 
downe  of  Cheapside  Crosse,"  and  "The  Pope's  Proclamation,  or  Six  Article 
exhibited  against  Cheapside  Crosse,  whereby  it  pleads  guilty  of  high -treason,  and 
ought  to  be  beheaded.' 


CHEAPSIDE.  225 

Street  to  Piccadilly,  and  from  thence  found  its  way  by 
Leicester  Fields,  the  Strand,  and  Fleet  Street,  "a  remark- 
able work  of  engineering  and  the  first  of  its  kind  in  England 
of  which  we  have  any  knowledge."*  The  Conduit  itself  was 
a  plain  octagonal  stone  edifice,  45  feet  high,  surmounted 
by  a  cupola  with  a  statue  of  a  man  blowing  a  horn  on  the 
top.  It  was  encircled  by  a  balcony,  beneath  which  were 
figures  of  those  who  had  interested  themselves  in  laying 
the  pipe  or  erecting  the  building.  Here,  on  the  site  of 
many  executions,  the  most  beautiful  young  girls  in  London, 
standing  garland-crowned,  prophetically  welcomed  Anne 
Boleyn.  Here  also  Lady  Jane  Grey  was  proclaimed 
queen ;  and  here  stood  the  pillory  in  which  Defoe  was 
placed  for  his  second  punishment,  receiving  all  the  time  a 
triumphant  ovation  from  the  people.  Lastly,  at  the 
entrance  of  Poultry,  stood  "  the  Standard  in  Chepe," 
where  Stapleton,  Bishop  of  Exeter,  was  beheaded  in  the 
time  of  Edward  II. 

During  the  reigns  of  the  Henrys  and  Edwards,  Cheapside 
was  frequently  the  scene  of  conflicts  between  the  prentices 
of  the  different  city  guilds,  in  constant  rivalry  with  one 
another.  They  were  always  a  turbulent  set,  and  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  III.  Thomas  the  Fishmonger  and  another 
were  beheaded  in  Chepe  for  striking  the  august  person  of 
the  Lord  Mayor  himself.  The  gay  prentices  of  Chepe  are 
commemorated  by  Chaucer  in  "  The  Coke's  Tale  " — 

"A  prentis  dwelled  whilom  in  our  citee — 
At  every  bridal  would  he  sing  and  hoppe  ; 
He  loved  bet  the  taverne  than  the  shoppe — 
For  when  ther  eny  riding  was  in  Chepe 
Out  of  the  shoppe  thider  wold  he  lepe, 

*  The  Builder,  Sept.  i8,  1875. 
VOL.    I.  Q 


226  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

And  til  that  he  had  all  the  sight  ysein, 
And  danced  wel,  ne  wold  not  come  agen." 

On  the  left,  divided  by  the  great  street  of  St.  Martin's  le 
Grand,  are  the  buildings  of  the  Post  Office.  Those  on  the 
west  are  from  designs  of_/.  Williams,  1873;  those  on  the 
east,  built  1825 — 29,  from  designs  of  Sir  R.Smirke — "who, 
if  he  never  sunk  below  respectable  mediocrity,  has  as  little 
risen  above  it "  * — occupy  the  site  of  the  famous  church  and 
sanctuary  of  St.  Martin's.  Behind,  in  Foster  Lane,  is  the 
Church  of  St.  Vedasl,  one  of  Wren's  rebuildings.  The  tower 
is  peculiar  and  well-proportioned,  and  a  marked  feature  in 
London  views.  Over  the  west  door  is  a  curious  allegorical 
bas-relief,  representing  Religion  and  Charity. 

Farther  down  Foster  Lane  (right)  is  the  great  pillared 
front  of  the  Hall  of  the  Goldsmiths'1  Company,  which  was 
incorporated  by  Edward  III.  in  1327,  but  had  existed  as  a 
guild  from  much  earlier  times.  The  Hall,  rebuilt  by 
Hardwicke  in  1835,  contains  one  of  the  most  magnificent 
marble  staircases  in  London,  leading  to  broad  open  galleries 
with  pillars  of  coloured  marbles.  The  Banqueting  Hall 
(80  ft.  by  40  and  35  high)  contains — 

Northcote.     George  IV. 
Hayter.     William  IV. 
M.  A.  Shee.     Queen  Adelaide. 
Hayter.     Queen  Victoria. 

In  the  Committee  Room  are — 

*  Cornelius  Jansen  (one  of  the  finest  works  of  the  master).  A  noble 
portrait  of  Sir  Hugh  Myddelton,  1644  (a  goldsmith),  who  gave  the  New 
Riwr  to  London.     His  hand  is  resting  on  a  shell. 

A    poor  portrait   of  Sir  Martin   Bowes   (1566),  the  Lord    Mayor 

*  Quarterly  Review,  cxc. 


WOOD  STREET.  227 

who  sold  the  tombs  at  Grey  Friars,  but  interesting  as  having  been 
presented  to  the  Company  by  Faithorne  the  Engraver,  as  a  proof  of 
gratitude  for  having  been  excused  the  office  of  Warden,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  losses  he  had  sustained  in  the  defence  of  Basing  House. 
It  is  evidently  a  bad  copy  by  Faithorne  from  au  original  portrait. 

In  the  Court  Dining  Room  are — 

Allan  Ramsay.     George  III.  and  Queen  Charlotte. 

The  adjoining  Livery  Tea  Room  contains — 

Hudson  (master  of  Sir  J.  Reynolds).  A  very  curious  picture  of 
"Benn's  Club" — a  jovial  society  of  Members  of  the  Company  (Sir  J. 
Ravvlinson,  Robert  Allsop,  Edward  Ironside,  Sir  N.  Marshall,  W. 
Benn,  T.  Blackford)  over  whom  Benn,  a  stanch  old  Jacobite,  had 
sufficient  influence  to  force  them  to  go  down  to  his  house  in  the  Isle  of 
Wight  and  drink  to  the  success  of  Prince  Charlie.     Given  1752. 

The  plate  of  the  Goldsmiths'  Company  is  naturally  most 
magnificent.  It  includes  the  cup  bequeathed  by  Sir  Martin 
Bowes,  out  of  which  Queen  Elizabeth  drank  at  her  corona- 
tion. In  laying  the  foundation  of  this  hall,  in  1830,  a  stone 
altar  adorned  with  a  figure  of  Diana  was  found,  confirming 
the  tradition  that  the  old  St.  Paul's  was  founded  near  the 
site  of  a  pagan  shrine. 

The  name  of  the  next  turn  on  the  left,  Gutter  Lane,  is  a 
corruption  of  "  Guthurun's  Lane,"  from  an  early  owner. 
"The  inhabitants  of  this  lane,  of  old  time,  were  gold- 
beaters."* 

At  the  entrance  of  Wood  Street,  the  first  large  thorough- 
fare opening  from  Cheapside  on  the  left,  is  a  beautiful  Plane- 
tree,  marking  the  churchyard  of  St.  Peter  in  Chepe,  a 
church  destroyed  in  the  Fire.  The  terms  of  the  lease  of 
the  neighbouring  houses  forbid  the  destruction  of  the  tree, 
or  the  building  of  an  additional  story  which  may  injure  it. 

*  t'tow. 


228  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

The  sight  of  this  tree,  throwing  a  reminiscence  of  country 
loveliness  into  the  crowded  thoroughfare,  may  recall  to  us 
that  Wordsworth  has  immortalised  Wood  Street  in  his 
touching  little  ballad  of  "  Poor  Susan." 

"  At  the  comer  of  Wood  Street,  when  daylight  appears, 
Hangs  a  thrush  that  sings  loud,  it  has  sung  for  three  years ; 
Poor  Susan  has  passed  by  the  spot,  and  has  heard 
In  the  silence  of  morning  the  song  of  the  bird. 

''lis  a  note  of  enchantment ;  what  ails  her  ?  she  sees 
A  mountain  ascending,  a  vision  of  trees ; 
Bright  volumes  of  vapour  through  Lothbury  glide, 
And  a  river  flows  on  through  the  vale  of  Cheapside. 

Green  pastures  she  views  in  the  midst  of  the  dale, 
Down  which  she  so  often  has  tripped  with  her  pail ; 
And  a  single  small  cottage,  a  nest  like  a  dove's, 
The  one  only  dwelling  on  earth  that  she  loves. 

She  looks,  and  her  heart  is  in  heaven ;  but  they  fade, 
The  mist  and  the  river,  the  hill  and  the  shade ; 
The  stream  will  not  flow  and  the  hill  will  not  rise, 
And  the  colours  have  all  passed  away  from  her  eyes." 

It  is  said  that  in  the  Church  of  St.  Michael,  Wood 
Street,  rebuilt  by  Wren  after  the  Fire,  and  rather  picturesque 
with  its  projecting  clock,  is  buried  the  head  of  James  IV.  of 
Scotland,  the  king  who  fell  at  Flodden,  and  whose  body  was 
recognised  by  Lord  Dacre  and  others  amongst  the  slain  on 
the  field  of  battle.  The  account  which  Stow  gives  of  the 
after-adventures  of  the  head  is  too  curious  to  omit. 

"  After  the  Battle  of  Flodden,  the  body  of  King  J  ames  being  found, 
was  enclosed  in  lead,  and  conveyed  from  thence  to  London,  and  so  to 
the  monastery  of  Shene  in  Surrey  where  it  remained  for  a  time,  in  what 
orderl  am  not  certain  ;  but  since  the  dissolution  of  that  house  in  the  reign 
of  Edward  IV.,  Henry  Grey,  Duke  of  Suffolk,  being  lodged  and  keeping 
house  there,  I  have  been  shown  the  same  body  so  lapped  in  lead,  close 
to  the  head  and  body,  thrown  into  a  waste  room  amongst  the  old 
timber,  lead,  and  other  rubble.      Since  which  time,  workmen  there, 


WOOD   STREET.  229 

for  their  foolish  pleasure,  hewed  off  his  head ;  and  Lancelot  Young, 
master-glazier  to  her  Majesty,  feeling  a  sweet  savour  to  come  from 
thence,  and  seeing  the  same  dried  from  all  moisture,  and  yet  the  form 
remaining,  with  the  hair  of  the  head,  and  the  beard  red,  brought  it  to 
London,  to  his  house  in  Wood  Street,  where  for  a  time  he  kept  it  for 
its  sweetness,  but  in  the  end  caused  the  sexton  of  that  church  to  bury 
it  amongst  other  bones  taken  out  of  their  charnel." — Stow,  p.  112. 

Scotch  writers  maintain,  however,  that  it  was  not  the 
body  of  James  IV.  which  was  found  at  Flodden,  but  of 
another  who  fought  in  his  dress  to  withdraw  the  attention  of 
bhe  English ;  and  it  is  even  asserted  that  the  king  escaped 
to  Jerusalem,  and  died  there. 

The  paltry  semi-gothic  Church  of  St.  Alban,  Wood  Street, 

was  built  by  Wren,  1684-5,  m   the  place  of  one  by  Inigo 

Jones.    The  original  church  belonged  to  St.  Alban's  Abbey. 

Amongst  the  monuments  lost  with  the  old  church  is  that 

inscribed — 

"  Hie  facet  Tom  Short-hose 
Sine  tombe,  sine  sheets,  sine  riches  ; 
Qui  vixit  sine  gowne, 
Sine  cloake,  sine  shirt,  sine  breeches." 

Attached  to  the  pillar  above  the  pulpit  is  an  hourglass  in 
a  curious  brass  frame.  These  hourglasses,  common  enough 
in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  to  remind  the 
preacher  of  the  flight  of  time,  are  now  very  rare. 

Matthew  Paris  says  that  St.  Alban's,  Wood  Street,  was 
the  chapel  of  King  Offa.*  There  is  also  a  tradition  that  at 
the  end  of  the  street  was  the  palace  of  the  victorious  Saxon 
king  Athelstan,  who  slew  the  last  king  of  Cumberland, 
buried  on  the  pass  between  Keswick  and  Grassmere,  under 
the  great  cairn  which  is  still  called  from  him  "  Dunmail 
Raise."     Thus  the  name  of  Addle  Street,  which  opens  on 

*  In  Vitis  Abb.  S.  Albani,  p.  50 


230  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

the  right  of  Wood  Street,  is  said  to  be  derived  from  Adelstan 
or  Athelstan,  indeed  it  is  found  as  King  Adei  Street  in 
early  records,  but  the  derivation  comes  more  probably  from 
the  Saxon  word  adel — noble — "  the  street  of  nobles."  In 
this  street,  near  its  junction  with  Aid erm anbury,  is  the  Hall 
of  the  Brewers'  Company  (incorporated  by  Henry  VI.),  an 
admirable  modern  building  of  brick  (1876),  with  terra-cotta 
ornaments,  in  which  hops  are  much  used  in  the  decorations. 
To  the  west  of  Wood  Street,  in  Maiden  Lane,  is  the  Hall 
of  the  Haberdashers'  Company,  incorporated  26  th  Henry  VI. 
On  the  south  of  Cheapside,  between  Bread  Street  and 
Friday  Street,  stood  the  Mermaid  Tavern,  where  a  club, 
established  by  Ben  Jonson  in  1603,  numbered  Shakspeare, 
Beaumont,  Fletcher,  Donne,  Selden,  &c,  amongst  its 
members. 

"  "What  things  have  seen 

Done  at  the  Mermaid  ;  heard  words  that  have  been 

So  nimble,  and  so  full  of  subtle  flame, 

A?  if  that  every  one  from  whom  they  came 

Had  mean'd  to  put  Ins  whole  wit  in  a  jest, 

And  had  resolv'd  to  live  a  fool  the  rest 

Ofhis  dull  life." 

Beaumont  to  fonson. 

Stow  says  that  Friday  Street  derives  its  name  ''from 
Fishmongers  dwelling  there  and  serving  Friday's  market." 
Sir  Hugh  Myddelton  was  buried  in  the  churchyard  of 
St.  Matthew,  Friday  Street,  in  163 1. 

At  the  north-east  corner  of  this  street  was  the  celebrated 
Nag's  Head  Tavern,  the  fictitious  scene  of  the  consecration 
of  Protestant  bishops,  on  the  accession  of  Elizabeth  in 
1559- 

"  It  was  pretended  thai  a  certain  number  of  ecclesiastics,  in  hurry  to 


ALDERMANBURY.  231 

take  possession  of  the  vacant  sees,  assembled  here,  where  they  were  to 
undergo  the  ceremony  from  Anthony  Kitchen,  alias  Dunstan,  Bishop  of 
Llandaff,  a  sort  of  occasional  Nonconformist,  who  had  taken  the  oaths 
of  supremacy  to  Elizabeth.  Bonner,  Bishop  of  London  (then  confined 
in  prison),  hearing  of  it,  sent  his  chaplain  to  Kitchen,  threatening  him 
with  excommunication  in  case  he  proceeded.  On  this  the  prelate 
refused  to  perform  the  ceremony,  on  which,  say  the  Catholics,  Parker 
and  the  other  candidates,  rather  than  defer  possession  of  their  sees, 
determined  to  consecrate  one  another,  which,  says  the  story,  they  did 
without  any  sort  of  scruple,  and  Scorey  began  with  Parker,  who 
instantly  rose  Archbishop  of  Canteibury  The  refutation  of  this  tale 
may  be  read  in  Strype's  Life  of  Archbishop  Parker." — Pennant. 

The  next  turn  on  the  left  is  Milk  Street,  once  devoted  to 
sellers  of  milk,  where  Sir  Thomas  More  was  born  in  1480, 
"  the  brightest  star,"  says  Fuller,  "  that  ever  shone  in  that 
Via  Lactea."  On  the  right  of  the  street  is  the  City  oj 
London  School,  established  1835,  for  the  education  of  boys 
of  the  middle-classes  recommended  by  a  member  of  the 
Corporation  of  London. 

[Milk  Street  leads  into  Aldermanbury,  so  called  from  the 
ancient  court  or  bery  of  the  Aldermen,*  now  held  at  the 
Guildhall.*  Here  (left)  is  Wren's  Jacobian  Church  of  St. 
Mary  Aldermanbury.  In  the  old  church  on  this  site  Dr. 
John  Owen,  the  chaplain  of  Cromwell,  listened  to  the 
sermon  which  was  the  cause  of  his  strong  religious  im- 
pressions. Edmund  Calamy  was  appointed  rector  here 
in  1639,  and  was  ejected  by  the  Act  of  Uniformity  in  1662, 
after  he  had  attracted  great  crowds  to  the  church  by  his 
sermons.  He  died  four  years  after  and  is  buried  beneath 
the  pulpit.  George,  Lord  Jeffreys,  the  cruel  judge  of  the 
Bloody  Assizes,  who  died  in  the  Tower  in  1689,  was 
removed  from  the  Tower  Chapel,  November  2,  1693,  and 

*   Stow. 


2J2  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

is  buried  here  on  the  north  of  the  communion  table.  The 
register  lecords  the  marriage  (Nov.  12,  1656)  of  Milton 
with  his  second  wife  Catherine  Woodcocke,  a  native  of  this 
parish,  who  died  fifteen  months  after.  Weever  mentions 
(1631)  that  in  the  cloister  of  this  church  hung  "  the  shank- 
bone  of  a  man,  wondrous  great  and  large,  measuring 
twenty-eight  inches  and  a  half,  with  the  portrait  of  a  giant- 
like person  and  some  metrical  lines." 

Gresham  Street  has  swallowed  up  Lad  Lane.  At  the 
corner  of  Gresham  Street  and  Aldermanbury,  "  the  Swan 
with  two  Necks"  on  the  wall  of  a  General  Railway  Office 
marks  the  site  of  the  curious  old  balconied  inn  of  that 
name,  which  was  long  celebrated  as  a  starting-point  for 
stage-coaches.] 

We  have  now  arrived  where,  on  the  right  of  Cheap- 
side,  rises  St.  Mary  Le  Bow.  It  was  built  by  Wren  on 
the  site  of  a  very  ancient  church  described  by  Stow  as 
having  been  the  first  church  in  the  city  built  on  arches  of 
stone,  whence  in  the  reign  of  William  the  Conqueror  it  was 
called  "  St.  Marie  de  Arcubus  or  Le  Bow  in  West  Cheaping  ; 
as  Stratford  Bridge,  being  the  first  built  (by  Matilde  the 
queen,  wife  to  Henry  I.)  with  arches  of  stone,  was  called 
Stratford  le  Bow  ;  which  names  to  the  said  church  and 
bridge  remain  to  this  day."  A  staircase  in  the  porch  leads 
to  the  Norman  Crypt  which  was  used  by  Wren  as  a  support  for 
his  church.  Some  of  the  columns  have  been  partially  walled 
up  to  strengthen  the  upper  building,  but  the  crypt  is  of  great 
extent,  and  in  one  part  the  noble  Norman  pillars  are  seen 
in  their  full  beauty,  with  the  arches  above,  which  have 
given  the  name  of  "  Court  of  Arches  "  to  the  highest  eccle- 
siastical court  belonging  to   the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 


ST.   MARY  LE  BOW.  233 

which  formerly  met  in  the  vestry  of  this  church.  It  is 
the  chief  of  a  deanery  of  thirteen  parishes,  exempt  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of  London  :  hence  the  title  of 
the  Dean  of  Arches.  The  Bishops  elect  of  the  province  of 
Canterbury  take  the  oath  of  supremacy  at  this  church  before 
their  consecration. 

On  the  right  of  the  altar  is  a  monument  to  Thomas 
Newton,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's  and  Bishop  of  Bristol  (1782), 
with  the  inscription — "  Reader,  if  you  would  be  further 
informed  of  his  character,  acquaint  yourself  with  his 
writings." 

The  steeple  of  Bow  Church,  235  feet  in  height,  is,  as  we 
have  seen,  one  of  Wren's  best  and  most  original  works. 
Bow  bells  have  always  been  famous,  and  people  born  with- 
in sound  of  Bow  bells  are  called  Cockneys.     Pope  says — 

"  Far  as  loud  Bow's  stupendous  bells  resound." 

Stow  tells  how  in  1469  it  was  ordained  by  a  Common 
Council  that  the  Bow  Bell  should  be  nightly  rung  at  nine  of 
the  clock.  This  bell  (which  marked  the  time  for  closing 
the  shops)  being  usually  rung  somewhat  late,  as  seemed  to 
the  young  men,  prentices,  and  others  in  Cheap,  they  made 
and  set  up  a  rhyme  against  the  clock  as  followeth  : — 

"  Clerke  of  the  Bow  Bell,  with  the  yellow  Iockes, 
For  thy  late  ringing  thy  head  shall  have  knockes." 

Whereunto  the  Clerk  replying  wrote  : 

"  Children  of  Cheape,  hold  you  all  still, 
For  you  shall  have  the  Bow  Bell  rung  at  your  will." 

What  child  will  not  remember  that  it  was  the  Bow  Bella 


j4  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

which  said  to  the  poor  runaway  boy  as  ne  was  renting  on 
Highgate  milestone — 

"  Turn  again,  Whittington, 
Lord  Mayor  of  London," 

and  that  he  obeyed  them,  and  became  the  most  famous  of 
Lord  Mayors  ? 

Many  last  century  writers  have  celebrated  the  Dragon  on 
Bow  Steeple — a  familiar  landmark  to  Londoners. 

"  Dean  Swift  said,  more  than  one  hundred  years  ago,  '  that  when  the 
dragon  on  Bow  Church  kisses  the  cock  behind  the  Exchange,  great 
changes  will  take  place  in  England.' 

"Just  before  the  Reform  Bill  of  1832,  the  dragon  and  cock  were 
both  taken  down  at  the  same  time  to  be  cleaned  and  repaired  by  the 
same  man,  and  were  placed  close  to  each  other.  In  fact,  the  dragon 
kissed  the  cock,  and  the  Reform  Bill  was  passed.  Who  can  say  there 
is  no  virtue  in  predictions  after  this  ?" — B.  R.  Haydon's  Table  Talk. 

Stow  says  that  this  church,  "  for  divers  accidents  hap- 
pening there,  hath  been  made  more  famous  than  any  other 
parish  church  of  the  whole  city  or  suburbs."  It  was  in  the 
tower  of  the  old  church,  built  on  the  existing  arches,  that 
William  Fitz-Osbert,  surnamed  Longbeard,  the  champion  of 
the  wrongs  of  the  people  in  the  time  of  Richard  I.,  took 
refuge  from  his  assassins;  but,  after  defending  it  for  three 
days,  was  forced  out  by  fire,  when  he  was  dragged  at  the 
tail  of  a  horse  to  the  Tower,  and  sentenced  by  the  arch- 
bishop to  be  hung,  which  was  done  in  Smithfield.  In  the 
same  tower  was  slain,  in  12S4,  one  Laurence  Ducket,  who 
had  taken  sanctuary  there  after  wounding  Ralph  Crepin, 
for  which,  says  Stow,  sixteen  persons  were  hung,  a  woman 
named  Alice  buint,  many  rich  persons  "hanged  by  the 
purse,"  the  church  interdicted,  and  the  doors  and  windows 
filled  with  thorns,  till  it  was  purified  again. 


ST.   LAWRENCE  JEWRY.  235 

'fhp'  balcony  in  front  of  the  tower  is  a  memorial  of  the 
old  Seidam,  or  stone  shed,  erected  on  the  north  side  of  this 
church,  whither  the  Henrys  and  Edwards  came  to  survey  all 
the  great  city  pageants.  A  plot  was  discovered  with  the 
design  of  murdering  Charles  II.  and  the  Duke  of  York  on 
this  very  balcony  during  a  Lord  Mayor's  procession.  It 
was  from  hence  that  Queen  Anne,  in  1702,  beheld  the 
last  Lord  Mayor's  pageant,  devised  by  the  last  city  poet 
Elkanah  Settle. 

King  Street  (on  the  left)  now  leads  to  the  Guildhall. 
Before  its  principal  front  the  city  pigeons  are  fed  every 
morning,  as  those  of  Venice  are  in  the  Piazza  S.  Marco, 
and  the  smoky  buildings  are  enlivened  by  the  perpetual 
flitting  to  and  fro  of  their  bright  wings.  The  pretty  modern 
Gothic  Fountain  here  (1S66),  adorned  with  statues  of  St. 
Lawrence  and  the  Magdalen,  commemorates  the  benefactors 
of  St.  Lawrence  Jewry,  and  St.  Mary  Magdalen,  Milk 
Street.  The  adjoining  Church  of  St.  Lawrence  Jeiury  cost  I 
;£i  1,870,  being  the  most  expensive  of  all  the  city  churches  1 
rebuilt  by  Wren.  It  is  richly  decorated  internally,  but 
devoid  of  beauty.  The  gridiron  which  serves  as  a  vane 
on  the  spire  commemorates  the  death  of  St.  Lawrence. 
There  is  a  monument  here  to  Archbishop  Tillotson  (1694). 

"  He  was  buried  in  the  Church  of  St.  Lawrence  Jewry.  It  was  there 
that  he  had  won  his  immense  national  reputation.  He  had  preached 
there  during  the  thirty  years  which  preceded  his  elevation  to  the  throne 
of  Canterbury.  .  .  His  remains  were  carried  through  a  mourning 
population.  The  hearse  was  followed  by  an  endless  train  of  splendid 
equipages  frcm  Lambeth  through  Southwark  and  over  London  bridge. 
Burnet  preached  the  funeral  sermon.  His  kind  and  honest  heart  was 
overcome  by  so  many  tender  recollections  that,  in  the  midst  of  his 
discourse,  he  paused  and  burst  into  tears,  while  a  loud  moan  of  sorrow 
arose  from  the  whole  auditory.     The  Queen  (Mary)  could  not  speak  of 


236 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


her  favourite  instmctor  without  weeping.  Even  William  was  visibly 
moved.  'I  have  lost,'  he  said,  'the  best  friend  that  I  ever  had,  and 
the  best  man  that  I  ever  knew.'  " — Macaulay.   History  of  England. 

Wilkins,  Bishop  of  Chester,  the  mathematician,  is  also 
buried  here,  with  Sir  Geoffry  Boleyne  of  Blickling,  Lord 


Fountain  of  St.  Lawrence. 


Mayor  of  London,  ob.  1463,  great-great-grandfather  of 
Queen  Elizabeth.  The  words  now  thus,  in  brass, .  were 
dispersed  thirty-two  times  over  his  gravestone.* 

The  Guildhall  was  originally  built  in  the  time  of 
Henry  IV.  (1411),  but  it  has  been  so  much  altered 
that,  though  the  walls  were  not  much  injured  in  the  Fire 

*  See  Stow,  and  Gough's  "  Sepulchral  Monuments." 


THE   GUILDHALL  237 

*. 
and   only  had  to  be  reroofed,  very  little   can  be  said  to 

remain  visible  of  that  time  except  the  crypt.     The  front, 

by  George  Dance,  is  a  miserable  work  of  1789. 

Here  it  was  that,  after  the  death  of  Edward  IV.,  while 
his  sons  were  in  the  Tower,  on  June  22,  1483,  the  Duke  of 
Buckingham  addressed  the  people,  and  after  cunningly 
dwelling  on  the  exactions  of  the  late  king's  reign,  denied 
his  legitimacy,  and,  affirming  that  the  Duke  of  Gloucester 
was  the  only  true  son  of  the  Duke  of  York,  demanded  that 
he  should  be  acknowledged  as  king. 

In  1546  the  Guildhall  was  used  for  the  trial  of  Anne, 
daughter  of  Sir  William  Askew  of  Kelsey  in  Lincolnshire, 
who  had  been  turned  out  of  doors  by  her  husband  (one 
Kyme)  because  she  had  become  a  Protestant.  Coming  to 
London,  to  sue  for  a  separation,  she  had  been  kindly 
received  by  Queen  Katherine  Parr,  and  was  found  to  have 
distributed  Protestant  tracts  amongst  the  court  ladies.  In 
the  Guildhall  she  was  tried  for  heresy,  and  on  being  asked 
by  the  Lord  Mayor  why  she  refused  to  believe  that  the 
priest  could  make  the  body  of  Christ,  gave  her  famous 
answer — "  I  have  heard  that  God  made  man,  but  that  man 
can  make  God  I  have  never  heard."  She  was  afterwards 
cruelly  tortured  on  the  rack  to  extort  evidence  against  the 
court  ladies,  and  on  July  16,  1546,  was  burnt  at  Smithfield. 

It  was  also  in  the  Guildhall  that  the  Protestant  Sir 
Nicholas  Throckmorton,  a  personal  friend  of  Edward  VI., 
was  tried,  April  17,  1554,  for  participation  in  the  Wyatt 
rebellion  against  Mary,  and  was  acquitted  by  his  own 
wonderful  acuteness  and  presence  of  mind. 

Here,  on  the  other  side,  in  1606,  took  place  the  trial  of 
Garnet,  Superior  of  the  Jesuits  in  England.     He  had  been 


2j8  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

arrested  at  Hcndlip  House  near  Worcester  for  complicity 
in  the  Gunpowder  Plot.  The  rack  having  failed  to  extort 
a  confession,  he  was  induced  to  believe,  whilst  imprisoned 
in  the  Tower,  that  he  might  confer  unheard  with  another 
Jesuit,  Oklcorre,  who  occupied  the  next  cell.  Two  listeners 
wrote  down  the  whole  conversation,  which  was  produced  as 
criminatory  evidence  at  the  Guildhall,  and  he  was  con- 
demned to  death  and  executed  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard, 
after  which  he  was  honoured  by  Catholics  as  a  martyr. 

Among  the  other  trials  which  have  taken  place  here,  have 
been  that  of  the  poet  Surrey,  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII., 
and  of  the  poet  Waller,  during  the  Commonwealth. 

The  Guildhall  (152  ft.  long,  50  ft.  broad)  has  a  glorious 
timber  roof  and  vast  stained  windows  of  modern  glass, 
through  which  streams  of  coloured  light  fall  in  prismatic  rays 
upon  the  pavement.  High  aloft  at  the  western  extremity  the 
giants  Gog  and  Magog,  which  used  to  bear  a  conspicuous 
part  in  the  pageant  of  Lord  Mayor's  Day,  keep  guard  over 
the  hall,  and  still  look,  as  Hawthorne  says,  "  like  enormous 
playthings  for  the  children  of  giants."  They  were  carved  in 
fir-wood  by  one  Richard  Saunders,  and  are  hollow.  Being 
presented  to  the  Corporation  by  the  Stationers'  Company, 
they  were  set  up  in  the  Hall  in  1708,  and  typify  the  dignity 
of  the  City.  There  is  an  old  prophecy  of  Mother  Shipton 
which  says  that  "  when  they  fall,  London  will  fall  also." 
In  1 741  one  Richard  Boreman,  who  lived  "near  the  Giants 
in  the  Guildhall,"  published  their  history,  which  tells  how 
Corineus  and  Gogmagog  fought  with  all  the  other  giants  in 
behalf  of  the  liberties  of  the  City,  and  how  all  the  other 
giants  perished,  but  these  two  were  reserved  that  they 
might   make  sport   by  wrestling   like   gladiators  with  one 


THE  GUILDHALL.  239 

another — and  how  the  victory  seemed  to  incline  to  Gog- 
niagog,  who  pressed  his  companion  so  heavily  that  he  broke 
three  of  his  ribs ;  but  at  last,  in  his  desperation,  Corineus 
threw  Gogmagog  over  his  shoulder  and  hurled  him  from  the 
top  of  a  cliff  into  the  sea,  which  cliff  is  called  Langoemagog, 
or  "  the  Giant's  Leap."  The  four  huge  and  ugly  monu- 
ments against  the  lower  walls  of  the  Hall  are  only  inter- 
esting from  their  inscriptions.  That  of  Lord  Chatham  is 
by  Burke,  that  of  Pitt  by  Canning,  that  of  Nelson  by 
Sheridan,  while  that  of  Beckford  is  engraved  with  the 
speech  with  which  he  is  said  to  have  abruptly  astonished 
George  III.,  and  which,  says  Horace  Walpole,  "made  the 
king  uncertain  whether  to  sit  still  and  silent,  or  to  pick  up 
his  robes  and  hurry  into  his  private  room."  The  speech, 
however,  was  never  really  uttered,  and  was  written  by 
Home  Tooke. 

Amongst  the  rooms  adjoining  the  Guildhall  is  the  Alder- 
man's Court,  a  beautiful  old  chamber  richly  adorned  with 
carving,  and  allegorical  paintings  by  Sir  James  Thornhill. 
It  is  a  room  well  deserving  of  preservation,  having  been 
rebuilt  by  Wren  immediately  after  the  Fire,  and  originally 
built  in  1614. 

The  Common  Council  Chamber  contains  a  fine  statue  01 
George  III.  by  Chantrey.  At  the  east  end  of  the  chamber 
is  an  enormous  picture  of  the  Siege  of  Gibraltar,  Sept.,  1782, 
with  Lord  Heathfield  on  horseback  in  the  foreground,  by 
Copley.     Of  the  other  pictures  we  may  notice — 

Alderman  Boydell,  a  fine  portrait,  fay  Beechey. 

Lord  Nelson.     Beechey. 

The  Murder  of  Rizzio.     Opie. 

The  Death  of  Wal  Tyler.     Northcote. 


240  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Queen  Caroline  of  Brunswick.     Lo?isdale. 
Queen  Victoria.     Hayter. 
Princess  Charlotte.     Lonsdale. 

The  Court  of  the  Old  King's  Bench  has  remains  of  a 
Gothic  chamber  of  1425.  It  contains  a  noble  picture  of 
Charles  Pratt,  Lord  Chancellor  Camden,  painted  for  the 
City  in  honour  of  his  speech  on  the  discharge  of  Wilkes 
from  the  Tower,  by  Sir  J.  Reynolds.  The  beautiful  chapel 
of  St.  Mary  Magdalen,  adjoining  the  Guildhall,  built  c.  1299 
and  rebuilt  1431,  was  pulled  down  in  1822,  up  to  which 
time,  "  to  deprecate  indigestion  and  all  plethoric  evils," 
says  Pennant,  a  service  was  held  in  it  before  the  Lord 
Mayor's  feast.  Its  site  is  now  occupied  by  the  ugly  court- 
rooms on  the  east  of  the  Guildhall  Yard,  which  are  deco- 
rated with  portraits  by  Michael  Wright  of  all  the  judges 
who  sate  at  Clifford's  Inn  to  arrange  the  differences  between 
landlord  and  tenant  during  the  process  of  rebuilding  after 
the  great  Fire.* 

No  one  should  omit  to  visit,  by  a  staircase  at  the  back 
of  the  Hall,  the  beautiful  Crypt  of  141 1,  which  survived 
the  Fire.  It  is  divided  into  three  aisles  by  six  clusters  of 
circular  columns  of  Purbeck  marble,  and  is  75  feet  in  length 
and  45  in  breadth.  Maitland  (17S9)  mentions  it  as  "the 
Welsh  Hall,"  because  the  Welsh  were  at  that  time  allowed 
to  use  it  as  a  market  for  their  native  manufactures. 

From  the  east  end  of  the  Guildhall  a  staircase  leads  to 
the  Library.  On  the  landing  at  the  top  are  statues  of 
Charles  II.  and  Sir  John  Cutler,  brought  from  the  de- 
molished   College    of  Physicians  in  Warwick  Lane.     The 

*  The  Alderman's  Courl  and  the  interesting  pictures  in  the  chambers  adjoining 
the  Guildhall  may  be  seen  upon  application,  when  the  rooms  are  not  in  use. 


THE   GUILDHALL. 


241 


society  had  thought  themselves  obliged  to  Sir  John  for  the 
money  to  raise  their  college,  when  that  in  Amen  Corner 
was  burnt  in  1666,  but  after  the  statue  was  erected  in 
gratitude,  "  the  old  curmudgeon  made  a  demand  of  the 
pelf,"  which  the  society  was  obliged  to  refund  to  his  heirs.* 
The  handsome  modern  Gothic  Library  contains  a  very 
valuable  collection  of  books — old  plays,  ballads,  and  pam- 


In  the  Crypt  of  the  Guildhall. 


phlets,  relating  to  the  history  of  London.  The  full-length 
portraits  of  William  III.  and  Mary  II.  are  by  Vander 
Vaart.  In  a  room  on  the  right  of  the  side  entrance  is  a 
valuable  collection  of  drawings  of  Old  London  and  of  New 
London  Bridge. 

The  City  Museum,  in  a  vaulted  chamber,  is  open  from  10 


V'l  •!  .     " 


1  <  mi  Brown,  "  I  'In-  New  l.uiuluu  Spy,''  r/77. 
p 


242  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

to  4  in  winter,  and  from   10  to  5  in  summer.     It  contains  a 
collection  of  interesting  relics  of  Old  London,  including — 

The  Inscription  about  the  Fire,  from  Pudding  Lane. 

The  painted  Statue  of  Gerard  the  Giant,  from  Gerard's  Hall  in 
Basing  Lane,  destroyed  in  1852. 

Roman  pavement  found  at  Bucklersbury,  1869. 

The  Foundation  Stones  of  Old  London  Bridge  and  Old  Blackfriars 
Bridge. 

A  number  of  curious  old  London  Signs — St.  George  and  the  Dragon 
from  Snow  Hill ;  the  Three  Crowns  from  Lambeth  Hill ;  and  the 
Three  Kings  (Magi)  from  Bucklersbury.  Here  also  is  the  famous  Sign 
of  the  Boar's  Head,  erected  in  1668,  when  the  house  was  rebuilt  after 
the  Fire,  to  mark  the  tavern  in  East  Cheap,  the  abode  of  Dame 
Quickly,  "  the  old  place  in  Eastcheap,"  *  beloved  by  Falstaff.  Wash- 
ington Irving  describes  how,  having  hunted  in  vain  for  the  tavern, 
he  found  the  sign  "  built  into  the  parting  line  of  two  houses"  which 
stood  on  its  site. 

An  old  Chimney-Piece  from  Lime  Street,  from  the  house  of  Sir  J. 
Scrope  (ob.  1493),  rebuilt  in  the  17th  century,  where  Sir  J.  Abney  kept 
his  mayoralty,  1700,  1701. 

Returning  to  Cheapside,  Queen  Street,  on  the  right,  was 
formerly  Soper  Lane,  from  the  makers  of  soap  who  inhabited 
it.  After  the  Fire  it  became  the  resort  of  the  "  Pepperers," 
i.e.  wholesale  dealers  in  drugs  and  spices.  On  the  right  of 
Queen  Street  opens  Paucras  Lane,  containing  a  precious 
little  oasis  which  was  the  burial-ground  of  that  old  church 
of  which  William  Sautre,  the  proto-martyr  of  the  English 
Reformation,  burnt  March  10,  1401,  was  priest. 

The  Saddlers'  Hall  in  Cheapside  contains  a  full-length 
portrait  of  Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales,  who  was  a  saddler, 
by  Frye. 

At  the  corner  of  Ironmonger  Lane,  No.  90  Cheapside, 
was   the   engraver's   shop  of  Alderman  Boydeli,  celebrated 

*  He/try  IV.,  Act  ii.  sc.  2. 


THE   MERCERS'   HALL.  243 

for  his  Pictorial  Shakspeare.  The  part  of  Cheapside 
between  Ironmonger  Lane  and  Old  Jewry  was  called  "  the 
Mercery  "  from  the  Mercers  Hall,  entered  from  Ironmonger 
Lane.  The  quaint  pillared  court,  which  recalls  those  of 
Genoa,  was  used  as  a  burial-place  as  late  as  1825.  It 
contains  the  effigy,  recumbent  in  a  niche,  of  "  Richard 
Fishborne,  mercer,  a  worthy  benefactor,  1625,"  and  other 
monuments.  Here,  "in  the  porch  of  the  Mercers' .Chapel," 
Thomas  Guy,  founder  of  Guy's  Hospital,  was  bound 
apprentice  to  a  bookseller,  Sept.  2,  1660.  The  Mercers' 
Chapel  and  its  portico  occupy  the  site  of  the  house  of 
Gilbert  a  Becket,  in  which  his  son  Thomas,  the  mur- 
dered archbishop,  was  born  in  11 19.  Twenty  years  after 
his  murder,  Agnes  his  sister,  who  was  married  to  Thomas 
Fitz  Theobald  de  Helles,  built  a  chapel  and  hospital 
"  in  the  rule  of  Saynt  Austyn  "  on  the  spot  where  her 
brother  was  born ;  and  such  was  the  respect  for  his 
sanctity  that,  without  waiting  for  his  canonisation,  the 
foundation  was  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  God  Almighty, 
and  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  and  of  the  said  glorious 
Martyr.  "  Alle  the  lande  that  sometime  was  Gilbert 
Becket's,  father  of  Thomas  the  Martyr,"  was  granted  to 
this  hospital.*  James  Butler,  Earl  of  Ormond  (1428),  and 
Dame  Joane  his  wife  (1430),  who  claimed  near  alliance  to 
St.  Thomas,  were  buried  here  :  t  their  daughter  Margaret 
mairied  Sir  William  Boleyne,  and  was  grandmother  of  Queen 
Anne  Boleyn.  A  beautiful  side  chapel  was  added  to  this 
church  by  John  Allen,  Lord  Mayor,  who  died  in  1544. 
There  is  a  well-known  legend  that  Gilbert  a  Becket  was 

•  Sec  Herbert's  "  History  of  the  Twelve  Great  Livery  Companies." 
+  Weever's  "  Funeral  Monuments." 


344  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

taken  prisoner  during  the  Crusades,  and  was  liberated  by  a 
Saracen  princess  who  had  fallen  in  love  with  him.  The 
power  of  her  love  induced  her  to  follow  him  to  England, 
though  she  only  knew  two  words  of  the  language — London 
and  Gilbert.  By  the  help  of  the  first  she  reached  his 
native  town,  and  she  plaintively  called  the  other  through  the 
streets  till  she  was  reunited  to  him.  Unfortunately  this 
story  is  unknown  to  the  earlier  biographers  of  Thomas  a 
Becket,  but  the  name  Aeon,  or  Acre,  recalls  the  memory  of 
William,  an  Englishman,  chaplain  to  Dean  Ralph  le  Diceto, 
who  made  a  vow  that  if  he  could  enter  Acre,  then  under 
siege,  he  would  found  a  chapel  to  the  martyred  archbishop, 
who  was  already  reverenced,  though  not  formally  recog- 
nised, as  a  saint.  He  entered  Acre  and  founded  a  chapel 
and  a  cemetery  there,  where  he  devoted  himself  to  the 
burial  of  Christian  pilgrims,  who  died  in  the  Holy  Land. 
A  military  order  was  also  founded  by  Richard  I.,  in  com- 
memoration of  the  capture  of  Acre,  and  dedicated  to  St. 
Thomas.* 

Latimer  mentions  the  woman  "  who,  being  asked  by  an 
acquaintance  in  the  street  where  she  was  going,  answered 
*  To  St.  Thomas  of  Acres,  to  hear  the  sermon ;  for  as  she 
had  not  slept  well  the  night  before,  she  should  be  certain 
of  a  nap  there.'  "  t 

At  the  Dissolution,  Henry  VIII.  granted  the  Hospital, 
for  a  payment,  to  the  Mercers'  Company,  incorporated  in 
1393.  The  Hall,  rebuilt  after  the  Great  Fire  by  Jar man, 
has  good  oak  carving  of  that  period :  the  helmet  and 
sword  of  Lord  Hill,  a  member  of  the  Company,  are  pre- 

•  See  Milman's  "Annals  of  St.  Paul's." 

♦  Malcolm's  "  Manners  of  London." 


THE  MERCERS'  HALL.  245 

served  there.  In  the  adjoining  Court-room  are  some  good 
portraits,  including  that  of  Sir  R.  Whittington  and  his  cat, 
inscribed  "R.  Whittington.  1536." 

A  story  similar  to  that  of  Whittington  and  his  Cat  has 
existed  in  South  America,  Persia,  Denmark,  Tuscany,  and 
Venice,  and  in  several  of  these  instances  may  be  traced 
before  and  at  the  date  of  Whittington.*  Up  to  the  time  of 
Whittington  the  burning  of  coal  in  London  was  considered 
such  a  nuisance  that  it  was  punished  by  death.  A  dispen- 
sation to  burn  coal  was  first  made  in  favour  of  the  four 
times  Lord  Mayor,  and  it  is  believed  that  the  fact  that  his 
coal  was  imported  in  the  collier  (catta)  still  called  a  cat, 
gave  rise  to  the  story  in  his  case.     Here  also  are — 

Sir  Thomas  Gresham,  said  to  be  an  original  portrait. 

Dean  Colet  (whose  father  was  a  mercer),  the  founder  of  St.  Paul's 
School,  the  management  of  which  he  bequeathed  to  the  Mercers. 

A  fine  portrait  of  Thomas  Papillon,  1666,  who  represented  Dover  in 
several  parliaments.  He  was  chosen  sheriff  for  London  by  an  immense 
majority  of  the  citizens,  but  the  Lord  Mayor  would  not  swear  him  in, 
Charles  II. 's  government  having  chosen  their  own  sheriffs.  Papillon 
issued  his  warrant  to  compel  Sir  W.  Pritchard,  the  Mayor,  to  do  his 
duty.  For  this  he  was  brought  to  a  state  trial,  condemned  by  Judge 
Jeffreys,  and  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  ^10,000.  To  avoid  this  he  went 
into  voluntary  banishment  at  Utrecht,  but  returning  with  "William  III., 
was  elected  member  for  London,  and  bought  the  estate  of  Acrise  in 
Kent. 

"  Dick  Whittington,"  four  times  Lord  Mayor  of  London, 
was  a  Mercer,  "  Flos  Mercatorum,"  and  is  commemorated 
by  the  Whittington  Almshouses,  which  belong  to  the  Com- 
pany, and  by  a  silver  Tun  on  wheels  which  he  presented  for 
their  banquets.  At  least  sixty  of  the  Mercers  have  filled 
the  office  of  Lord  Mayor. 

The  last  street  on  the  left  of  Cheapside  is   Old  Jewry, 

•  See  J.  limbs'  "  Koiiutic  of  London." 


246  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

once  inhabited  wholly  by  Jews  brought  over  from  Rouen 
by  William  I.  It  contains  St.  Olave's  Church,  one  of  the 
many  churches  dedicated  to  the  royal  Danish  saint,  and 
recalling  the  Danish  occupation.  Alderman  John  Boydell, 
the  engraver  (1814),  is  buried  here.  Dr.  James  Foster 
became  celebrated  in  Old  Jewry  as  a  preacher  in  the  last 
century,  having  first  become  known  from  Lord  Chancellor 
Hardwicke  taking  refuge  from  a  storm  in  his  church,  and 
being  so  delighted  that  he  afterwards  sent  all  his  great 
acquaintance  to  hear  him.     He  is  celebrated  by  Pope — 

"  Let  modest  Foster,  if  he  will,  excel 
Ten  Metropolitans  in  preaching  well." 

The  house  of  Sir  Robert  Clayton  ("  the  fanatick  Lord 
Mayor"  of  Dryden's  "  Religio  Laici  ")  on  the  east  side 
of  Old  Jewry — a  grand  specimen  of  a  merchant's  resi- 
dence, with  "  a  banqueting  room  wainscoted  with  cedar 
and  adorned  with  battles  of  gods  and  giants  in  fiesco,"  *  in 
which  Charles  II.  supped  with  the  great  city  magnate — was 
only  destroyed  in  1863.  Here  Professor  Porson  died  in 
1808.  Old  Jewry  was  the  place  where  the  original  syna- 
gogue of  the  Jews  was  erected,  and  was  their  head-quarters 
till  their  expulsion  in  1291. 

[The  street  called  Old  Jewry  leads  into  Coleman  Street, 
which  contains  the  Wool  Exchange,  and  where  the  ghastly 
gate  of  St.  Stephen's  Churchyard,  adorned  with  skulls, 
commemorates  its  having  been  one  of  the  principal  places 
of  burial  for  the  victims  of  the  Great  Plague.  Over  the  gate 
is  a  curious  carving  in  oak,  representing  the  Last  Judgment, 
much  like  that  over  the  gate  of  St.  Giles  in  the  Fields,  but 

*  Macaulay. 


THE  ARMOURERS'  HALL.  247 

superior  in  workmanship.  This  and  the  gate  of  St.  Olave's 
Hart  Street  are  now  me  only  memorials  which  recall  to  us 
the  terrible  year  of  the  Plague  (1665),  in  which  68,596 
persons  perished ;  when  these  old  City-streets  resounded 
perpetually  with  the  cry  "  Bring  out  your  dead  !  "  from  the 
carriers  in  the  gloomy  gowns  which  were  their  appointed 
costume;  and  when  even  the  terror?  of  infection  did  not  save 
the  unfortunate  bodies  from  the  "  corpse  robbers,"  as  many 
as  1,000  winding-sheets  being  afterwards  found  in  the 
possession  of  one  night  thief  alone.  De  Foe  describes 
how  John  Hayward  the  sexton  of  this  church  used  to  go 
round  with  his  dead-cart  and  bell  to  fetch  the  bodies  from 
the  houses  where  they  lay,  and  how  often  he  had  to  carry 
them  for  a  great  distance  to  the  cart  in  a  hand-barrow,  as 
the  lanes  of  the  parish,  White's  Alley,  Cross  Key  Court, 
Swan  Alley,  and  others  were  so  narrow  that  the  cart  could 
not  enter  them, — yet  "never  had  the  distemper  at  all,  but 
lived  about  twenty  years  after  it."  In  St.  Stephen's  Church, 
rebuilt  by  Wren  after  the  Fire,*  is  the  monument  of  Anthony 
Munday,  dramatist  and  architect  of  civic  pageants. 

In  Great  Bell  Alley,  on  the  right  of  Coleman  Street, 
Robert  Bloomfield,  the  especial  poet  of  the  country,  son  of 
a  tailor  at  Honington,  in  Suffolk,  composed  mentally  his 
poem  of  the  "  Farmer's  Boy,"  while  working  in  a  garret  as 
a  shoemaker.  When  able  to  procure  paper,  he  had,  as  he 
says,  "  nothing  to  do  but  to  write  it  down."  26,000  copies 
were  sold  in  three  years. 

Far  down  Coleman  Street,  on  the  right,  is  the  Hall  of 
the  Armourers'  Company  founded  by  Henry  VI.  as  the 
"  Brothers  and  Sisters  of  the  Gild  of  St.  George,"  wl  ose 

•  St.  Stephen's  only  cost  £7,652  13*.,  while  Bow  Church  cost  £15,400. 


248  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

effigy,  slaying  the  dragon,  appeared  iroon  their  seal  before 
1453.  The  Hall  has  been  rebuilt,  but  has  occupied  the 
same  site  for  five  hundred  years,  and,  as  it  escaped  the 
Fire,  it  possesses  one  of  the  most  glorious  collections  of 
old  plate  in  England.  Especially  noteworthy  are  the 
beautiful  "  Richmond  Cup,"  given  by  John  and  Isabel 
Richmond  in  1557;  the  curious  "  Owl  Pot,"  given  by 
Julian  Seger  in  1537  ;  the  tankard  of  Thomas  Tyndale, 
1574;  the  cup  and  cover  of  J.  Forester,  1622;  the  cup 
and  cover  of  Samson  Lycroft,  1608  ;  and  the  Maeser  (maple 
wood)  bowl  of  1460. 

At  the  foot  of  the  staircase  are  suits  of  armour  of  an 
officer  and  pikeman  of  the  time  of  Charles  I.  Armour  was 
then  going  out  of  use,  and,  by  the  time  of  William  III., 
the  Company  had  fallen  into  utter  decadence,  but  entirely 
revived  after  its  union  under  Anne  with  the  Company 
of  Braziers,  since  which  "  We  are  One "  has  been  the 
motto  of  the  united  companies ;  "  Make  all  sure,"  the  earlier 
motto  of  the  Armourers,  having  had  reference  to  the 
proving  of  their  back  and  breast  pieces. 

In  the  Hall  are  a  beautiful  steel  tilting  suit  of  the  time  of 
Edward  VI. ;  some  German  swords  with  waved  edges 
of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries ;  some  Flemish 
pictures  representing  the  meat  and  vegetables  of  the  Four 
Seasons  from  the  old  Treaty  House  at  Uxbridge ;  and 
Northcotis  well-known  picture  of  the  entry  of  Bolingbroke 
into  London  with  Richard  II.,  engraved  in  Boydell's 
Shakspeare. 

The  Private  Dining  Room  contains — 

A  curious  portrait  of  Roger  Tindall,  Master  of  the  Company,  1585, 
being  his  "counterfeit,"  especially  bequeatned  by  his  will,  inscribed — 


COULTRY. 

Tyme  glides  away. 
One  God  obey, 
Let  Trvth  bear  sway, 
So  Tindal  still  did  say. 
Whatsoever  thou  dost,  mark  thy  end. 
Miller.    Romeo's  first  meeting  with  Juliet,  as  a  pilgrim  in  the  hall 
of  the  Capulets. 

A  grant  to  the  Company  by  Mary  I.,  in  which  the  then  Claiencieux 
King-at-Arms  appears  in  an  illumination. 

In  the  Drawing  Room  are — 

Hamilton.  Olivia  as  a  page  (in  Twelfth  Night)  meeting  Sebastian. 
Engraved  in  Boydell's  Shakspeare. 

Shackleton.     George  II.  and  Caroline  of  Anspach. 

The  forbidden  Tilting  Gauntlet  (a  great  curiosity),  suppressed  as 
unfair,  because  it  locked  down,  and  the  tilting  spear  could  not  be 
wrested  from  a  hand  thus  protected.] 

Cheapside  now  melts  into  Poultry,*  once  entirely  In- 
habited by  Poulterers.  In  the  old  church  of  St.  Mildred 
in  the  Poultry,  dedicated  to  the  daughter  of  the  Saxon 
prince  Merowald,  destroyed  in  the  Fire,  was  the  tomb  of 
Thomas  Tusser  (1580),  author  of  "Five  Hundred  Points 
of  Good  Husbandry,"  described  by  Fuller  as  "  successively 
a  musician,  schoolmaster,  servingman,  husbandman,  grazier, 
poet,  more  skilful  in  all,  than  thriving  in  any  vocation." 
His  epitaph  ran — 

"Here  Thomas  Tusser,  clad  in  earth,  doth  lie, 
That  sometime  made  the  points  of  husbandrie. 
By  him  then  learn  thou  maist ;  here  learn  we  must, 
When  all  is  done  we  sleep  and  turn  to  dust. 
And  yet  through  Christ  to  heaven  we  hope  to  goe, 
Who  reads  his  books  shall  find  his  faith  was  so." 

The  church  was  rebuilt  by  Wren,  but  has  been  recently 
pulled  down  and  its  monuments  removed  to  St.  Olave's, 

*  The  name  existed  in  1317. 


250  WALKS  JN  LONDON. 

Old  Jewry.  Its  site  is  now  occupied  by  the  offices  of  the 
Gresham  Life  Insurance  Company. 

Several  good  modern  buildings  adorn  Poultry.  No.  1, 
"  Queen  Anne  Chambers,"  is  a  good  specimen  of  the  archi- 
tecture of  that  time  by  Messrs.  Belcher.  A  little  farther 
(right)  the  rich  front  of  a  house  (No.  14),  built  by  C/mncellor 
in  1875,  has  terra-cotta  panels  by  Kremer,  appropriately 
representing  the  state-processions  of  Edward  VI.,  Eliza- 
beth, and  Victoria,  which  have  passed  through  the  street 
below  in  1546,  1551,  and  1844,  with  an  incident  which 
occurred  upon  the  site  of  this  very  house  on  May  29,  1660, 
when  Charles  II.,  making  his  public  entry  into  London, 
stopped  to  salute  the  landlady  of  what  was  then  an  inn, 
who  insisted  upon  displaying  her  loyalty  by  rising  to  give 
him  a  welcome,  though  she  was  then  in  a  most  critical 
situation ! 

Bucklersbury,  the  last  street  on  the  right,  derives  its  name 
from  the  Bukerels,  a  great  City  family  of  the  thirteenth 
century.*  Andrew  Bukerel,  Pepperer,  was  Lord  Mayor 
from  1231  to  1237,  and  held  the  office  of  farmer  of  the 
King's  Exchange :  he  headed  the  equestrian  procession 
of  the  citizens  of  London  at  the  coronation  of  Eleanor  of 
Provence.  This  was  the  great  street  of  grocers  and  drug- 
gists ;  Shakspeare  speaks  of  those  who  "  smell  like  Buck- 
lersbury in  simple  time,"  in  the  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor. 

The  end  of  Poultry  faces  the  Royal  Exchange,  with  Chan- 
trey's  fine  equestrian  Statue  of  Wellington  in  front  of  it. 
On  the  right  is  the  Mansion  House,  on  the  left  the  Bank  of 
England. 

*  It  is  sometimes  derived  from  one  Buckles,  who  was  crushed  to  death  hete 
while  pulling-  down  the  Cornet  Tower,  an  old  building  of  Edward  I.'s  time,  to 
enlarge  his  house. 


THE  ROYAL   EXCHANGE.  251 

The  first  Royal  Exchange  was  built  by  Sir  Thomas  Gre- 
sham,  the  great  merchant-prince  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
Under  Edward  VI.  and  Mary  he  had  been  employed  as  a 
confidential  agent  in  obtaining  subsidies  from  great  foreign 
merchants,  and  under  Elizabeth  took  advantage  of  his 
increasing  favour  to  enforce  the  benefit  of  obtaining  loans 
from  wealthy  Englishmen  rather  than  foreigners.  Treated 
with  the  utmost  confidence  by  Elizabeth,  he  was  made 
"Sir  Thomas"  when  employed  as  ambassador  to  the 
Duchess  of  Parma.  He  continued  to  keep  his  shop  in 
Lombard  Street,  distinguished  by  the  sign  of  the  grass- 
hopper, the  Gresham  crest,  but  in  the  country  lived  with 
great  magnificence  at  Mayfield  in  Sussex  (previously  a 
palace  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury),  and  at  Osterley 
in  Middlesex.  He  died  of  an  apoplectic  fit  as  he  was 
walking  from  his  house  in  Bishopsgate  Street  to  the  Ex- 
change, Nov.  21,  1579. 

The  idea  of  the  Exchange  originated  with  Sir  Richard 
Gresham,  father  of  Sir  Thomas,  who  wished  to  see  English 
merchants  as  well  lodged  as  those  whom  he  had  been 
accustomed  to  see  in  the  magnificent  Bourse  at  Antwerp. 
And  how  much  something  of  the  kind  was  needed  in  Lon- 
don we  learn  from  Stow,  who  says,  "  The  merchants  and 
tradesmen,  as  well  English  as  strangers,  did  for  their  general 
making  of  bargains,  contracts  and  commerce,  usually  meet 
twice  a  day.  But  these  meetings  were  unpleasant  and 
troublesome,  by  reason  of  walking  and  talking  in  an  open 
narrow  street  .  .  .  being  there  constrained  either  to  endure 
all  extremes  of  weather,  viz.  heat  or  cold,  snow  or  rain  ; 
or  else  to  shelter  themselves  in  shops." 

The   first    Exchange,    therefore,    was    built  as   much    as 


25a  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

possible  on  the  plan  of  that  at  Antwerp.  A  Flemish 
architect,  Henryke,  was  appointed,  and  all  the  materials 
were  brought  from  Flanders,  much  to  the  disgust  of  English 
masons  and  bricklayers.  The  result  was  that  the  Exchange, 
which  was  opened  by  Elizabeth  in  1571,  was  foreign-looking 
to  the  last  degree.  It  was  an  immense  cloistered  court, 
with  a  corridor  filled  with  shops  running  above  its  arcades, 
called  a  "  pawn,"  from  the  German  word  "  bahn  " — a  way. 
In  front  rose  an  immense  column  surmounted  by  the  grass- 
hopper of  the  Greshams.  Over  the  pillars  round  the  quad- 
rangle, which  were  all  of  marble,  were  statues  of  the 
sovereigns  from  the  Confessor  to  Elizabeth.  Immediately 
on  the  execution  of  Charles  I.  his  statue  was  thrown  down, 
and  in  its  place  was  inscribed,  "  Exit  tyrannus,  regum 
ultimus,  anno  libertatis  Angliae  restitute  primo."  The 
Exchange  of  Gresham  was  totally  destroyed  in  the  Great 
Fire  of  1666.  Wren  then  wished  in  restoring  it  to  make 
the  Exchange  the  centre  of  the  new  London,  from  which  all 
the  principal  streets  should  diverge.  His  wish  was  opposed, 
and  the  new  building  was  built  much  in  the  same  style  as 
the  old,  but  with  greatd  magnificence,  by  Edward  Jarman, 
and  was  adorned  with  statues  by  Cibber. 

The  second  Exchange  was  burnt  in  1838,  and  the  statues 
which  survived  the  fire  were  for  the  most  part  sold  as 
lumber !  The  present  building  by  Tite,  stately,  though 
inferior  to  its  predecessor,  was  opened  in  1844.  It  encloses 
a  large  cloistered  court,  with  a  statue  of  Queen  Victoria 
in  the  centre.  The  statue  of  Charles  II.  by  Gibbons,  which 
formerly  occupied  that  position,  is  preserved  at  the  south- 
east angle.  The  inscription  on  the  pedestal  of  the  figure  of 
Commerce  on  the  front  of  the  building — "  The  Earth  is  the 


THE   OLDEST  OF  SHOP-FRONTS.  253 

Lord's,  and  the  fulness  thereof,"  was  selected  by  Dean 
Milman  on  hearing  the  suggestion  of  the  Prince  Consort  to 
Mr.  Westmacott  that  the  space  should  be  used  for  some 
inscription  recognising  a  Superior  Power. 

The  busiest  time  at  the  Exchange,  when  it  is  most  worth 
seeing,  is  from  3  to  -4^  p.m.  on  Tuesdays  and  Fridays.  The 
eastern  part  of  the  building  is  occupied  by  Lloyd's,  the  great 
rendezvous  of  ship-owners,  and  all  who  seek  shipping  intel- 
ligence. The  name  originated  in  the  early  transaction  of 
the  business  at  Lloyd's  Coffee  House,  at  the  corner  of 
Abchurch  Lane. 

"  If  you  would  wish  the  world  to  know, 
And  learn  the  state  of  man ; 
How  some  are  high  and  some  are  low 

And  human  actions  scan  ; 
If  justly  things  you  would  arrange, 

And  study  human  heart ; 
Observe  the  humours  of  th'  Exchange, 
That  universal  mart." 

—  Tom  Brown.    New  London  Spy. 

Opposite  the  Exchange,  on  the  right,  we  should  notice  an 
old  Shop  Front  (No.  15,  Cornhill),  carved,  painted  green, 
and  with  unusually  small  panes  of  glass — as  being  the  oldest 
shop  of  its  class  in  the  metropolis.  It  was  established  as  a 
confectioner's  in  the  time  of  George  I.  by  a  Mr.  Horton, 
succeeded  by  Lucas  Birch,  whose  son  and  successor, 
Samuel,  became  Lord  Mayor  (00.  1840).  His  followers 
are  of  a  different  family,  but  wisely  retain  the  old  name  of 
"  Birch  and  Birch  "  over  the  window,  as  well  as  the  antique 
character  of  the  shop,  which  they  have  wisely  discovered  to 
be  the  hen  which  lays  their  golden  eggs.  Tne  commis- 
sariat of  the  Mansion  House  is  sometimes  entirely  entrusted 


254 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


to  this  shop  by  the  Lords  Mayor  during  the  year  of  their 
mayoralty. 

On  the  right  as  we  face  the  Royal  Exchange  rises  the 
Mansion  House,  the  palace  of  the  King  of  the  City,  built 
from  designs  of  George  Dance  in  1739-40.  When  first 
erected,  it  was  a  very  fine  building,  but- it  has  been  ruined 
by  the  removal  of  the  noble  flight  of  steps  by  which  it  was 


The  01  Jest  Shop  in  London. 


approached,  and  to  which  it  owed  all  its  beauty  of  propor- 
tion. Its  principal  apartment,  known  as  the  Egyptian  Hall, 
has  nothing  Egyptian  in  it,  but  was  so  called  because  con- 
structed to  correspond  with  the  Egyptian  Hall  described 
by  Vitruvius.  On  the  site  occupied  by  the  Mansion  House 
stood  formerly  a  statue  altered  to  represent  Charles  II., 
from  an  old  statue  of  John  Sobieski,  King  of  Poland, 
brought  from  Leghorn  by  Robert  Viner,  the  Lord  Mayor,* 
who  tried   so  hard   to  make  his    Majesty   drunk  :  f    when 

*  Pennant.  +  See  Spectator,  No.  462. 


ST.    STEPHEN'S.    WALBROOK.  255 

taken  down  it  was  given  to  the  representatives  of  the  Viner 
lamny.  The  Lord  Mayors  coach,  built  1757,  is  painted 
with  allegorical  subjects,  probably  by  Cipriani. 

Immediately  behind  the  Mansion  House  is  Wren's  master- 
piece— the  Church  of  St.  Stepfieiis  Walbrook,  commemo- 
rating in  its  name  one  of  the  rivulets  of  old  London,  "  the 
brook  by  the  wall,"  which  has  long  disappeared.  It  would 
seem  as  if  Wren  had  scarcely  condescended  to  notice  its 
exterior,  so  hideous  is  it,  while  the  interior  is  perfect  in 
beauty  and  proportion.  "  If  the  material  had  been  as  lasting 
and  the  size  as  great  as  St.  Paul's,  this  church  would  have 
been  a  greater  monument  to  Wren  than  the  cathedral."* 
When  first  built  it  was  so  far  appreciated  by  the  Corpora- 
tion, that  they  presented  Lady  Wren  with  a  purse  of 
ten  guineas  in  recognition  of  "the  great  skill  and  care" 
displayed  in  its  erection  by  her  husband.  It  is  strange 
that  though  no  church  has  ever  been  more  admired, 
no  architect  should  have  ever  copied  its  arrangement. 
A  large  picture,  the  Burial  of  St.  Stephen,  by  Ben- 
jamin West,  hangs  in  this  church.  Sir  John  Vanbrugh, 
the  architect,  is  buried  here  in  a  family  vault.  There 
is  a  medallion  to  Mrs.  Catherine  Macaulay,  1733-179  r, 
who  wrote  the  History  of  England  from  the  accession  of 
James  II.  to  that  of  the  House  of  Brunswick :  Pennant 
speaks  of  "  the  statue  erected  to  Divns  Mac-Aulae  by  her 
doating  admirer,  a  former  rector,  which  a  successor  of  his 
most  profanely  pulled  down." 

Oxford  Court,  Walbrook,  commemorates  the  old  town- 
house  of  the  Earls  of  Oxford. 

We  must  cross  the  space   in  front  of  the  Exchange  to 

*  Ferifusson. 


256  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

visit  the  Bank  of  England.  The  conception  of  the  Bank 
originated  with  Paterson,  a  Scotchman,  in  1691.  Its  small 
business  was  first  transacted  in  the  Mercers'  Hall,  then 
in  the  Grocers'  Hall,  and  in  1734  was  moved  to  the  build 
ings  which  form  the  back  of  the  present  court  towards 
Threadneedle  Street.  The  modern  buildings,  covering 
nearly  three  acres,  were  designed  in  1788  by  Sir  John  Soane ; 
they  are  feeble  in  design  and  lose  in  effect  from  not  being 
raised  on  a  terrace.  "  The  Garden  Court,"  which  has  s 
fountain,  encloses  the  churchyard  of  St.  Christopher  lc 
Stocks,  pulled  down  when  the  Bank  was  built.  The  taxes 
are  received,  the  interest  of  the  national  debt  paid,  and  the 
business  of  the  Exchequer  transacted  at  the  Bank.  The 
"  Old  Lady  in  Threadneedle  Street"  was  long  its  popular 
name,  but  is  now  almost  forgotten. 

"  The  warlike  power  of  every  country  depends  on  their  Three  pei 
Cents.  If  Caesar  were  to  reappear  on  earth,  Wettenhall's  List  would 
he  more  important  than  his  Commentaries  ;  Rothschild  would  open  and 
shut  the  Temple  of  Janus ;  Thomas  Baring,  or  Bates,  would  probably 
command  the  Tenth  Legion ;  and  the  soldiers  would  march  to  battle 
with  loud  cries  of  '  Scrip  and  Omnium  reduced!'  '  Consols  and  Caesar.'  " 
— Sydney  Smith. 

To  the  east  of  the  Bank  (entered  from  Capel  Court,  Bar- 
tholomew Lane)  is  the  Stock  Exchange,  the  "ready-money 
market  of  the  world." 

Behind  the  Bank  is  Lothbury,  the  district  of  pewterers 
and  candlestick-makers,  said  by  Stow  to  derive  its  name  from 
the  loathsome  noise  made  by  these  workers  in  metal. 
Here  Founders  Court  takes  its  name  from  the  brassfoundeis, 
and  Tokenhouse  Yard  from  the  manufacture  of  "  tokens," 
the  copper  coinage  of  England  from  1648  to  1672.  The 
space  between  these  is   occupied   by   the    Church  of  St. 


THE  DRAPERS'  HALL.  j57 

Margaret.  Lotkbury,  which  has  a  font  adorned  with  sculp- 
tures attributed  to  Grinling  Gibbons.  Here  also,  removed 
from  the  destroyed  Church  of  St.  Christopher  le  Stocks,  is  a 
fine  bronze  monumental  bust  of  a  knight,  inscribed  "  Petrus 
le  Maire  yEques  Auratus.     M.  suas  88,  1631." 

Throgmorton Street  (named  after  Sir  Nicholas  Throgmorton, 
said  to  have  been  poisoned  by  Elizabeth's  Earl  of  Leicester) 
is  filled  every  afternoon  with  a  busy  crowd  discussing  the 
affairs  of  the  Stock  Exchange. 

The  Drapers  Hall,  on  the  left,  was  built  by  Herbert 
Williams  in  1869  around  a  large  quiet  court,  which  is 
adorned  with  laurel-trees  in  tubs.  A  handsome  winding 
staircase  of  coloured  marbles,  decorated  with  statues  of 
Edward  III.  and  Philippa,  leads  to  the  Banqueting  Hall, 
which  is  adorned  with  the  utmost  magnificence  that  can 
co-exist  with  absence  of  taste.  In  this  and  the  neighbouring 
rooms  are  many  good  portraits,  but  we  should  especially 
notice,  in  the  Court  Room, — 

Zucchero.  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  a  full-length  portrait.  Her  little 
son  James  VI.  is  painted  with  her,  though  she  never  saw  him  after  he 
was  a  year  old.  The  picture  is  said  to  have  been  thrown  over  the  wall 
into  the  Drapers'  Gardens  for  security  during  the  Great  Fire,  and  to  have 
been  found  there  afterwards  amid  the  ruins,  and  never  claimed. 

Sir  W.  Beechey.     Lord  Nelson. 

At  the  back  of  the  Hall  is  a  remnant  of  the  Drapers'  Gar- 
den and  two  of  its  famous  mulberry-trees,  but  the  beauty 
of  this  charming  old  garden  was  sacrificed  for  money-making 
a  few  years  ago. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
ALDERSGATE  AND  CRIPPLEGATK. 

IET  us  now  return  to  St.  Martin's-le-Grand  and  turn  to  the 
_^<  left  down  Aldersgate  Street,  so  called  from  the  northern 
gate,  one  of  the  three  original  gates  of  Anglo-Norman 
London.  Some  derive  its  name  from  the  Saxon  Aldrich,  its 
supposed  founder;  others,  including  Stow,  from  the  alder- 
trees  which  grew  around  it.  The  gate  (removed  in  1761) 
as  restored  after  the  Fire  was  rather  like  Temple  Bar,  with 
the  addition  of  side  towers,  and  was  surmounted  by  a  figure 
of  James  I.  It  was  inscribed  with  the  words  of  Jeremiah — ■ 
"  Then  shall  enter  into  the  gates  of  this  city  kings  and 
princes,  sitting  upon  the  throne  of  David,  riding  in  chariots 
and  on  horses,  they  and  their  princes,  the  men  of  Judah, 
and  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  and  this  city  shall  remain 
for  ever."  The  rooms  over  the  gate  were  occupied  by  the 
famous  printer  John  Day,  who  printed  the  folio  Bible, 
dedicated  to  Edward  VI.,  in  1549,  as  well  as  the  works  of 
Roger  Ascham,  Latimer's  Sermons,  and  Foxe's  "  Book  of 
Martyrs."  In  the  frontispiece  of  one  of  his  books,  he  is 
represented  in  a  room  into  which  the  sun  is  shining, 
arousing  his  sleeping  apprentices  with  a  whip,  and  the 
words — "  Arise,  for  it  is  day." 


BULL  AND  MOUTH  STREET.  259 

On  the  right  of  Aldersgate  Street,  behind  the  Post-office, 
is  an  ugly  Church,  built  by  Wren,  called  St.  Anne  in  tfu 
Willows — a  name  very  inappropriate  to  it  now.  The 
curious  monuments  in  this  church  were  removed  at  the  end 
of  the  last  century.  One  to  Peter  Heiwood,  1701,  recorded 
the  fate  of  his  grandfather,  the  Peter  Heiwood  who  arrested 
Guy  Fawkes,  and,  in  revenge,  was  stabbed  to  death  in  West- 
minster Hall  by  John  James,  a  Dominican  friar,  in  1640. 

Si.  Anne's  Lane  is  the  scene  of  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley's 
adventure — 

"This  worthy  knight,  being  but  a  stripling,  had  occasion  to  inquire 
which  was  the  way  to  St.  Anne's  Lane  ;  upon  which  the  person  whom 
he  spoke  to,  instead  of  answering  the  question,  called  him  a  young 
popish  cur,  and  asked  him  who  made  Anne  a  saint  ?  The  boy  being  in 
some  confusion,  inquired  of  the  next  he  met,  which  was  the  way  to 
Anne's  Lane  ;  but  was  called  a  prick-eared  cur  for  his  pains,  and, 
instead  of  being  shown  the  way,  was  told  that  she  had  been  a  saint 
before  he  was  born,  and  would  be  one  after  he  was  hanged.  '  Upon 
this,'  says  Sir  Roger,  'I  did  not  think  fit  to  repeat  the  former 
question,  but  going  into  every  lane  of  the  neighbourhood,  asked  what 
they  called  the  name  of  that  place ;  '  by  which  ingenious  artifice  he 
found  out  the  place  he  inquired  after,  without  giving  offence  to  any 
party."—  Spectator,  No.  125. 

On  the  left  is  Bull  and  Month  Street  (Boulogne  Mouth) 
curiously  commemorating,  in  its  corrupted  name,  the  capture 
of  Boulogne  Harbour  by  Henry  VIII. ,  in  1544.  The  Bull 
and  Mouth  Inn  was  one  of  the  great  centres  from  which 
coaches  started  before  the  time  of  railways.  It  was  here 
that  George  Fox,  founder  of  the  Quakers,  preached  during 
♦he  Commonwealth.  After  the  Restoration  the  inn  became 
celebrated  in  the  story  of  Quaker  persecutions :  it  was 
there  that  (August  26,  1662)  Ellwood  was  seized  and 
carried  to  Bridewell  atterwards  to  Newgate. 


26o  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

On  the  left  of  Aldersgate  Street,  the  branches  of  a  plane- 
tree  waving  over  a  small  Gothic  fountain  will  draw  attention 
to  the  Church  of  St.  Botolph,  Aldersgate,  of  1796,  which 
contains  the  monument  of  Dame  Anne  Packington,  sup- 
posed to  have  written  "The  Whole  Duty  of  Man."  A 
brotherhood  of  the  Holy  Trinity  was  attached  to  this 
church.  The  Palmer  in  John  Heywood's  "  Four  P's," 
describing  his  pilgrimages  in  different  parts  of  the  world, 
says  that  he  has  been — 

"  At  Saint  Botulphe  and  Saint  Anne  of  Buckstone, 

***** 
Praying  to  them  to  pray  for  me, 
Unto  the  blessed  Trinitie." 

Little  Britain  (commemorating  the  mansion  of  John,  Duke 
of  Bretagne  and  Earl  of  Richmond,  temp.  Edward  II.),  a 
tributary  of  Aldersgate  Street  on  the  left,  was  as  great  a 
centre  for  booksellers  in  the  reigns  of  the  Stuarts  as  Pater- 
noster Row  is  now.  It  is  the  place  where,  according  to 
Richardson,  the  Earl  of  Dorset  was  wandering  about  on  a 
book-hunt  in  1667,  when,  coming  upon  a  hitherto  unknown 
work  called  "  Paradise  Lost,"  and  dipping  into  it  here  and 
there,  he  admired  it  rather,  and  bought  it.  The  bookseller 
begged  him,  if  he  approved  of  it,  to  recommend  it,  as 
the  copies  lay  on  his  hands  as  so  much  waste  paper.  He 
took  it  home,  and  showed  it  to  Dryden,  who  said  at  once, 
"  This  man  cuts  us  all  out  and  the  ancients  too."  The 
street  has  still  much  of  the  character,  though  it  has  lost 
the  picturesqueness,  described  by  Washington  Irving. 

"  In  the  centre  of  the  great  City  of  London  lies  a  small  neigh- 
bourhood, consisting  of  a  cluster  of  narrow  streets  and  courts,  of 
veiy  venerable  and  debilitated  houses,  which  goes  by  name  of  Little 


SILVER   STREET.  301 

Britain.  Christ  Church  School  and  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital 
bound  it  on  the  west ;  Smithfield  and  Long  Lane  on  the  north  ; 
Aldersgate  Street,  like  an  arm  of  the  sea,  divides  it  from  the  eastern 
part  of  the  City  ;  whilst  the  yawning  gulf  of  Bull  and  Mouth  Street 
separates  it  from  Butcher's  Hall  Lane  and  the  regions  of  Newgate. 
Over  this  little  territory,  thus  bounded  and  designated,  the  great 
dome  of  St.  Paul's,  swelling  above  the  intervening  houses  of  Pater- 
noster Row,  Amen  Corner,  and  Ave  Maria  Lane,  looks  down  with  an 
air  of  motherly  protection 

"  This  quarter  derives  its  appellation  trom  having  been,  in  ancient 
times,  the  residence  of  the  Dukes  of  Brittany.  As  London  increased, 
however,  rank  and  fashion  moved  off  to  the  wesc,  ana  trade,  creeping 
on  at  their  heels,  took  possession  of  their  deserted  abodes.  For  some 
time  Little  Britain  became  the  great  mart  of  learning,  and  was  peopled 
by  the  busy  and  prolific  race  of  booksellers ;  these  also  gradually 
deserted  it,  and  emigrating  beyond  the  great  strait  of  Newgate  Street, 
settled  down  in  Paternostei  Row  and  St.  Paul's  Churchyard,  where 
they  continue  to  increase  and  multiply  even  at  the  present  day. 

"But  though  thus  fallen  into  decline,  Little  Britain  still  bears  traces 
of  its  former  splendour.  There  are  several  houses  ready  to  tumble 
down,  the  fronts  of  which  are  magnificently  enriched  with  oaken 
carvings  of  hideous  faces,  unknown  birds,  beasts,  and  fishes;  and  fruits 
and  flowers  which  it  would  puzzle  a  naturalist  to  classify.  There  are 
also,  in  Aldersgate  Street,  certain  remains  of  what  were  once  spacious 
and  lordly  family  mansions,  but  which  have  in  latter  days  been  sub- 
divided into  several  tenements.  Here  may  often  be  found  the  family  of 
a  petty  tradesman,  with  its  trumpery  furniture,  burrowing  amongst  the 
relics  of  antiquated  finery,  in  great  rambling  time-stained  apartments, 
with  fretted  ceilings,  gilded  cornices,  and  enormous  marble  fire-places. 
The  lanes  and  courts  also  contain  many  smaller  houses,  not  on  so 
grand  a  scale,  but,  like  your  small  gentry,  sturdily  maintaining  their 
claims  to  equal  antiquity.  These  have  their  gable  ends  to  the  street ; 
great  bow  windows,  with  diamond  panes  set  in  lead ;  grotesque  carvings, 
and  low-arched  doorways.*  Little  Britain  may  truly  be  called  the 
heart's  core  of  the  City  ;  the  stronghold  of  true  John  Bullism.  It  is  a 
fragment  of  London  as  it  was  in  its  better  days,  with  its  antiquated 
folks  and  fashions." — The  Sketch  Book. 

A  little  beyond,  on  the  right  of  Aldersgate,  Falcon  Street 
leads  into  Silver  Street,  which  contains  one  of  the  pretty  quiet 
breathing-places  bequeathed  by  the  Fire  to   the  City.     A 

•  There  are  still  such  houses  in  the  neighbouring  Cloth  Fair. 


262  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

stone  tells  "  This  was  the  parish  church  of  St.  Olavc,  Silver 
Street,  destroy'd  in  the  dreadfvll  fire  in  the  yeare,  1666." 
No.  24,  Silver  Street,  is  the  Hail  of  ihe  Parish  Clerks 
Company,  incorporated  1232.  Amongst  their  portraits  of 
benefactors  is  one  of  William  Roper,  son-in-law  of  Sir 
Thomas  More. 

On  the  left  of  Silver  Street  is  Monkwett  Street,  containing 
(left,  No.  33)  the  Barber- Surgeons'  Court-Room  (their  Hall  is 
destroyed,  and  their  Company  consists  neither  of  Barbers  nor 
Surgeons),  approached  by  an  old  porch  of  Charles  II.'s  time. 
Here  are  several  good  pictures — the  Countess  of  Richmond 
(with  a  lamb  and  an  olive-branch)  by  Sir  Peter  Lely ;  Inigo 
Jones  by  Vandyke;  and  a  grand  Holbeiyi  of  Henry  VIII. 
giving  a  charter  to  the  Barber-Surgeons.*  The  Company 
have  refused  offers  of  ,£12,000  for  this  picture  in  later 
years,  though  Pepys  somewhat  contemptuously  says — 

"  29th  Aug.  1668.  Harris  (the  actor)  and  I  to  the  Chyrurgeons' 
Hall,  where  they  are  building  it  now  very  fine  ;  and  thence  to  see  their 
theatre,  which  stood  all  the  Fire,  and  (which  was  our  business)  their 
great  picture  of  Holbein's,  thinking  to  have  bought  it,  by  the  help  of 
W.  Pierce,  for  a  little  money :  I  did  think  to  give  ^200  for  it,  it  being 
said  to  be  worth  ^1000 ;  but  it  is  so  spoiled  that  I  have  no  mind  to  it, 
and  it  is  not  a  pleasant,  though  a  good  picture." 

The  picture  is  a  noble  one  and  most  minutely  finished. 
even  to  the  details  of  the  ermine  on  the  king's  robe  and  the 
rings  on  his  fingers.  Henry,  seated  in  a  chair  of  state,  is 
giving  the  charter  to  Thomas  Vicary,  the  then  master,  who 
was  sergeant-surgeon  to  Henry  VIII.,  Edward  VI.,  Mary, 
and  Elizabeth,  and  is  said  to  have  written  the  earliest  work 

•  In  that  time  and  long  afterwards,  barbers  officiated  as  surgeons  in  bleeding, 
as  still  in  Italy.  The  well-known  staff  which  sticks  out  above  a  barber's  dcor 
commemorates  this,  as  it  was  customary  for  the  patient  about  to  be  bled  to  hold 
a  staff  at  full  length  to  keep  his  arm  upon  the  stretch  during  the  operation. 


BARBER-SURGEONS'   COURT-ROOM.  263 

on  anatomy  in  the  English  language.  The  thirteen  princi- 
pal members,  who  kneel  in  gowns  trimmed  with  fur,  bear 
their  names  on  their  shoulders.  The  three  on  the  right. 
Chamber,  Butts,  and  Alsop,  were  all  past  masters  of  the 
company,  at  the  time  of  the  giving  of  the  Charter.  Dr. 
John  Chamber  was  the  king's  chief  physician  and  Dean  of 
St.  Stephen's  College,  Westminster,  where  he  built  the 
cloister ;  Dr.  Butts,  also  physician  to  the  king,  had  been 
admitted  to  the  company  as  "  vir  gravis  j  eximia  literarum 
cognitione,  singulari  judicio,  summa  experientia,  et  prudenti 
consilio  Doctor  : "  his  conduct,  on  the  presumed  degrada- 
tion of  Cranmer,  is  nobly  pourtrayed  by  Shakspeare.  Dr. 
J.  Alsop  is  represented  with  lank  hair  and  uncovered.  Sir 
John  Aylifte,  who  kneels  on  the  left,  was  also  an  eminent 
surgeon,  and  had  been  sheriff  of  London  in  1548;  accord- 
ing to  the  inscription  on  his  monument  in  the  Church  of  St. 
Michael  Bassishaw,  he  was  "  called  to  court,"  by  Henry  the 
Eighth,  "  who  loved  him  dearly  well ; "  and  was  afterwards 
knighted  for  his  services  to  Edward  VI.  The  picture 
furnishes  an  example  of  the  beginning  of  a  change  of 
costume,  in  respect  to  shirts  :  the  wrists  of  Henry  being 
encircled  by  small  ruffles,  and  the  necks  of  several  of  the 
members  displaying  a  raised  collar.* 

A  curious  leather  screen  in  the  Court-Room  is  said  to 
commemorate  the  gratitude  of  a  man  who,  after  being  hung 
at  Tyburn,  was  discovered  to  be  still  living,  and  resuscitated 
by  the  efforts  of  the  Barber-Surgeons,  when  his  body  was 
brought  to  them  for  dissection.  Such  a  recovery  did  occur 
(November  1740)  in  the  case  of  William  Duel,  aged  17, 
who,  after  being  hanged  at  Tyburn  for  twenty-two  minutes, 

•  Sec  Allen's  "Hist,  of  London." 


264  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

recovered  in  the  Surgeons'  Hall,  just  as  he  was  about  to  be 
cut  up  by  the  anatomists. 

Amongst  the  plate  of  the  Company  is  a  very  curious 
cup,  made  by  ordei  of  Charles  II.,  and  presented  by  him, 
the  Master  at  the  time  being  Sir  Charles  Scarborough,  his 
chief  physician.  It  is  of  silver,  partially  gilt,  the  stem  and 
body  representing  the  oak  of  Boscobel,and  the  acorns  which 
hang  around  containing  little  bells,  which  ring  as  the  cup 
passes  from  hand  to  hand. 

Smollett,  who  painted  many  of  the  events  of  his  own  life 
in  Roderick  Random,  describes  his  appearance  at  Barber- 
Surgeons'  Hall  to  pass  his  examination  before  obtaining 
the  appointment  of  surgeon's  mate,  which  he  did  in  1741. 

Windsor  Place,  Monkwell  Street,  commemorates  the  town- 
house  of  the  Lords  Windsor.  The  modern  houses  on  the 
right  of  the  street  occupy  the  site  of  the  Hermitage  of  St. 
James-in-the-Wall,  a  cell  of  Quorndon  Abbey  in  Leicester- 
shire. At  the  Dissolution  it  was  granted  by  Henry  VIII. 
to  William  Lambe,  a  cloth  worker,  who  built  (c.  1540)  an 
interesting  chapel,  pulled  down  in  1874,  over  its  fine  old 
Norman  crypt,  of  which  a  portion  is  preserved  in  the 
garden  of  the  Clothworkers'  Hall  in  Mincing  Lane. 

Returning  to  Aldersgate  Street,  Westmoreland  Buildings, 
on  the  left,  mark  the  site  of  the  town-house  of  the  Nevils, 
Earls  of  Westmoreland.  On  the  right  of  the  street,  con- 
spicuous from  its  front  by  eight  pillars,  is  a  fine  old 
house  built  by  Inigo  Jones,  formerly  called  Thanet  House, 
from  the  Tuftons,  Earl  of  Thanet,  but  which  has  been 
known  as  Shaftesbury  House  since  it  was  inhabited  by  the 
first  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  Anthony  Ashley  Cooper,  the 
"  Achitophel  "  of  Dryden,  so  graphically  described  by  him. 


SHAFTESBURY  HOUSE. 


265 


"  For  close  designs,  and  crooked  counsels  fit, 
Sagacious,  bold,  and  turbulent  of  wit  ; 
Restless,  unfixed  in  principles  and  place, 
In  power  unpleased,  impatient  of  disgrace; 
A  fiery  soul,  which  working  out  its  way. 
Fretted  the  pigmy  body  to  decay, 
And  o'er-informed  the  tenement  of  clay. 
A  daring  pilot  in  extremity, 

Pleased  with  the  danger  when  the  waves  went  high, 
He  sought  the  storms  ;  but,  for  a  calm  unfit, 
Would  steer  too  nigh  the  sands  to  boast  his  wit." 


Shaftesbury  House,  Aldersgate. 


Lord  Shaftesbury  chose  this  house  as  a  residence  that  he 
might  the  better  influence  the  minds  of  the  citizens,  of  whom 
he  boasted  that  he  "could  raise  ten  thousand  brisk  boys  by 
the  holding  up  of  his  linger."  His  animosity  to  the  Duke  of 
York  obliged  his  retirement  in  16S3  to  Holland,  where  he 
died.  The  house,  as  Maitland  says,  is  "a  most  delightful 
fine  residence,  which  deserves  a  much  better  situation,  and 
greater  care  to  preserve  it  from  the  injuries  of  time." 

Close  by  was  Bacon  House,  the  private  residence  of  Sir 


266 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


Nicholas,  father  of  the  great  Lord  Bacon — the  fat  old  man 
of  whom  Queen  Elizabeth  used  to  say  "  my  Lord  Keeper's 
soul  is  well  lodged,"  and  of  whom  so  many  witticisms  are 
remembered,  especially  his  reply  to  the  thief  Hogg,  who 
claimed  his  mercy  on  plea  of  kindred  between  the  Hoggs 
and  the  Bacons,  "  Ah,  you  and  I  cannot  be  kin  until  you 
have  been  hanged." 

Opposite  Shaftesbury  House  was  London  House,  which, 
being  at  one  time  the  residence  of  the  Bishops  of  London, 
was  the  place  to  which  the  Princess  Anne  fled  in  the  revolu- 
tion of  1688.  An  old  house  with  the  low  gables  and  pro- 
jecting windows  which  stood  near  it,  and  which  still  exists, 
is  called,  without  reason,  "  Shakspeare's  House,"  but,  as 
the  "  Half  Moon  Tavern,"  it  was  a  well-known  resort  of  the 
wits  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Much  curious  carving,  seen 
in  prints  of  this  old  building,  is  now  destroyed.  Lauder- 
dale House,  at  the  end  of  Hare  Court  (right),  was  the 
residence  of  John  Maitland,  Duke  of  Lauderdale,  intro- 
duced in  "  Old  Mortality." 

Aldersgate  Street  leads  into  Goswcll  (Godes-well)  Road, 
to  the  right  of  which  Old  Street  leads  eastwards. 

"  The  oldest  way  in  or  about  London  is  perhaps  that  which  beare 
the  names  of  Old  Street,  Old  Street  Road,  and  (further  eastward)  the 
Roman  Road,  leading  to  Old  Ford ;  probably  a  British  way  and  ford 
over  the  Lea,  and  older  than  London  itself— forming  the  original  com- 
munication between  the  eastern  and  western  counties  north  of  the 
Thames." — Archcsologia,  xli. 

The  whole  of  this  neighbourhood  teems  with  associations 
of  Milton,  who  lived  in  "  a  pretty  garden  house  "  in  Aiders- 
gate  Street  after  his  removal  from  St.  Bride's  Churchyard. 
In  166 1  he  went  to  live  in  Jewin  Street  {on  the  right  of 
Aldersgate,  formerly  the  Jews'  Garden  and  the  only  place 


JEWIN  STREET. 


267 


where  Jews  had  a  right  to  bury  before  the  reign  of  Henry 
II.).  It  was  here  that  Milton,  who  hail  already  been  blind 
for  ten  years,  married  his  third  wife,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Sir  Edward  Minshul,  of  a  Cheshire  family,  in  1664,  the  year 
before  the  Plague. 


"  Shakspeare's  House,"  Aldersgate. 


Here,  in  his  blindness,  he  gave  instruction  by  car  to 
Ellwood  the  Quaker  in  the  foreign  pronunciation  of  Latin, 
which  he  aptly  said  was  the  only  way  in  which  he  could 
benefit  by  Latin  in  conversation  with  foreigners.  It  was 
this  Ellwood  who,  when  the  Plague  broke  out  in  1665,  gave 
Milton  the  cottage-refuge  at  Chalfont  St.  Giles,  in  which  he 


2G8 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


wrote  his  "  Paradise  Regained."  He  returned  to  London 
to  reside  in  Bunhill  Fields  in  1666,  and  there,  on  Nov.  8, 
1674,  he  died,  and  was  attended  to  the  grave,  says  Toland 
(1698),  by  "all  his  learned  and  great  friends  in  London, 
not  without  a  friendly  concourse  of  the  vulgar." 

Jewin  Street  leads  into  Cripplegatc,  so  called,  says  Mait- 


Redcross  Street. 


land,  "  from  the  cripples  who  begged  there."  The  gate  of 
the  City  here  was  of  great  antiquity,  for  the  body  of  St. 
Edmund  the  Martyr  was  carried  through  it  in  1010  from 
Bury  St.  Edmunds,  to  save  it  from  the  Danes,  and,  accord- 
ing to  Lidgate,  the  monk  of  Bury,  it  worked  great  miracles 
beneath  it.  Here,  as  we  stand  in  Redcross  Street  (so  called 
from  a  cross  which  once   stood  in  Beech  Lane),  we  see 


ST.    GILES,    CRIPPLEGATE.  269 

rising  above  a  range  of  quaint  old  houses  built  in  1660, 
and  so  displaying  tne  architecture  in  fashion  just  before 
the  Great  Fire,  the  tower  of  St.  Giles,  the  church  of  the 
hermit  of  the  Rhone,  who  was  the  especial  saint  of  cripples 
and  lepers.  Its  characteristics  cannot  be  better  described 
than  in  the  words  of  the  author  of  "The  Hand  of 
Ethelberta"— 

"  Turning  into  Redcross  Street  they  beheld  the  bold  shape  of  the 
tower  they  sought,  clothed  in  every  neutral  shade,  standing  clear 
against  the  sky,  dusky  and  grim  in  its  upper  stage,  and  hoary  grey 
below,  where  every  corner  of  stone  was  completely  rounded  off  by  the 
waves  of  wind  and  storm.  All  people  were  busy  here  :  our  visitors 
seemed  to  be  the  only  idle  persons  the  city  contained  ;  and  there  was 
no  dissonance — there  never  is— between  antiquity  and  such  beehive 
industry ;  for  pure  industry,  in  failing  to  observe  its  own  existence  and 
aspect,  partakes  of  the  unobtrusive  nature  of  material  things.  This 
intramural  stir  was  a  fly-wheel  transparent  by  infinite  motion,  through 
which  Milton  and  his  day  could  be  seen  as  if  nothing  intervened. 
Had  there  been  ostensibly  harmonious  accessories,  a  crowd  of  observing 
people  in  search  of  the  poetical,  conscious  of  the  place  and  the  scene, 
what  a  discord  would  have  arisen  there." 

The  church,  which  is  celebrated  for  the  burial  of  Mil- 
ton and  the  marriage  of  Cromwell,  has  been  grievously 
mauled  and  besmeared  with  blue  and  white  paint  inter- 
nally. A  foolish  Gothic  canopy  with  tawdry  alabaster 
columns  has  been  raised  over  the  fine  bust  of  Milton 
by  Bacon,  placed  here  in  1793  by  Mr.  Whitbread.  The 
poet  was  buried  in  1674  in  the  grave  of  his  father  {pb. 
1646),  "an  ingenuous  man,"  says  Aubrey,  "who  delighted 
in  music."  The  parish  books  say  that  Milton  died  "  of  con- 
sumption, fourteen  years  after  the  blessed  Restoration."  In 
1790  his  bones  were  disinterred,  his  hair  torn  off,  and  his 
teeth  knocked  out  and  carried  off  by  the  churchwardens, 
alter  which,  tor  many  years,   Elizabeth  Grant,  the  female 


270  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

grave-digger,  used  to  keep  a  candle  and  exhibit  the  muti- 
lated skeleton  at  twopence  and  threepence  a  head.  This 
sacrilege  led  to  Cooper's  lines — 

"  111  fare  the  hands  that  heaved  the  stones 
Where  Milton's  ashes  lay, 
That  trembled  not  to  grasp  his  bones, 
And  steal  his  dust  away. 

♦'  O,  ill-requited  bard  !  neglect 
Thy  living  worth  repaid, 
And  blind  idolatrous  respect 
As  much  affronts  the  dead  !  " 

"  Whoever  has  any  true  taste  and  genius,  we  are  confident,  will 
esteem  '  Paradise  Lost '  the  best  of  all  modern  productions,  and  the 
Scriptures  the  best  of  all  ancient  ones." — Bishop  Newton. 

On  the  south  wall  is  an  interesting  bust  to  Speed,  the 
topographer,  1629 ;  and,  near  the  west  door,  the  slab  tomb 
of  Foxe  the  martyrologist,  1587.  On  the  north  wall  are  the 
tombs  of  the  daughter  and  granddaughter  of  Shakspeare's 
Sir  Thomas  Lucy.  The  latter  is  represented  rising  in  her 
shroud  from  her  tomb  at  the  resurrection,  which  has  given 
rise  to  a  tradition  that  she  was  buried  alive  and  roused  from 
her  trance  by  the  sexton,  who  opened  her  coffin  to  steal 
one  of  her  rings.  The  parish  register  records  the  marriage 
of  Oliver  Cromwell  and  Elizabeth  Bowchier,  August  20, 
1620. 

In  the  sunny  Churchyard  of  St.  Giles  is  a  well-pre- 
served bastion  of  the  City  Wall  of  Edward  IV.'s  time. 
The  lower  portion  is  formed  of  rude  stones  and  tiles,  the 
upper  of  courses  of  flint  laid  in  cement.  The  battlements 
of  the  old  wall  adjoining  were  removed  in  1803  and  a 
stupid  brick  wall  erected  in  their  place  "at  the  expense  of 
the  parish." 


ST.    GILES,    CRIPPLEGATE.  271 

The  bells  of  St.  Giles's  are  celebrated,  and 

"  Oh,  what  a  preacher  is  the  time-worn  tower, 
Reading  great  sermons  with  its  iron  tongue." 

Not  far    from    the   church   was    Crowder's   Well    (com- 


fa 


:,. '", 


1?.  I'ii'i W  ':■-. 

1'  .  j/%  ii«-£v*r>A*  , 


St.  Giles,  Cripplegate. 


memorated  in  Well  Street),  of  which  we  read  in  Childrey's 
"Britannia  Caconica"  (1661)  that  its  waters  had  "a  pleasant 
taste  like- that  of  new  milk,"  and  were  "very  good  for  sore 
eyes /'moreover  that  there  was  "an  ancient  man  who  when- 
ever he  was  sick  would  drink  plenteously  of  this  Crowder's 
Well  water,  and  was  presently  made  well,  and  whenever  he 


272  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

was  overcome  of  drink,  he  would  drink  of  this  water,  which 
would  presently  make  him  sober  " ! 

The  curious  "  Williams  Library,"  founded  in  Redcross 
Street  by  Dr.  Daniel  Williams,  the  dissenting  divine  (1644 — 
1 7 16),  which  contained  an  original  portrait  of  Baxter,  was 
pulled  down  in  1857.  Its  books  (20,000  volumes)  are  now 
at  Somerset  House. 

Redcross  Street  leads  into  Golden  (Golding)  Lane,  where 
the  name  of  Play  House  Yard  on  the  right,  connecting  this 
with  Whitecross  Street,  is  a  memorial  of  the  ancient 
"  Fortune  Theatre  "  erected  in  1599  on  that  site:  it  was 
last  used  in  the  time  of  Charles  II.  This  theatre  is  con- 
sidered by  some  to  have  been  "  The  Fortune  "  by  which 
Edward  Alleyne,  the  founder  of  Dulwich  College,  made  his 
wealth,  having  been  the  son  of  the  innkeeper  of  "  the  Pye  " 
in  Bishopsgate  Street  :  others  identify  it  with  Killigrew's 
playhouse  called  "  The  Nursery,"  which  was  intended  as  a 
school  for  young  actors.  Pepys  records  his  visit  to  the 
theatre  by  saying,  "  I  found  the  musique  better  that  we 
looked  for,  and  the  acting  not  much  worse,  because  I 
expected  as  bad  as  could  be." 

On  the  left  is  Barbican,  so  called  from  a  watch-tower  on 
the  city-wall — 

"A  watch-tower  once,  but  now,  so  fate  ordains, 
Of  all  the  pile  an  empty  name  remains." 

Dryden. 

Here  Milton  lived  1646 — 7,  and  here  he  wrote  "  Comus," 
"  Lycidas,"  "  L' Allegro,"  and  "  II  Penseroso."  In  Beech- 
land,  by  Barbican,  was  thi  palace  of  Prince  Rupert.  It 
was  in  these  narrow  streets  of  Cripplegate  that  the  Plague 
raged  worst  of  all. 


GRUB  STREET.  273 

On  the  left  of  Fore  Street  is  Milton  Street,  formerly  the 
notorious  Grub  Street,  well  known  as  the  abode  of  small 
authors,  who,  writers  of  trashy  pamphlets  and  broadsides, 
became  the  butts  for  the  wits  of  their  time  :  thus  Grub 
Street  appears  in  the  "  Dunciad  " — 

"  Not  with  less  glory  mighty  Dullness  crown'd, 
Shall  take  through  Grub  Street  her  triumphant  round, 
And  her  Parnassus  glancing  o'er  at  once, 
Behold  a  hundred  sons,  and  each  a  dunce." 

"  Pope's  answers  are  so  sharp,  and  his  slaughter  so  wholesale,  that 
the  reader's  sympathies  are  often  enlisted  on  the  side  of  the  devoted 
inhabitants  of  Grub  Street.  He  it  was  who  brought  the  notion  of  a 
vile  Grub  Street  before  the  minds  of  the  general  public ;  he  it  was  who 
created  such  associations  as  author  and  rags— author  and  dirt — 
author  and  gin.  The  occupation  of  authorship  became  ignoble 
through  his  graphic  description  of  misery,  and  the  literary  profession 
was  for  a  long  time  destroyed." — Thackeray. 

The  name  "  Grub  Street,"  as  opprobrious,  seems,  how- 
ever, to  have  been  first  applied  by  their  opponents  to  the 
writings  of  Foxe  the  Martyrologist,  who  resided  in  the 
street,  as  did  John  Speed  the  Historian.  Oddly  enough, 
in  this  neighbourhood  full  of  memories  of  him,  the  modern 
name  of  the  street  is  not  derived  from  the  poet,  but  from 
Milton  a  builder.  In  .Sweedon's  Passage,  opening  out  of 
this  street,  was  a  curious  old  building  called  Gresham 
House,  pulled  down  in  1805  ;  it  was  shown  as  the  house 
of  Sir  Richard  ("Dick")  Whittington  in  the  reign  of  Henry 
IV.,  and  of  Sir  Thomas  Gresham  in  that  of  Elizabeth. 

Returning  a  few  steps,  Cripplegate  Buildings  lead  into 
the  street  called  London  Wall,  opposite  the  picturesque 
modern  Hall  of  the  Curriers  Company,  which  recalls  the  old 
buildings  of  Innsbruck,  and  is  decorated  with  the  banner- 
bearing  stags,  which  are  the  crest  of  the  Company. 

vol.  1.  T 


274 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


Close  by,  with  a  fine  old  brick  and  stone  front  towards 
Philip  Lane,  is  Sion  College,  founded  163 1  by  Dr.  Thomas 
White,  vicar  of  St.  Dunstan's  in  the  West,  for  the  use  of  the 
London  clergy — "  where  expectants  may  lodge  till  they  are 
provided  with  houses  in  the  several  parishes  in  which  they 


Sion  College. 


serve  cure."*  The  story  of  the  Good  Samaritan  is  repre- 
sented on  its  seal.  The  college  has  a  chapel,  library,  and 
hospital  attached  to  it.  Half  of  the  library  was  consumed 
in  the  Great  Fire.  Fuller  resided  in  the  quiet  courts  of 
Sion  College  while  he  was  writing  his  "  Church  History." 

•  Defoe,  "Journey  through  England,"  1722. 


LONDON  WALL.  j75 

The  neighbouring  Church  of  St.  Alphege,  London  Wall 
(dedicated  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  murdered  by 
the  Danes  in  1014),  might  easily  escape  observation.  Its 
towei  belonged  to  an  earlier  church,  St.  Mary  Elsing  Spittal, 
founded  in  1532,  of  which  the  Early  English  doorway  is  3 
relic.  The  interior,  rebuilt  1777,  is  little  better  than  a 
square  room,  but  on  its  north  wall  is  preserved  the  hand- 
some Corinthian  monument  of  Sir  Rowland  Hayward 
(1593),  twice  Lord  Mayor,  and  at  his  death  "the  antientest 
alderman  of  the  city."  He  kneels  under  the  central  niche, 
on  a  red  cushion,  facing  the  spectators,  and  at  the  sides  are 
his  two  wives  and  the  eight  "  happy  children  "  of  each. 

Opposite  St.  Alphege,  a  fragment  of  its  Churchyard  is 
preserved  (in  a  garden  formed  1872)  for  the  sake  of  the  fine 
fragment  of  the  old  London  Wall  which  it  contains. 

Aldermanbury  Postern  was  a  small  gate  in  the  Wall  close 
to  this,  which  led  into  Finsbury  Fields,  much  frequented  by 
the  Londoners  in  summer  evenings. 

On  the  right  is  the  opening  of  New  Basinghall  Street, 
named  (with  Bassishaw  Ward)  from  the  Basings,  who 
lived  hard  by  in  Blackwell  Hall,  from  the  reign  of  John  to 
that  of  Edward  III.  Here,  in  a  quiet  court,  is  the  Church 
of  S.  Michael  Bassishaw  (Basings  haugh),  one  of  Wren's 
worst  rebuildings.  It  contains  the  tomb  of  Dr.  T.  Wharton, 
remarkable  for  his  devotion  to  the  sufferers  in  the  great 
Plague  of  1665.  In  the  old  church,  destroyed  in  the  Fire, 
Sir  John  Gresham,  Lord  Mayor  in  1547,  uncle  of  Sir 
Thomas,  was  buried  with  solemnities  like  those  which  still 
attend  the  funerals  of  the  Roman  princes. 

"  He  was  buried  with  a  standard  and  pennon  of  arms,  and  a  coat  of 
armour  of  damask,  and  four  pennons  of  arms;    besides  a  helmet,  a 


276  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

target,  and  a  sword,  mantles  and  the  crest,  a  goodly  hearse  of  wax,  ten 
dozen  of  pensils,  and  twelve  dozen  of  escutcheons.  He  had  four 
dozen  of  great  staff  torches,  and  a  dozen  of  great  long  torches.  The 
church  and  street  were  all  hung  with  black,  and  arms  in  great  store  ; 
and  on  the  morrow  three  goodly  masses  were  sung." — Stow. 

The  last  State  Lottery  in  England  was  held  at  Cooper's 
Hall  in  Basinghall  Street,  Oct.  18,  1826. 

Farther  down  London  Wall,  on  the  right,  at  the  entrance 
of  Throgmorton  Avenue,  is  the  Ball  of  the  Carpenters  Com- 
pany, erected  1877  from  designs  of  G.  Poeock.  Many  will 
remember  with  bitter  regret  the  noble  old  building  which 
was  destroyed  when  this  was  built — the  staircase  and  vesti- 
bule adorned  with  exquisite  medallions  from  designs  of 
Bacon  ;  and  the  hall,  so  picturesque  without,  and  so  full 
of  glorious  oak  carving  within — one  of  the  best  of  the  build- 
ings which  survived  the  Fire.  On  its  western  wall  were 
frescoes  illustrative  of  the  carpenter's  art,  which  had  been 
white-washed  in  Puritan  times  and  re-discovered  in  1845, 
viz.  : — 

Noah  receiving  the  instructions  of  the  Almighty  as  to  building  the 
Ark. 

Josiah  repairing  the  Temple  (his  workmen  in  the  costume  of 
Henry  VIII.). 

Our  Lord  gathering  chips  in  the  workshop  of  Joseph,  who  was  repre- 
sented at  work,  with  the  Virgin  spinning  by  his  side. 

The  Teaching  of  the  child  Jesus  in  the  Synagogue.  "  Is  not  this 
the  carpenter's  son  ?  " 

The  first  Hall,  built  "  by  citizens  and  carpenters  of 
London,"  was  erected  in  1428  on  land  leased  in  this  nemh- 
bourhood  from  the  Priory  of  St.  Mary  Spittal. 

Passing  the  ugly  Church  of  Allhallows  in  the  Wall,  built 
in  1765,  containing  an  altar-piece  by  Dance,  we  may  enter 
Broad  Street  and  turn  to  the  right. 


AUSTIN  FRIARS. 


*Vi 


Where  Broad  Street  falls  into  Throgmorton  Street  a  gate- 
way on  the  right  leads  into  the  quiet  courts  of  Austin 
Friars,  occupying  the  site  of  a  famous  Augustinian  con- 
vent founded  in  1243  by  Humphrey  de  Bohun,  Earl  of 
Herelord  and  Essex.     At  the.  Dissolution  it  was  granted  by 


In  Austin  Friars. 


Henry  VIII.  to  William  Paulet,  first  Marquis  of  Winchester  ; 
but  the  church,  which  was  retained  for  the  king,  was  granted 
by  Edward  VI.  "to  the  Dutch  nation  in  London  to  have 
their  service  in  (as  he  says  in  his  journal  of  June  29,  1550)) 
for  avoiding  of  all  sects  of  Ana- Baptists,  and  such  like." 
The  Dutch  still  own  the  building,  which  has  some  handsome 


27$  WALKS   IN   LONDON. 

Decorated  windows.  The  tombs  in  this  church — once  like 
a  cathedral,  the  present  edifice  being  only  part  of  the  ancient 
nave — were  amongst  the  most  magnificent  in  London — and 
it  still  contains  the  remains  of  a  vast  number  of  eminent 
persons,  including  Richard  Fitz  Alan,  Earl  of  Surrey,  be- 
headed in  1397  by  Richard  II.  for  joining  the  league 
against  Vere  and  De  la  Pole  ;  Humphrey  de  Bohun,  god- 
father of  Edward  I.,  who  fought  in  the  Battle  of  Evesham  ; 
Hubert  de  Burgh,  Earl  of  Kent,  who  was  so  powerful  in 
the  reigns  of  John  and  Henry  III. ;  Edward,  eldest  son  of 
the  Black  Prince  and  of  the  Fair  Maid  of  Kent,  who  died 
in  his  seventh  year,  1375;  trie  10th  Earl  of  Arundel, 
executed  at  Cheapside  in  1397  ;  John  de  Vere,  12th  Earl 
of  Oxford,  beheaded  on  Tower  Hill  in  1461  ;  the  barons 
who  fell  in  the  Battle  of  Barnet,  buried  together  in  the  body 
of  the  church  in  1471  ;  William,  Lord  Berkeley  (1492),  and 
his  wife  Joan  •  and  Edward  Bohun,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  be- 
headed in  1521,  through  the  jealousy  of  Cardinal  Wolsey, — 
of  whose  death  Charles  V.  said  that  "  a  Butcher's  son 
(Wolsey)  had  devoured  the  fairest  buck  in  all  England." 
It  will  scarcely  be  believed  that  the  monuments  of  all  these 
illustrious  dead  were  sold  by  the  second  Marquis  of  Win- 
chester for  ;£ioo!  The  monastery  had  been  granted  by 
Henry  VIII.  to  the  first  Marquis,  who  is  celebrated  as 
having  lived  under  nine  sovereigns,  and  who,  when  asked 
in  his  old  age  how  he  had  contrived  to  get  on  so  well  with 
them  all,  said  "  by  being  a  willow  and  not  an  oak."  He 
was  the  builder  of  Winchester  House  in  Austin  Friars, 
which  was  sold  to  a  city  merchant  by  the  4th  Marquis,  but 
only  pulled  down  in  1S39.  In  this  house  the  famous  Anne 
Clifford,   who    "knew  everything  from   predestination   to 


GREAT  WINCHESTER  STREET.  279 


slane  silk,"*  married  her  first  husband,  Richard,  Earl  of 
Dorset,  February  25,  1608 — 9.  Winchester  House  is  com- 
memorated in  Great  Winchester  Street,  which  till  lately  con- 
tained more  ancient  houses  than  almost  any  street  in 
London.  Now  many  of  them  are  rebuilt,  but  the  street  has 
an  old-world  look,  and  ends  in  a  quiet  court  surrounded 
with  ancient  brick  houses,  with  a  broad  stone  staircase 
leading  to  the  principal  doorway.  The  Hall  of  the  Pinners 
Company  is  in  this  street. 

Turning  to  the  right  from  the  gate  of  Austin  Friars,  we 
find  ourselves  at  the  western  front  of  the  Royal  Exchange, 
before  which  is  the  seated  Statue  of  George  Feabody  by  W. 
Story. 

*  lit.  Doan*. 


CHAPTER  VIIL 
BISHOPSGATE. 

RETURNING  to  the  Royal  Exchange,  we  must  follow 
Threadneedlt  Street,  properly  Three-Needle  Street, 
which  belongs  to  the  Merchant  Tailors.  On  the  right, 
concealed  by  a  row  of  houses  (for  which  an  annual  rent  of 
^3  per  foot  is  paid),  is  the  Hall  of  the  Merchant  Tailors 
Company,  which  was  incorporated  in  1466.  It  was  built 
after  the  great  Fire  by  the  city  architect  Jarmin,  and  sur- 
rounds a  courtyard.  It  can  only  be  visited  by  a  special 
order  from  the  Master  or  Clerk  of  the  Company.  The 
Hall  is  a  noble  chamber  (90  feet  by  48),  rich  in  stained 
glass  and  surrounded  by  the  arms  of  the  members.  At  the 
end  are  the  arms  of  the  Company — the  Lamb  of  their  patron 
St.  John  Baptist,  and  a  pavilion  between  two  royal  mantles, 
with  camels  as  supporters.  A  corridor  beyond  the  Hall  has 
stained  glass  windows  which  commemorate  a  quarrel  for 
precedence  between  the  Merchant  Tailors  and  Skinners 
Companies  in  T484 — 5.  The  Lord  Mayor  (Sir  R.  Belesdon) 
was  called  upon  to  decide  it,  and  ordained  that  the  Com- 
panies should  have  precedence  by  alternate  years :  and  in 
commemoration  of  their  peace  the  Skinners  Company  dines 


THE  MERCHANT  TAILORS'   HALL.  281 

with  its  rival  every  year  in  July,  when  the  Master  of  the 
Merchant  Tailors  proposes  the  toast — ■ 

"  Skinners  and  Merchant  Tailors, 
Merchant  Tailors  and  Skinners, 
Root  and  branch  may  they  flourish 
For  ever  and  eve ;" 

and  in  August  the  Skinners  return  the  hospitality,  giving 
the  same  toast  and  reversing  the  order  in  which  the  Com- 
panies are  named. 

The  Court  Dining-Room  contains — 

George  III.  and  Queen  Charlotte — copies  of  pictures  at  Hatfield  by 
Sir  T.  Lawrence. 

George  Bristow,  clerk  of  the  Company — Opie. 
George  North,  clerk — Hudson. 
Samuel  Fiske — Richmond. 

A  noble  staircase,  the  walls  of  which  bear  portraits  of  former 
masters,  leads  to  the  Picture  Gallery,  containing — 

Charles  I. — School  of  Vandyke. 

Duke  of  "Wellington— Sir  D.  Wilkie. 

Lord  Chancellor  Eldon  with  his  favourite  dog — Pickersgill. 

Duke  of  York — Sir  Thomas  Lawrence. 

♦Henry  VIII. — Paris  Bordone. 

William  Pitt— Hoppner. 


)  Sir  G.  Kneller. 


The  Drawing-Room  contains — 

Charles  II. 
James  II. 
William  III.  ">   „ 
Mary  II.         )M«rray. 

In  the  Court  Business  Room  are — 

Sir  Thomas  White,  1561,  Founder  of  St.  John's  College  at  Oxford, 
said  to  have  been  painted,  after  his  death,  from  his  sister  who  was 
exactly  like  him. 

Sir  Thomas  Row.     1562. 

Sir  Abraham  Reynardson,  Lord  Mayor,  1640. 


2»2  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

In  the  Kitchen  eighteen  haunches  of  venison  can  be 
cooked  at  once  and  are  cooked  for  the  great  dinner  on  the 
first  Wednesday  in  July.  A  small  but  beautiful  vaulted 
Crypt  is  a  relic  of  the  Hall  destroyed  in  the  great  Fire. 
The  magnificent  collection  of  plate  includes  some  curious 
Irish  tankards  of  1683,  and  the  silver  measure  by  which  the 
Merchant  Tailors  had  the  right  to  test  the  goods  in  Bar- 
tholomew Fair. 

On  the  north  of  Threadneedle  Street  was  the  South  Sea 
House,  rendered  famous  by  the  "  bubble  "  of  1720.  Thread- 
needle  Street  falls  into  the  picturesque  and  irregular  Bishops- 
gate  Street,  which,  having  escaped  the  great  Fire,  is.  full  of 
quaint  buildings  with  high  roofs  and  projecting  windows, 
and  is  rich  in  several  really  valuable  memorials  of  the  past. 

The  most  interesting  of  the  remaining  houses  is  one 
which  we  see  on  the  right  immediately  after  entering  Bishops- 
gate —  Crosby  Hall,  with  a  late  lath  and  plaster  front  towards 
the  street,  but  altogether  the  most  beautiful  specimen  of 
domestic  architecture  remaining  in  London,  and  one  of  the 
finest  examples  of  the  15th  century  in  England. 

Sir  John  Crosby,  "  Grocer  and  Woolman,"  was  an  Alder- 
man, who  represented  the  City  of  London  in  1461.  In 
147 1  he  was  knighted  by  Edward  IV.  He  obtained  a  lease 
of  this  property  for  ninety-nine  years  from  Alice  Ashfield, 
Prioress  of  St.  Helens,  and  built  "  this  house  of  stone  and 
timber,  very  large  and  beautiful,  and  the  highest,"  says  Stow, 
"  at  that  time  in  London."  But  he  died  in  1475  ;  so  that 
he  only  enjoyed  his  palace  for  a  short  time. 

It  was  here,  says  Sir  Thomas  More,  that  Richard,  Duke 
of  Gloucester,  i'  lodged  himself,  and  little  by  little  all  folks 
drew  unto  him,  so  that  the  Protector's  court  was  crowded 


CROSBY  HALL.  283 

and  King  Edward's  left  desolate,"  and  it  was  in  the  hall 
which  we  now  see  that  he  planned  the  deposition,  most 
probably  the  death,  of  his  nephew.  Shakspeare  knew 
Crosby  Hall  well,  for  we  know  from  the  parish  assessments 
that  he  was  residing  in  1598  in  St.  Helens,  where,  from  the 
sum  levied,  he  must  have  inhabited  a  house  of  importance. 
He  introduces  Crosby  Hall  as  the  place  where  Richard 
induced  Anne  of.  Warwick  to  await  his  return  from  the 
funeral  of  her  father-in-iaw,  the  murdered  Henry  VI.,  and 
he  otherwise  twice  mentions  it  in  his  play  of  Richard  III., 
to  which  fact  it  is  probable  that  we  owe  the  preservation  of 
the  grand  old  house,  amongst  the  vicissitudes  which  have 
attended  other  historical  buildings. 

Sir  Thomas  More  lived  here  for  some  years  ;  and  here, 
without  doubt,  wrote  his  Life  of  Richard  III.  In  1523  he 
sold  it  to  the  man  whom  he  himself  describes  as  his 
"dearest  friend,"  Antonio  Bonvisi,  an  Italian  merchant  of 
Lucca,  who  was  settled  in  London.  It  was  to  this  Bonvisi 
that  he  wrote  a  last  touching  letter  with  charcoal  from  the 
Tower,  and,  on  the  morning  of  his  execution,  the  dress  he 
put  on  was  the  "  silk  camlet  gown  given  him  by  his  entire 
good  friend  M.  Antonio  Bonvisi."  It  would  seem  that 
after  Sir  Thomas  More's  execution  his  devoted  daughter 
Margaret  longed  to  return  to  a  place  so  much  connected 
with  her  father's  sacred  life,  and  in  1547  Bonvisi  leased 
Crosby  Hall  to  More's  son-in-law,  William  Roper,  and  to 
his  nephew,  William  Rastell,  who  was  an  eminent  printer. 
By  the  religious  persecutions  under  Edward  VI.,  Bonvisi, 
Roper,  and  Rastell  were  all  obliged  to  go  abroad,  but  they 
returned  under  Mary.  The  next  proprietor  of  the  house 
was  Alderman  Bond,  who  added  a   turret  to  it,  and  died 


284  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

here  in  1576.  The  rich  Mayor  of  London,  Sir  John 
Spencer,  bought  Crosby  Place  in  1594,  and  during  his  occu- 
pation M.  de  Rosny,  afterwards  Due  de  Sully,  the  minister 
of  Henry  IV.,  was  received  here  as  ambassador,  when  he 
came  over  to  persuade  James  I.  to  preserve  the  league 
which  had  existed  between  Elizabeth,  Fiance,  and  the 
Hollanders,  and  not  to  make  war  with  Catholic  Spain.  In 
his  Memoirs  he  gives  a  curious  account  of  a  scene  which 
occurred  here  in  the  great  hall  during  his  visit.  Previous 
ambassadors  had  brought  great  disrepute  upon  their  country 
through  the  excesses  committed  in  London  by  members  of 
their  suite,  and  of  these  he  was  determined  to  prevent  a 
recurrence.  To  his  horror,  upon  the  very  evening  of  his 
arrival,  he  discovered  that  one  of  his  attendants,  going  out 
to  amuse  himself,  had  murdered  an  English  merchant  in  a 
brawl  in  Great  St.  Helen's.  He  immediately  made  the 
whole  of  his  companions  and  servants  range  themselves 
against  the  wall ;  and  taking  a  lighted  flambeau,  he  walked 
up  to  each  in  turn,  and,  throwing  the  light  full  upon  them, 
scrutinised  their  faces.  By  his  trembling  and  his  livid  pale- 
ness it  was  soon  disclosed  that  a  noble  young  gentleman, 
son  of  the  Sieur  de  Combaut,  was  the  culprit.  He  was 
related  to  the  French  Ambassador  M.  de  Beaumont,  who 
demanded,  urged,  and  entreated  his  pardon,  but  in  vain. 
Sully  declared  that  Combaut  should  be  beheaded  in  a  few 
minutes.  He  was  finally  induced  to  give  him  up  to  the 
Mayor,  who  saved  his  life  ;  but  his  severity,  says  Sully,  had 
this  consequence,  that  "  the  English  began  to  love,  and  the 
French  to  fear  him  more." 

Sir  John  Spencer,   having  but  a   poor   opinion  of  the 
Compton  family  in  that  day,  positively  forbade   the   nrsl 


CROSBY  HALL.  285 

Earl  of  Northampton  to  pay  his  addresses  to  his  daughter, 
who  was  the  greatest  heiress  in  England.  One  day,  at  the 
foot  of  the  staircase,  Sir  John  met  the  baker's  boy  with  his 
covered  barrow,  and,  being  pleased  at  his  having  come 
punctually  when  he  was  ordered,  he  gave  him  sixpence;  but 
the  baker's  boy  was  Lord  Northampton  in  disguise,  and  in 
the  covered  barrow  he  was  carrying  off  the  beautiful 
Elizabeth  Spencer.  When  he  found  how  he  had  been 
duped,  Sir  John  swore  that  Lord  Northampton  had  seen 
the  only  sixpence  of  his  money  he  should  ever  receive,  and 
refused  to  be  reconciled  to  his  daughter.  But  the  next 
year  Queen  Elizabeth,  having  expressed  to  Sir  John  Spencer 
the  sympathy  which  she  felt  with  his  sentiments  upon  the 
ingratitude  of  his  child,  invited  him  to  come  and  be  "gossip" 
with  her  to  a  newly-born  baby  in  which  she  was  much 
interested,  and  he  could  not  refuse  ;  and  it  is  easy  to  imagine 
whose  that  baby  was.  So  the  Spencer  property  came  to 
the  Comptons  after'  all,  and  an  immense  inheritance  it  has 
been,  and  Lord  Northampton  lived  to  erect  the  magnificent 
tomb  to  his  "  well-deserving  father-in-law,"  where  the  dis- 
obedient daughter,  in  everlasting  contrition  for  her  fault, 
may  be  seen  kneeling,  in  a  tremendous  hoop,  at  her  father's 
feet. 

The  rich  wife  continued  to  live  frequently  in  Crosby  Place, 
and  was  rather  an  expensive  wife  to  her  husband,  especially 
considering  the  value  of  money  at  that  time,  as  may  be 
judged  from  the  following  letter  written  soon  after  her 
marriage.  It  seems  worth  giving  as  characteristic  of  the 
people,  the  place,  and  the  times. 

"  My  sweet  Life.  Now  I  have  declared  to  you  my  mind  for  the  settling 
of  your  state,  I  suppose  that  it  were  best  for  iue  to  bethink  and  consider 


386  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

within  myself  what  allowance  were  meetest  for  me.  I  pray  and 
beseech  you  to  grant  to  me,  your  most  kind  and  loving  wife,  the  sum 
of  ^2,600  quarterly  to  be  paid.  Also  I  would,  besides  that  allowance, 
have  _£6oo  quarterly  to  be  paid,  for  the  performance  of  charitable 
works ;  and  those  things  I  would  not,  neither  will  be,  accountable  for. 
Also  I  will  have  three  horses  for  my  own  saddle,  that  none  should  dare 
to  lend  or  borrow ;  none  lend  but  I,  none  borrow  but  you.  Also  I 
would  have  two  gentlewomen,  lest  one  should  be  sick,  or  have  some 
other  let ;  also,  believe  it,  it  is  an  indecent  thing  for  a  gentlewoman  to 
stand  mumping  alone,  when  God  hath  blessed  their  lord  and  lady  with 
a  great  estate.  Also  when  I  ride  a-hunting  or  a-hawking,  or  travel 
from  one  house  to  another,  I  will  have  them  attending  ;  so  for  either  of 
these  said  women  I  must  and  will  have  for  either  of  them  a  horse. 
Also  I  will  have  six  or  eight  gentlemen ;  and  I  will  have  my  two 
coaches,  one  lined  with  velvet  to  myself,  with  four  very  fine  horses ; 
and  a  coach  for  my  women,  lined  with  cloth  and  laced  with  gold,  other- 
wise with  scarlet  and  laced  with  silver,  with  four  good  horses.  Also  I 
will  have  two  coachmen,  one  for  my  own  coach,  the  other  for  my  women. 
Also,  at  any  time  when  I  travel,  I  will  be  allowed  not  only  coaches  and 
spare  horses  for  me  and  my  women,  but  I  will  have  such  carriages  as 
shall  be  fitting  for  all ;  orderly,  not  pestering  my  things  witli  my 
women's,  nor  theirs  with  their  chamber-maids',  nor  theirs  with  their 
wash-maids'.  Also,  for  laundresses,  when  I  travel,  I  will  have  them 
sent  away  before  the  carriages,  to  see  all  safe ;  and  the  chamber-maids 
I  will  have  go  before,  that  the  chamber  may  be  ready,  sweet,  and 
clean.  Also,  and  for  that  it  is  undecent  for  me  to  crowd  myself  up 
with  my  gentleman-usher  in  my  coach,  I  will  have  him  to  have  a 
convenient  horse  to  attend  me  either  in  city  or  country.  And  I  must 
have  two  footmen.  And  my  desire  is  that  you  defray  all  the  charges 
for  me.  And  for  myself,  besides  my  yearly  allowance,  I  would  have 
twenty  gowns  of  apparel,  six  of  them  excellent  good  ones,  eight  of 
them  for  the  country,  and  six  other  of  them  very  excellent  good  ones. 
Also  I  would  have  to  put  in  my  purse  £2,000  and  ,£200,  and  so  you 
to  pay  my  debts.  Also  I  would  have  ^6,000  to  buy  me  jewels,  and 
£4,000  to  buy  me  a  pearl-chain.  Now,  seeing  I  have  been  and  am  so 
reasonable  unto  you,  I  pray  you  do  find  my  children  apparel  and  their 
schooling,  and  all  my  servants,  men  and  women,  their  wages.  Also  I 
will  have  all  my  houses  furnished,  and  my  lodging-chambers  to  be 
suited  with  all  such  furniture  as  is  fit ;  a*  beds,  stools,  chairs,  suitable 
cushions,  carpets,  silver  warming-pans,  cupboards  of  plate,  fair  ha«g. 
bags,  and  such  like.  So  for  my  drawing-chambers  in  all  houses,  I 
will  have  them  delicaiely  furnished,  both  with  hangings,  couch,  canopy, 
glass,  carpet,  chairs,  cushions,  and   all   things   thereunto  belonging. 


GREAT  ST.   HELEN'S.  a?7 

Also  my  desire  is  that  you  would  pay  your  debts,  build  up  Ashby 
House,  and  purchase  lands,  and  lend  no  money,  as  you  love  God, 
to  my  Lord  Chamberlain,  who  would  have  all,  perhaps  your  life.  .  . 
So  now  that  I  have  declared  to  you  what  I  would  have,  and  what  it  is 
that  I  would  not  have,  I  pray  you,  when  you  be  an  earl,  to  allow  me 
^2,000  more  than  I  now  desire,  and  double  attendance." 

Here  for  many  years  lived  the  Countess  of  Pembroke, 
immortalised  in  Ben  Jonson's  epitaph.  In  1640  Crosby 
Place  was  leased  to  Sir  John  Langham.  In  1672  it  became 
a  Presbyterian  Meeting  House.  It  was  later  a  packer's 
warehouse,  till,  in  1831,  a  subscription  was  raised  to  restore 
it  as  we  now  see  it. 

A  passage,  one  of  those  obscure  and  almost  secret  ways  of 
the  City,  which  yet  are  crowded  with  foot  passengers,  leads 
under  an  archway  into  and  through  Crosby  Square.  It 
passes  in  front  of  the  noble  oriel  of  the  Hall.  This  is  a  stately 
room,  54  ft.  long,  27  ft.  broad,  and  was  once  40  ft.  high,  but 
this  has  been  curtailed,  with  a  noble  perpendicular  timber 
roof.  The  great  oriel  window  has  been  filled  by  Willemcnt 
with  stained  glass  armorial  bearings  of  the  different  posses- 
sors of  Crosby  Place.  It  is  one  of  the  few  ancient  halls  in 
which  there  is  no  indication  of  a  raised  dais.  Above  the 
adjoining  Council  Chamber  is  the  so-called  Throne  Room, 
with  a  peculiarly  beautiful  window.  Crosby  Place  is  now 
occupied  by  the  Restaurant  of  Messrs.  Gordon  and  Co. 

In  Crosby  Square,  at  the  back  of  the  Hall,  are  some 
admirable  modern  buildings  of  brick  and  terra-cotta.  Crosby 
Hall  Cliambers,  close   by,  have  a  good    chimney-piece  of 

Close  to  Crosby  Place,  a  low  timber-corbelled  gateway 
leads  out  of  Bishopsgate  Street  into  Great  St.  Helen's,  where, 
from  the  noise  and  bustle  of  the  great  thoroughfare,  you 


288 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


suddenly  enter  upon  the  quiet  of  a  secluded  churchyard, 
filled  in  early  spring  with  bright  green  foliage.  Here,  c. 
12 1 6,  the  Priory  of  the  Nuns  of  St.  Helen's  was  founded  by 
William  Basing,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's.  The  old  Hall  of  the 
Nuns  was  only  removed  in  1799.     Their  Church  remains, 


Crosby  Hall,  Bishopsgate  Street. 


and  from  the  number  of  monuments  connected  with  the 
City  of  London  within  its  walls  it  has  become  a  kind  of 
Westminster  Abbey  for  the  City,  and  is  of  the  highest 
interest.  Lately  the  number  of  these  monuments  has  been 
greatly  increased  by  the  destruction,  in  1874,  of  the  ancient 


ST.  HELEN'S,  BISHOPSGATE.  280, 

Church  of  St.  Martin  Outwich  (so  called  from  its  founder, 
John  de  Oteswitch),  and  the  removal  to  St.  Helen's  of  all 
the  tombs  which  it  contained. 

The  church  consists  of  two  aisles,  separated  by  perpen- 
dicular arches,  with  chapels  attached  at  the  south-east. 
Only  a  very  small  portion  of  the  building  is  used  for  con 
gregational  purposes,  and  till  a  few  years  ago  a  large  part 
of  the  west  end,  screened  off,  and  always  known  as  "  The 
Void,"  was  only  used  for  funerals.  The  whole  building  is 
surrounded  with  monuments.  An  inscription  over  the  west 
door  reminds  us  that  "  This  is  none  other  than  the  house 
of  God,"  but  the  usual  entrance  is  by  the  handsome  Jaco- 
bean door  on  the  south  side  of  the  building.  The  small 
altar-tomb  with  incised  figures  opposite  the  entrance  is  that 
of  William  and  Magdalen  Kirwen  of  1594.  On  the  left 
of  the  door  is  the  stately  alabaster  tomb  of  the  rich  Sir 
John  Spencer  (1609),  raised  by  Lord  Northampton  to  his 
"  well-deserving  father-in-law."  "  Some  thousand  men  in 
mourning  cloakes "  assisted  at  his  funeral.*  The  figures 
of  Sir  John  and  his  wife  (Alicia  Bromfeld)  repose  under  a 
double  canopy  ;  the  heiress  daughter,  almost  eclipsed  in  the 
immensity  of  her  hoop,  kneels  at  a  desk  at  their  feet.  Next 
is  the  tomb  of  Dame  Abigail  Lawrence  (1682),  "the  tender 
mother  of  ten  children,  nine  of  whom  she  suckled  at  her 
breast."  Opposite,  on  the  north  wall,  is  the  tomb  of  John 
Robinson,  alderman,  and  merchant  of  the  Staple,  with 
Christian  his  wife  (1592,  1599),  who  were  "happy  in  nine 
sonnes  and  seaven  daughters  "  :  all  this  family  are  kneel- 
ing behind  their  parents  at  a  faldstool.  Beyond  this  is  an 
exquisite  Gothic  canopy  (from  St.  Martin  Outwich)  of  Pur- 

*  1  etter  from  Mr.  John  Beaulicu  to  Mr.  Turnbull.     March  22,  1609— 1610, 
VOL.    I.  U 


2qo  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

beck  marble,  over  the  tomb  of  Alderman  Hueh  Pemberton 
and  his  wife  Kalerina  (1500J. 

Here  the  line  of  monuments  is  broken  by  a  gitat  tomb 
like  a  house,  to  Francis  Bancroft,  founder  of  the  Mile  End 
Almshouses,  who  '*  settled  his  estate  in  London  and  Middle- 
sex for  the  beautifying  and  keeping  in  repair  of  this  monu- 
ment for  ever."  It  is  very  ugly,  but  very  curious.  Being 
the  property  of  the  Drapers'  Company,  when  a  new  Master 
is  appointed,  he  generally  pays  his  respects  to  Francis 
Bancroft,  for  the  tomb  can  be  entered  by  a  door,  and 
the  lid  of  the  coffin  turns  back,  displaying  the  skeleton. 
Bancroft  was  so  unpopular  as  a  city  magistrate  in  his 
life-time,  that  the  people  pealed  the  bells  at  his  funeral, 
and  tried  to  upse't  the  coffin  on  its  way  to  the  grave. 
He  desired  that  for  a  hundred  years  a  loaf  of  bread  and 
a  bottle  of  wine  might  be  placed  in  his  grave  every  year 
on  the  anniversary  of  his  death,  because  he  was  con- 
vinced that  before  that  time  he  should  awake  from  his 
death-sleep  and  require  it.  The  hundred  years  have  now 
«.  expired. 

Beyond  Bancroft's  tomb  are  a  staircase  and  a  door, 
which  formerly  communicated  with  two  stories  of  the 
convent.  There,  against  the  wall,  are  the  tombs  of  Wil- 
liam Bond — "  Flos  Mercatorum  " — "  a  merchant-adventurer, 
and  most  famous  in  his  age  for  his  great  enterprises  by  sea 
and  land"  (1576)  ;  and  Martin  Bond  (1643),  governor  of 
Tilbury  Fort  in  the  time  of  Elizabeth.  He  is  represented 
sitting  in  a  tent,  with  sentries  outside,  and  a  servant  bring- 
ing up  a  horse.  The  noble  altar-tomb  beneath,  with  a 
raised  coat  of  arms,  is  that  of  the  great  Sir  Thomas  Gres- 
ham,  founder  of  the  Royal  Exchange,  with  the  simple  in- 


ST.  HELEN'S,  BISHOPSGATE.  20 1 

scriptioii,  "  bir  Thomas  Gresham.  Knight,  buried  December 
IS.  1579."  Above  hangs  his  helmet,  carried  at  his  funeral. 
Against  the  wall  is  the  quaint  coloured  monument  of  Sir 
Andrew  Judde,  Lord  Mayor  (1558),  founder  of  the  Gram- 
mar School  at  Tunbridge — 

"  To  Russia  and  Muscovia, 

To  Spayne,  Germany,  without  fable, 
Travelled  he  by  land  and  sea, 

Both  Mayor  of  London  and  Staple." 

The  great  canopied  tomb  close  by  is  that  of  Sir  William 
Pickering,  "  famous  in  learning,  arts,  and  warfare,"  and, 
moreover,  very  handsome,  which  caused  him  to  stand  so 
high  in  the  favour  of  Elizabeth,  that  he  (a  simple  knight) 
was  at  one  time  deemed  to  have  a  -fair  chance  of  ob- 
taining the  hand  which  was  refused  to  the  kings  of  Spain 
and  Sweden.  He  died  at  Pickering  House  in  St.  Mary 
Axe  in  1574.  His  son  is  commemorated  on  the  same 
monument. 

The  beautiful  Gothic  niche  behind  Gresham's  tomb  has 
a  kind  of  double  grille  of  stone — "  the  Nuns'  Grate  " — ■ 
which  is  believed  to  have  been  intended  to  allow  refractory 
nuns*  to  hear  a  faint  echo  of  the  mass  from  the  crypt  be- 
neath. In  the  "  Nuns'  Aisle,"  every  Sunday  morning,  a  dole 
of  fresh  loaves — "  good  sweet  wheaten  bread  " — lies  waiting 
on  a  clean  white  cloth  for  the  poor,  bequeathed  to  them  by 
a  humble  benefactor  of  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  whose  dust  lies  below. 

•  That  the  life  of  the  Rlack  Nuns  of  St.  Helen's  was  not  altogether  devoid  of 
amusements  we  may  gather  from  the  "  t.'onstitutiones"  given  them  by  the  I  >e.in 
and  Chapter  of  St.  Paul's — "  also  we  enjoyne  you,  that  all  daunsyng  and  revclng 
be  utterly  forborne  among  you,  except  at  Christmasse,  and  other  honest  tymjs  of 
rccreacyouc^  amou^  yourselfe  usyd,  in  absence  of  seculars  in  allc  wyse." 


202 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


On  the  wall  above  the  Nuns'  Grate  is  a  monument 
erected  in  1877  to  the  memory  of  Alberico  Gentili,  who, 
when  driven  to  England  by  the  religious  persecutions  of  the 
latter  part  ot  the  sixteenth  century,  established  his  reputa- 
tion as  a  great  international  jurist  by  his  famous  work,  "  De 
Jure  Belli."  The  register  of  St.  Helen's  mentions  the  burial 
of  his  father,  Matteo,  "  near  the  cherry-tree,"  and  that  of  the 
son  "  at  the  feet  of  Widow  Coombs,  near  the  gooseberry 


Tomb  of  Sir  John  Crosby,  St.  Helen's. 


tree  " — t\gm  in  the  convent  garden,  as  near  to  the  back  of  this 
monument  as  can  be  identified. 

Passing  the  altar,  we  reach  the  noble  tomb  of  Sir  John 
Crosby  (1475)  and  his  wife  Anneys— he  wearing  an  alder- 
man's mantle  over  plate  armour,  and  with  a  collar  of  suns 
and  roses,  the  badge  of  the  House  of  York,  round  his  neck. 
The  lady  has  a  most  remarkable  headdress.  Steps  lead 
down   into  the    Chapel  of  the    Virgin,  almost   paved  with 


ST.  HELEN'S,  BISIIOPSGATE. 


293 


brasses,  the  best  being  that  of  John  Lementhorp  (15 10)  in 
armour;  and  those  of  Nicholas  Wootton  (1482)  and  John 
Brent  (145 1),  rectors  of  St.  Martin  Outwich,  removed  from 
that  church.  In  the  centre  of  the  chapel  is  the  fine  tomb 
of  John  de  Oteswitch  and  Mary  his  wife,  of  the  time  of 
Henry  IV.,  founders  of  St.  Martin  Outwich.  An  admir- 
able little  figure  of  a  girl  with  a  book,  of  old  Italian  work- 


St.  Helena. 


manship,  on   a   bracket,    is    said    to  be   intended   for   St. 
Helena.     The  ancient  altar-stone  and  sedilia  remain. 

In  the  Chapel  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  altar-tomb  of  Sir 
Julius  Caesar,  the  son  of  Pietro  Maria  Adelmare  and  Paola 
Cesarino  of  Treviso.  He  was  made  Master  of  Requests 
(1590)  and  Master  of  St.  Catherine's  Hospital  (1596)  by 
Elizabeth,  was  knighted  at  Greenwich  by  James  I.  in  1603, 


204  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

made  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  m  1606,  and  Master 
of  the  Rolls  in  1610.  Pie  was  "the  charitable  Sir  Julius 
Caesar"  of  Izaak  Walton.*  The  tomb  was  executed  in  the 
life-time  of  Sir  Julius  by  Nicholas  Stone,  the  sculptor  of 
Dr.  Donne's  monument  in  St.  Paul's.  On  the  top  is  a 
scroll  of  black  marble  representing  a  parchment  deed,  with 
a  seal  appendant,  by  which  Csesar  covenants  willingly  to  pay 
the  debt  of  nature,  when  it  shall  please  God  to  require  it. 
The  deed  is  signed  Feb.  27,  1634,  and  the  debt  was  paid 
April  18,  1636.  But  the  Latin  inscription  is  too  curious 
to  omit — 

"  Omnibus  Xri  fidelibus  ad  quos  hoc  presens  scriptum  pervenerit ; 
sciatis,  me  Julium  Adelmare  alias  Caesarem  militem  utriusq.  juris 
doctorem  Elizabethan  Reginaj  supremoe  curias  Admiralitatis  Judicem  et 
unuin  e  magislris  libellorum  :  Jacobo  Regi  e  privatis  consiliariis,  cancel- 
larium  Scaccarii  et  sacrorum  sereniorum  Magistrum  hac  presenti  carta 
mea  confirmasse,  me  adiuvente  divino  numine  Naturae  debitum  libenter 
soluturum  quam  primum  Deo  placuerit." 

The  stalls  on  the  north  of  the  chancel  are  the  ancient 
seats  of  the  nuns.  A  picturesque  bit  of  carving  against  a 
pillar  bears  the  arms  and  marked  the  seat  of  Sir  John 
Lawrence,  Lord  Mayor,  1665. 

On  the  north  wall  is  the  tomb  (from  St.  Martin  Out- 
wich)  of  Alderman  Richard  Staper  (1598),  "the  greatest 
merchant  in  his  tyme,  and  the  chiefest  actor  in  the  dis- 
coueri  of  the  trades  of  Turkey  and  East  India,  a  man 
humble  in  prosperity,  payneful  and  ever  ready  in  the 
aflfayres  publicque,  and  discreetely  careful  of  his  private." 
The  famous  Robert  Hooke,  philosopher  and  mechanic,  and 
Curator  of  the  Royal  Society,  who  died  in  Gresham  College 
in  1702,  is  buried  in  this  church  without  a  monument.     He 

•  See  Walton's  "  Life  of  Sir  He*  ry  Wotton." 


ST.  HELEN'S  PLACE.  295 

was  ths  inventor  of  the  first  efficient  air-pump,  of  the  pen- 
dulum spring  of  a  watch,  of  the  circular  pendulum  adapted 
by  Watt  as  his  "  governor  of  the  steam-engine,"  and  of  the 
watch-wheel  cutting  machine.  The  first  idea  of  a  tele- 
graph was  originated  by  him.* 

From  the  south  porch  of  the  church  a  labyrinthine  passage 
leads  by  St.  Mary  Axe  to  St.  Andrew  Undershaft,  of  which 
there  is  a  picturesque  view  where  the  passage  opens  upon 
the  street.  Several  of  the  houses  which  look  upon  St. 
Helen's  Churchyard  deserve  notice.  No.  2  has  a  rich  door- 
way, and  good  staircase  of  Charles  I.'s  time;  Nos.  8  and  9 
are  subdivisions  of  a  fine  brick  house  of  1648,  probably  by 
Inigo  Jones  ;  and  in  No.  9  are  a  handsome  chimney-piece 
and  staircase  of  carved  oak.  The  Almshouses,  built  in  1551 
by  Sir  Andrew  Judde,  whose  tomb  we  have  seen,  still 
exist  here,  but  were  rebuilt  in  1729. 

The  next  turn  out  of  Bishopsgate  Street  leads  into  St. 
Helen's  Place,  near  the  end  of  which  is  the  modern  Hall oj 
the  Leathersellers  Company,  incorporated  by  Richard  II.  It 
stands  upon  the  still-preserved  crypt  of  St.  Helen's  Priory. 
At  the  beginning  of  this  century  a  cuiious  fountain  with 
the  figure  of  a  mermaid,  sculptured  by  Caius  Gabriel  Cibber 
in  1779,  in  payment  of  a  fine  to  the  company,  stood  in  the 
court  in  front  of  it ;  but  it  disappeared  many  years  ago. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  Bishopsgate  Street  is  the  ancient 
hostelry  of  the  Green  Dragon,  with  wooden  galleries  over- 
hanging its  courtyard.  The  curious  Inn  of  The  Four  Swans 
adjoining  has  been  rebuilt  and  spoilt. 

Near  this  on  the  left,  with  buildings  extending  to  Broad 

>   The  hi  tory  of  this  church  has  been  publisher]   in    "Annals  of  St.   Helen's, 
Bishopsgate,"  edited  by  the  Rev.  J    K.  Cox,  1877. 


zo6  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Street,  stood  Gresbam  College,  founded  in  honour  of  Sii 
Thomas  Gresham,  who  gave  the  Royal  Exchange  to  the 
City  on  condition  that  the  Corporation  would  institute 
lectures  on  Divinity,  Civil  Law,  Astronomy,  Music, 
Geometry,  Rhetoric,  and  Physic,  to  be  delivered  in  his 
dwelling-house,  which  he  bequeathed  for  the  purpose. 

Many  eminent  men  were  professors  of  this  college,  and 
their  learned  weekly  meetings  in  1645  gave  birth  to  the 
Royal  Society.  During  the  time  of  the  Commonwealth, 
Sir  Christopher  Wren  was  Professor  of  Astronomy  here, 
and  here  he  made  his  great  reflecting  telescope.  On  April 
22,  1662,  Charles  II.  formally  constituted  the  college  by 
the  title  of  "The  President,  Council,  and  Fellows  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  London  for  the  Improvement  of  Natural 
Knowledge."  Quaint  and  credulous  were  many  of  the 
inquiries  of  these  old  philosophers,  who  wrote  to  ask  one 
of  their  foreign  correspondents  to  ascertain  "if  it  were 
true  that  diamonds  grew  again  where  they  were  digged  out," 
and  to  find  out  "  what  river  in  Java  turns  wood  into 
stone  ;  "  and  who  preserved  in  their  museum  a  bone  taken 
out  of  a  mermaid's  head,  and  issued  reports  of  a  mountain 
cabbage  three  hundred  feet  high.  Charles  II.  was  often 
amused  with  these  vagaries.  Butler,  who  laughs  at  the 
attempts  of  the  society — 

"  To  measure  wind  and  weigh  the  air, 
To  turn  a  circle  to  a  square, 
And  in  the  braying  of  an  ass 
Find  out  the  treble  and  the  bass, 
If  mares  neigh  alto,  and  a  cow 
In  double  diapason  low  " — 

especially  satirises  Wilkins,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Chester, 
one  of  the  professors,  who  believed  that  a  new  world  was 


GRESHAM  COLLEGE.  297 

to  be  discovered  in  the  moon  and  that  it  would  be  reached 
by  flying  machines.  It  was  this  Wilkins  who,  when  a  great 
lady  required  of  him  how  he  would  contrive  to  bait  upon 
the  journey,  replied  that  he  was  amazed  that  she  who  had 
herself  built  so  many  castles  in  the  air  should  ask  him  such 
a  question.  In  1675  Samuel  Pepys  was  President  of  the 
Royal  Society  in  Gresham  College.  Isaac  Newton,  after- 
wards President,  was  here  "  excused  from  the  weekly  con- 
tribution of  a  shilling,  on  account  of  his  low  circum- 
stances." 

Gresham  College  was  a  noble  building  of  brick  and 
stone,  "  with  open  courts  and  covered  walks,  which  seemed 
all  so  well  suited  for  such  an  intention,  as  if  Sir  Thomas 
had  it  in  view  at  the  time  he  built  the  house."  *  The  open 
archway  towards  the  stables  was  decorated  with  two  figures, 
the  one  standing  with  a  drawn  sword  over  the  other  upon 
his  knees.  Dr.  Woodward,  famous  as  an  early  geologist, 
fought  a  duel  with  Dr.  Mead,  the  great  physician  and 
botanist  under  that  porch.  His  foot  slipped  and  he 
fell.  "  Will  you  beg  your  life  ?  "  demanded  Mead.  "  No, 
doctor,  certainly  not,  till  I  am  your  patient,"  returned  the 
implacable  Woodward. 

After  the  -Fire,  which  it  escaped,  Gresham  College  was 
temporarily  used  as  an  Exchange,  and  its  Professors'  lodg- 
ings were  occupied  by  the  City  courts  and  offices,  its  piazza 
by  the  shops  Of  the  Exchange  tenants,  and  its  quadrangle 
by  the  merchants'  meetings— "  thus  Gresham  College 
became  an  epitome  of  this  great  city,  and  the  centre  of  all 
affairs,  both  public  and  private,  which  were  then  transacted 
in  it."  *     When  the  Exchange  was  rebuilt  the  Royal  Society 

•  Ward.     "  Lives  of  the  Professors  of  Gresham  College." 


2t)8 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


returned  to  the  College  and  continued  to  hold  their  meet- 
ings there  till  they  moved  to  Crane  Court  in  1710.  From 
that  time  the  College  fell  into  decay,  and  in  1768  it  was 
sold  to  the  Commissioners  of  Excise,  and  an  Excise  Office 
was  built  upon  part  of  its  site. 

Almost  concealed  by  its  parasitic  houses,  so  that  we 
might  easily  pass  it  unobserved,  is  (right)  the  Gothic  arch 
which  forms  an  entrance  to  the  solemn  little  Church  of  St. 
Ethclburga,  dedicated  to  the  daughter  of  King  Ethelbert, 
one  of  the  few  churches  which  survived  the  Fire.  It  con- 
tains some  good  fragments  of  old  stained  glass,  and  its 
existence  is  mentioned  as  early  as  1366.  At  the  junction 
of  Camomile  and  Wormwood  Streets,  a  large  episcopal 
mitre  on  a  house-wall  marks  the  site  of  the  old  Gate  of 
the  City  called  Bishops'  Gate.  Tradition  ascribed  the 
foundation  of  this  gate  (frequently  rebuilt)  to  St.  Erken- 
wald  in  675,  and  the  Bishops  of  London  had  an  ancient 
right  to  levy  one  stick  from  every  cart  laden  with  wood 
which  passed  beneath  it,  in  return  for  which  they  were 
obliged  to  supply  the  hinges  of  the  gate.  Beyond  this,  the 
street  is  called  Bishopsgate  Without. 

On  the  left  of  Bishopsgate  Without  is  St.  Botolptis  Church, 
an  ugly  building  of  172S.  It  occupies  the  site  of  an  earlier 
edifice,  one  of  the  four  churches  at  the  gates,  dedicated  to 
this  popular  English  saint,  who  travelled  with  his  brother 
Adulph  into  Gaul,  and  coming  back  with  accounts  of  the 
religious  institutions  he  had  seen  there,  and  recommenda- 
tions from  two  English  princesses  then  in  France,  sisters 
of  Ethelmund,  King  of  the  East  Saxons,  was  given  a 
piece  of  land  in  Lincolnshire  by  that  prince — "  a  for- 
"tiken   uninhabited    desert,  where  nothing    but  devills  and 


SIR  PAUL  PINDAR'S  HOUSE.  ?<& 

goblins  were  thought  to  dwell;  but  St.  Botolphe,  with  the 
virtue  and  sygne  of  the  holy  crosse,  freed  it  from  the  pos- 
session of  those  hellish  inhabitants,  and  by  the  means  and 
help  of  Ethelmund,  built  a  monastery  therein."  Of  this 
Benedictine  monastery,  of  which  Boston,  Botolph's  town, 
is  supposed  to  mark  the  site,  Botolph  was  abbot,  and 
there  he  died  in  the  odour  of  sanctity,  June,  680. 

The  church  contains  the  monument  (a  tablet  with  a 
flaming  vase)  of  Sir  Paul  Pindar  (1650),  a  famous  merchant 
and  Commissioner  of  the  Customs  in  Charles  II. 's  time. 
It  is  inscribed  to  "Sir  Paul  Pindar,  Kt,  his  Majesty's  Am- 
bassador to  the  Turkish  Emperor,  Anno  Dom.  161 1,  and 
nine  years  resident :  faithful  in  negotiations  foreign  and 
domestick,  eminent  for  piety,  charity,  loyalty,  and  prudence; 
an  inhabitant  twenty-six  years,  and  bountiful  benefactor  to 
this  parish.  He  died  the  22nd  of  August,  1650,  aged  84 
years."  The  sunny  churchyard  is  now  a  garden  full  of 
ornamental  ducks  and  pigeons.  It  contains  the  tomb  of 
Coya  Shawsware,  a  Persian  merchant,  around  which  his 
relations  sang  and  recited  funeral  elegies,  morning  and 
evening,  for  months  after  his  death. 

It  is  not  far  down  Bishopsgate  Street  to  (left)  the 
beautiful  old  House  of  Sir  Paul  Pindar,  "  worthie  bene- 
factor to  the  poore,"  with  overhanging  oriel  windows,  very 
richly  decorated  with  panel-work,  forming  a  subject  well 
worthy  of  the  artist's  pencil.  The  house  was  begun  by 
Sir  Paul  Pindar  on  his  return  from  Italy  at  the  end  of 
the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  He  was  born  in  1566.  His 
reputation  of  the  richest  merchant  of  the  kingdom  brought 
him  frequent  visits  here  from  James  I.  and  Charles  I.  to 
beg  for  a  loan  iri   their  necessities.     At  the  request  of  the 


300 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


Turkey  Company  he  was  sent  by  James  I.  as  ambassador 
to  Constantinople,  where  he  did  much  to  improve  the 
English  trade  in  the  Levant.  On  his  return  in  1620,  he 
brought  back  with  him,  amongst  other  treasures,  a  great 
diamond  which  was  valued  at  ^30,000,  and  which  he  was 
wont  to  lend  to  James  I.  to  wear  at  the  opening  of  his 


Sir  Paul  Pindar's  House,  Rishopsgate. 


Parliaments  ;  it  was  afterwards  sold  to  Charles  I.  At  the 
time  of  the  civil  wars  it  was  Sir  Paul  Pindar  who  provided 
funds  for  the  escape  of  the  Queen  and  her  children.  He 
lived  to  give  ;£  10,000  for  the  restoration  of  St.  Paul's,  which 
was  begun  in  Charles  II.'s  reign  before  the  Great  Fire.  When 
he  died  the  King  owed  no  less  than  ^300,000  to  Sir  Paul 
and  the  other  Commissioners  of  the  Customs,  and  Pindar's 


MOORFIELDS.  301 

affairs  were  found  to  be  in  such  confusion,  that  his  executor, 
William  Toomer,  was  unable  to  bear  the  responsibility  of  his 
trust,  and  destroyed  himself.  When  the  great  merchant  was 
living,  the  house  had  a  park  attached  to  it  behind,  of  which 
one  of  the  richly  ornamented  lodges  and  some  old  mul- 
berry trees,  planted  to  please  James  I.,  existed  till  a  few 
years  ago  in  Half-Moon  Alley.  Now  all  is  closely  hemmed 
in  by  houses. 

The  name  of  Devonshire  Street  (on  the  right)  commemo- 
rates the  town-house  of  the  Cavendishes,  Earls  of  Devon- 
shire, who  lived  in  Bishopsgate  during  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  some  of  whom  are  buried  in  St.  Botolph's. 
The  corner  house  has  a  chimney-piece  with  the  arms  of 
Henry  Wriothesley,  Earl  of  Southampton,  the  adored  friend 
to  whom  the  sonnets  of  Shakspeare  are  addressed. 

[To  the  left,  by  Liverpool  Street,  are  Finsbury  Circus 
and  Finsbury  Square,  occupying  the  site  of  Moorfields,  a 
marshy  ground  which  was  a  favourite  Sunday  walk  with  the 
citizens.  Here,  says  Shadwell,  "  you  could  see  Haberdashers 
walking  with  their  whole  fireside."  Shakspeare  alludes  to 
the  popularity  of  this  walk  in  his  Henry  IV. — > 

"  And  giv'st  such  sarcenet  surety  for  thy  oaths, 
As  if  thou  never  walk'st  farther  than  Finsbury." 

John  Keats  the  Poet  was  born  at  No.  28  on  the  Pave- 
ment in  Moorfields  in  1795,  being  the  son  of  a  livery  stable 
keeper,  who  had  enriched  himself  by  a  marriage  with  his 
master's  daughter. 

Tradition  and  an  old  ballad  say  that  the  name  of 
Finsbury  is  derived  from  two  ladies,  daughters  of  a  gallant 
knight  who  went  to  the  Crusades  :— 


302  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

"  And  charged  both  his  daughters 

Unmarried  to  remain 
Till  he  from  blessed  Palestine 

Returned  back  again : 
And  then  two  loving  husbands 

For  them  he  would  attain." 

The  eldest  of  them,  Mary,  became  a  nun  of  Bethlehem, 
spending  day  and  night  in  prayer  for  her  father — 

"  And  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ 
A  holy  cross  did  build 
Which  some  have  seen  at  Bedlam-gate 
Adjoining  to  Moorfield." 

The  younger,  Dame  Annis,  opened  a  well — 

"  Where  wives  and 'maidens  daily  came, 
To  wash,  from  far  and  near." 

So  the  sisters  lived  on 

"  Till  time  had  changed  their  beauteous  cheeks 
And  made  them  wrinkled  old." 

But  when  the  King  of  England  returned  from  the  Crusades, 
it  was  only  the  heart  of  their  brave  father  which  he  brouglit 
back  to  his  loving  daughters,  which  they  solemnly  buried, 
and  gave  the  name  of  their  father  to  its  resting-place — ■ 

"  Old  Sir  John  Fines  he  had  the  name 

Being  buried  in  that  place, 
Now,  since  then,  called  Finsbury, 

To  his  renown  and  grace ; 
Which  time  to  come  shall  not  outwear 

Nor  yet  the  same  deface. 

And  likewise  when  those  maidens  died 

They  gave  those  pleasant  fields 
Unto  our  London  citizens, 

Which  they  most  bravely  hield. 
And  now  are  made  most  pleasant  waiks, 

That  great  contentment  yield. 


BUN  HILL   FIELDS.  303 

Where  lovingly  both  man  and  wife 

May  take  the  evening  air, 
And  London  dames  to  dry  their  cloaths 

May  hither  still  repair 
For  that  intent  most  freely  given 

By  these  two  damsels  fair." 

Bloomfield  Street,  Moorfields,  may  be  noticed  as  contain- 
ing the  Museum  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  (open 
Tuesdays,  Thursdays,  and  Saturdays,  from  10  to  3  in 
winter,  and  10  to  4  in  summer).  It  is  of  little  general 
interest. 

Beyond  Finsbury  Square,  by  the  Finsbury  Pavement — 
once  the  only  firm  path  in  the  marshy  district  of  Moorfields 
— we  reach,  in  the  City  Road  (left),  the  modern  castellated 
buildings  of  the  Artillery  Barracks,  which  are  the  head- 
quarters of  the  London  Militia — the  "  London  Trained 
Bands"  of  our  Civil  Wars,  which  were  the  mainstay  of  the 
Parliamentary  army,  being  the  successors  of  the  "  Archers 
of  Finsbury,"  incorporated  by  Henry  VIII.,  but  having  their 
first  origin  in  the  Guild  of  St.  George,  established  in  the 
reign  of  Fdward  I.  The  artillery  ground  here  is  the  Campus 
Martius — the  Champ  de  Mars — of  London. 

Just  beyond  the  Barracks  (divided  by  the  street)  is  the 

vast    burial-ground    of    Bunhill    Fields,    Anthony    Wood's 

"  fanatical   burial  place,"  and  Southey's  "  Campo  Santo  of 

the   Dissenters,"  originally  called  "Bone-hill  Fields"  from 

having  been  one  of  the  chief  burial-places  during  the  Great 

Plague. 

Open,  Week-days,  9  to  7  in  summer,  9  to  4  in  winter. 
Sundays,  I  to  7  in  summer,  I  to  4  in  winter. 

The  burial-ground  is  now  closed  as  a  cemetery,  but  the 
forest  of  tombs  on   the  left,  shaded  by  young  trees,  remains 


:04 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


a  green  oasis  in  one  of  the  blackest  parts  of  London. 
Near  the  centre  of  "  the  Puritan  Necropolis "  a  white 
figure,  lying  aloft  upon  a  high  (modern)  altar-tomb,  marks 
the  Grave  of  John  Bunyan  (1628 — 1688),  whither  all  will 
at  once  direct  their  steps,  for  who  does  not,  with  Cowper — 

"  Revere  the  man  whose  pilgrim  marks  the  road, 
And  guides  the  progress  of  the  soul  to  God." 


John  Bunyan's  Tomb. 


Bunyan  wrote  as  many  books  as  the  sixty  years  of  his  lire, 
but  is  chiefly  honoured  as  the  author  of  "  The  Pilgrim's 
Progress,"  which  was  written  during  his  imprisonment  as  a 
dissenter  in  Bedford  jail,  where  "with  only  two  books — the 
Bible  and  '  Foxe's  Book  of  Martyrs ' — he  employed  his 
time  for  twelve  years  and  a  half  in  preaching  to,  and  pray- 
ing with,  his  fellow-prisoners,  in  writing  several  of  his 
works,  and  in  making   tagged  laces  for  the  support  of  him- 


JOHN  BUNYAN'S   TOMB.  305 

self  and  his  iarnily."  *  Being  released  in  1672,  he  spent 
his  remaining  years  in  exhorting  his  dissenting  brethren  to 
holiness  of  life,  and,  when  James  II.  proclaimed  liberty  of 
conscience  for  dissenters,  opened  a  meeting-house  at  Bed- 
ford. He  died  on  Snow  Hill  from  a  cold  taken  on  a  mis- 
sionary excursion,  in  the  house  of  John  Studwick,  a  grocer, 
who  was  buried  near  him  in  1697. 

"  I  know  of  no  book,  the  Bible  excepted,  as  above  all  comparison, 
which  I,  according  to  my  judgment  and  experience,  could  so  safely 
recommend  as  teaching  and  enforcing  the  whole  saving  truth,  according 
to  the  mind  that  was  in  Christ  Jesus,  as  the  Pilgrim's  Progress.  It  is, 
in  my  conviction,  incomparably  the  best  Summa  Theologian  Evangelicae 
ever  produced  by  a  writer  not  miraculously  inspired.  .  .  It  is  com- 
posed in  the  lowest  style  of  English,  without  slang  or  false  grammar. 
If  you  were  to  polish  it,  you  would  at  once  destroy  the  reality  of  the 
vision.  For  works  of  imagination  should  be  written  in  very  plain 
language  ;  the  more  purely  imaginative  they  are,  the  more  necessary  it 
is  to  be  plain.  This  wonderful  book  is  one  of  the  few  books  which 
may  be  read  repeatedly,  at  different  times,  and  each  time  with  a  new 
and  a  different  pleasure." — Coleridge. 

"  The  style  of  Bunyan  is  delightful  to  every  reader,  and  invaluable  as 

a  study  to  every  person  who  wishes  to  obtain  a  wide  command  over  the 

English  language.     The  vocabulary  is  the  vocabulary  of  the  common 

people.     There  is  not  an  expression,  if  we  except  a  few  technical  terms 

of  theology,   which   would   puzzle    the    rudest  peasant.     We  have 

observed  several  pages  which  do  not  contain  a  single  word  of  more 

than  two  syllables.     Yet  no  writer  has  said   more   exactly  what   he 

meant  to  say.     For  magnificence,  for  pathos,  for  vehement  exhortation, 

for  subtle  disquisition,  for  every  purpose  of  the  poet,  the  orator,  and 

the  divine,  this  homely  dialect,  the  dialect  of  plain  working-men,  was 

perfectly  sufficient.     There  is  no  book  in  our  literature  on  which  we 

could  so  readily  stake  the  fame  of  the  old  unpolluted  English  language  ; 

no  book  which  shews  so  well  how  rich  that  language  is  in  its  own 

proper  wealth,  and  how  little  it  has  been  improved  by  all  that  it  has 

borrowed.     .     .     We  are  not  afraid  to  say  that,  though  there  were 

many  clever  men  in  England  during  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth 

century,  there  were    only  two   great   creative   minds.     One  of  these 

minds  produced  the  Paradise  Lost,  the  other  the  Pilgrim's  Progress." 

—  T.  B.  Macaulay. 

•  Dr.  Barlow. 

VOL.     I.  X 


306  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Bunyan  himself,  in  the  preface  to  the  "  Holy  War," 
describes  the  way  in  which  his  work  grew  : — 

"  It  came  from  mine  own  heart,  so  to  my  head, 
And  thence  into  my  fingers  trickeled  ; 
So  to  my  pen,  from  whence  immediately, 
On  paper  I  did  dribble  it  daintily." 

"The  spot  where  Bunyan  lies  is  still  regarded  by  the  Nonconformists 
with  a  feeling  which  seems  scarcely  in  harmony  with  the  stern  spirit  of 
their  theology.  Many  puritans,  to  whom  the  respect  paid  by  Roman 
Catholics  to  the  reliques  and  tombs  of  their  saints  seemed  childish  or 
sinful,  are  said  to  have  begged  with  their  dying  breath  that  their  coffins 
might  be  placed  as  near  as  possible  to  the  coffin  of  the  author  of  the 
'  Pilgrim's  Progress.'  " — Macaiday. 

Just  beyond  the  tomb  of  Bunyan  are  altar-tombs  to 
Henry  Cromwell,  Richard  Cromwell,  and  William  Crom- 
well. General  Fleetwood,  who  had  married  that  severe 
republican  Bridget  Cromwell,  General  Ireton's  widow,  has 
an  altar-tomb  nearer  the  gate. 

At  a  turn  of  the  path,  beyond  the  tombs  of  the  Crom- 
wells,  is  the  headstone  of  Susannah  Wesley,  the  youngest 
daughter  of  Samuel  Ai>nesley,  the  ejected  Vicar  of  St.  Giles, 
Cripplegate,  and  widow  of  the  Vicar  of  Epworth.  She  was 
the  mother  of  nineteen  children,  of  whom  the  most  re- 
nowned were  John  and  Charles.  "The  former"  (in  the 
words  of  her  epitaph)  "under  God  being  the  founder  ol 
the  societies  of  the  people  called  Methodists." 

"  No  man  was  ever  more  suitably  mated  than  the  elder  Wesley.  The 
wife  whom  he  chose  was,  like  himself,  the  child  of  a  man  eminent 
among  the  non-conformists,  and,  like  himself,  in  early  youth  she  had 
chosen  her  own  path  :  she  had  examined  the  controversy  between  the 
Dissenters  and  the  Church  of  England  with  conscientious  diligence,  and 
satisfied  herself  that  the  schismatics  were  in  the  wrong.  The  dispute, 
it  must  be  remembered,  related  wholly  to  discipline  ;  but  her  enquiries 
hid  not  stopt  there,  and  she  had  reasoned  herself  into  Sociuiauisin, 


TOMB  OF  SUSANNAH  WESLEY.  307 

from  which  she  was  reclaimed  by  her  husband.  She  was  an  admirable 
woman,  of  highly-improved  mind,  and  of  a  strong  and  masculine 
understanding,  an   obedient    wife,    an    exemplar}-   mother,    a  ferven* 

Christian." 

Mrs.  Wesley  died  in  1742. 

"  Arriving  in  London  from  one  of  his  circuits,  John  Wesley  found 
his  mother  '  on  the  borders  of  eternity ;  but  she  had  no  doubt  or  fear, 
nor  any  desire  but,  as  soon  as  God  should  call,  to  depart  and  be  with 
Christ.'  On  the  third  day  after  his  arrival,  '  he  perceived  that  her 
change  was  near.'  '  I  sate  down,'  he  says,  '  on  the  bed-side.  She  was 
in  her  last  conflict,  unable  to  speak,  but  I  believe  quite  sensible.  Hei 
look  was  calm  and  serene,  and  her  eyes  fixed  upward,  while  we  com- 
mended her  soul  to  God.  From  three  to  four  the  silver  cord  was 
loosing,  and  the  wheel  breaking  at  the  cistern  ;  and  then,  without  any 
struggle,  or  sigh,  or  groan,  the  soul  was  set  at  liberty.  We  stood 
round  the  bed,  and  fulfilled  her  last  request,  uttered  a  little  before  she 
lost  her  speech  :  "  Children,  as  soon  as  I  am  released,  sing  a  psalm  of 
praise  to  God."  '  He  performed  the  funeral  service  himself,  and  thus 
feelingly  describes  it:  'Almost  an  innumerable  company  of  people 
being  gathered  together,  about  five  in  the  afternoon  I  committed  to  the 
earth  the  body  of  my  mother  to  sleep  with  her  fathers.  The  portion 
of  Scripture  from  which  1  afterwards  spoke  was,  "  I  saw  a  great  white 
throne,  and  Him  that  sate  on  it,  from  whose  face  the  earth  and  the 
heaven  fled  away,  and  there  was  found  no  place  for  them.  And  I  saw 
the  dead,  small  and  great,  stand  before  God ;  and  the  books  were 
opened,  and  the  dead  were  judged  out  of  those  things  which  were 
written  in  the  books,  according  to  their  works."  It  was  one  of  the 
most  solemn  assemblies  I  ever  saw,  or  expect  to  see,  on  this  side 
eternity.'  "—  Southe/s  Life  of  Wesley. 

The  stanzas  succeeding  the  verses  which  her  sons  placed 
upon  the  tomb  of  Susannah  Wesley  refer  to  her  belief  that 
she  had  received  an  assurance  of  the  forgiveness  of  her  sins 
at  the  moment  when  her  son-in-law,  Hall,  was  administering 
the  Last  Supper  to  her — 

"  In  sure  and  steadfast  hope  to  rise 
And  claim  her  mansion  in  the  skies, 
A  Christian  here  her  flesh  laid  down, 
The  cross  exchanging  for  a  crown. 


*o8  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

True  daughter  of  affliction  she, 
Inured  to  pain  and  misery, 
Mourn 'd  a  long  night  of  griefs  and  fean, 
A  legal  night  of  seventy  years. 

The  Father  then  reveal' d  his  Son, 
Him  in  the  broken  bread  made  known, 
She  knew  and  felt  her  sins  forgiven, 
And  found  the  earnest  of  her  Heaven. 

M<=et  for  the  fellowship  above, 
She  heard  the  call,  '  Arise,  my  Love ! ' 
I  come,  her  dying  looks  replied, 
And  lamb-like  as  her  Lord  she  died." 

Around  the  spot  where  we  may  picture  the  vast  multitude 
gathered  amid  the  tombs  and  Wesley  preaching  by  his 
mother's  grave,  the  most  eminent  of  the  earlier  Noncon- 
formists had  already  been  buried.  Of  these  perhaps  the 
most  remarkable  was  Dr.  John  Owen  (1616 — 1683),  "the 
Great  Dissenter,"  at  one  time  Dean  of  Christ  Church,  and 
Vice-Chancellor  of  Oxford  when  Oliver  Cromwell  was 
Chancellor,  the  divine  who  preached  before  the  House  of 
Commons  on  the  day  after  the  execution  of  Charles  I.  He 
was  the  author  of  eighty  works  ! 

"  The  first  sheet  of  his  '  Meditations  on  the  Glory  of  Christ '  had 
passed  through  the  press  under  the  superintendence  of  the  Rev. 
William  Payne  .  .  .  and,  on  that  person  calling  on  him  to  inform 
him  of  the  circumstance  on  the  morning  of  the  day  he  died,  he 
exclaimed,  with  uplifted  hands  and  eyes  looking  upward,  'lam  glad 
to  hear  it ;  but,  O  brother  Payne  !  the  long-wished  for  day  is  come  at 
last,  in  which  I  shall  see  that  glory  in  another  manner  than  I  have  ever 
done,  or  was  capable  of  doing,  in  this  world.'  " 

Amongst  the  graves  of  the  three  hundred  notable  Non- 
conformist ministers  buried  here,  we  may  notice  those  of 
Dr.  Thomas  Goodwin  (1587 — 1643),  the  President  of 
Magdalen,  ejected  at  the  Restoration,  who  had  prayed  by 


TOMBS  OF  NONCONFORMIST  MINISTERS.        309 

Oliver  Cromwell's  death-bed,  and  had  a<-ked  a  blessing 
upon  Richard  Cromwell  at  his  proclamation  as  Protector; 
of  Hansard  Knollys,  the  Baptist,  author  of  "  Flaming  Fire 
in  Zion  "  (1691) ;  of  Nathaniel  Mather  (brother  of  Increase 
Mather),  celebrated  for  his  sermons  (1697)  \  of  the  learned 
Theophilus  Gale  (1678),  who  was  ejected  from  his  fellow- 
ship at  Magdalen  for  refusing  to  conform  at  the  Restoration, 
author  of  the  "Court  of  the  Gentiles,"  and  many  other 
works ;  of  the  zealous  itinerant  preacher  Vavasour  Powell, 
"  the  Whitefield  of  Wales  "  (167 1),  "  an  indefatigable  enemy 
of  monarchy  and  episcopacy,"  who  died  in  the  Fleet  prison, 
where  he  had  been  confined  for  eleven  years ;  of  Thomas 
Rosewell  (1692),  the  ejected  rector  of  Sutton  Mandeville, 
who  was  arraigned  for  high  treason,  condemned  by  Judge 
Jeffreys,  and  pardoned  by  the  king  ;  of  Thomas  Doolittle, 
the  much-persecuted  minister  of  Monkwell  Street  (1707)  • 
of  Dr.  Daniel  Williams,  founder  of  the  Williams  Library 
(17 16);  of  Daniel  Neal,  author  of  the  "History  of  the 
Puritans"  (1743 — 4) ;  of  Thomas  Bradbury,  who  refused  the 
bribe  of  a  bishopric  under  Anne,  and  who  claimed  to  be  the 
first  minister  who  proclaimed  George  I.  from  the  pulpit 
(x759)  i  ancl  of  Dr.  John  Conder  (1781),  with  the  epitaph, 
by  himself—"  Peccavi,  Resipui,  Confidi;  Amavi,  Requiesco, 
Resurgam;  Et,  ex  gratia  Christi,  ut  ut  indignus,  regnabo." 
One  of  the  most  interesting  tombs  is  that  of  Dr.  Nathaniel 
Lardner  (1684 — 176S),  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  Non- 
conformist divines,  author  of  the  "  Credibility  of  Gospel 
History." 

"  Dr.  Lardner's  extensive  and  accurate  investigations  into  the 
credibility  of  the  Gospel  history  have  left  scarcely  anything  more  to  be 
done  or  desired." — Onne's  Bibl.  Bib. 


i»o  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

"  No  clergyman  or  candidate  for  the  ministry  can  afford  to  he  with- 
out Dr.  Lardner's  Works,  and  no  intelligent  layman  should  be  without 
them.  If  any  man — not  idiotic,  or  destitute  of  ordinary  good  sense — 
can  read  Lardner's  Credibility  and  still  disbelieve  the  Gospel,  it  is 
absurd  for  him  to  pretend  to  believe  the  most  common  facts  of  history, 
or,  indeed,  the  existence  of  anything  beyond  the  cognizance  of  his 
five  senses." — Austin  Alibone. 

Visitors  must  seek  on  the  northern  side  of  the  burial- 
ground  for  the  tomb  of  the  famous  Independent  ministei 
Dr.  Isaac  Watts  (1674 — 1748),  author  of  the  well-known 
hymns  and  many  other  works. 

"  Every  Sabbath,  in  every  region  of  the  earth  where  his  native 
tongue  is  spoken,  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  voices  are  sending 
the  sacrifices  of  prayer  and  praise  to  God  in  the  strains  which  he  pre- 
pared for  them  a  century  ago." — James  Montgomery. 

"  It  is  sufficient  for  Watts  to  have  done  better  than  others  what  no 
man  has  done  well.  .  .  He  is  at  least  one  of  the  few  poets  with 
whom  youth  and  ignorance  may  be  safely  pleased  ;  and  happy  will  be 
that  reader  whose  mind  is  disposed  by  his  verse,  or  his  prose,  to 
imitate  him  in  all  but  his  nonconformity,  to  copy  his  benevolence  to 
man  and  his  reverence  to  God." — Dr.  Johnson. 

Not  far  from  the  grave  of  Watts,  a  modern  pyramid 
marks  that  of  Daniel  de  Foe  (1661 — 1731),  son  of  a  butcher 
in  St.  Giles,  Cripplegate,  writer  of  many  works,  but  re- 
nowned as  the  author  of  "  Robinson  Crusoe." 

"  He  must  be  acknowledged  as  one  of  the  ablest,  as  he  was  one  oi 
the  most  captivating,  writers  of  which  this  isle  can  boast." — Chalmers. 

"Robinson  Crusoe  is  delightful  to  all  ranks  and  classes.  It  is  capital 
kitchen  reading,  and  equally  worthy  from  its  deep  interest,  to  find  a 
place  in  the  libraries  of  the  wealthiest  and  the  most  learned." — Charles 
Lamb. 

Amongst  those,  not  ministers,  who  have  been  buried  here 
in  the  last  century,  are  Joseph  Kitson,  the  Antiquary  (1S03); 


BUN  HILL  FIELDS.  311 

John  Home  Tooke,  the  Reformer  (1812);  Lady  Anne 
Erskine,  ine  uustee  of  Lady  Huntingdon  (1804);  Joseph 
Hughes,  the  Founder  of  the  Bible  Society;  David  Nasmyth, 
the  Founder  of  City  Missions  (1839);  Abraham  Rees,  the 
Editor  of  "Chambers'  Encyclopaedia"  (1  j 25) ;  William 
Blake,  the  painter  and  engraver  of  "  marvellous  strange 
pictures,  visions  of  his  brain"*  (1828);  and  Thomas 
Stothard,  R.A.  (1834). 

The  inscription  on  the  tomb  of  Dame  Mary  Page  (1728) 
tells  that  "In  67  months  she  was  tapped  66  times  and  had 
taken  away  240  gallons  of  water,  without  ever  repining  at 
her  case  or  ever  fearing  the  operation." 

Milton  was  living  in  Artillery  Walk,  Bunhill  Fields  (now 
destroyed),  in  1666. 

"  An  ancient  clergyman  of  Dorsetshire,  Dr.  Wright,  found  John 
Milton  in  a  small  chamber  hung  with  rusty  green,  sitting  in  an  elbow 
chair,  and  dressed  neatly  in  black  ;  pale,  but  not  cadaverous;  his  hands 
and  fingers  gouty,  and  with  chalk  stones.  He  used  also  to  sit  in  a 
grey,  coarse  cloth  coat,  at  the  door  of  his  house  in  Bunhill  Fields,  in 
warm  sunny  weather,  to  enjoy  the  fresh  air ;  and  so,  as  well  as  in  his 
room,  received  the  visits  of  people  of  distinguished  parts  as  well  as 
quality." — J.  Richardson. 

George  Whitefield  preached  in  Bunhill  Fields  (April  30, 
1760)  at  the  grave  of  Robert  Tilling,  who  was  hung  at 
Tyburn  for  the  murder  of  his  master,  Mr.  Lloyd,  a  Bishops- 
gate  merchant.  He  frequently  preached  in  the  open  air 
in  Moorfields  to  congregations  of  from  twenty  to  thirty 
thousand  persons,  and  it  was  there  especially,  as  he  wrote 
to  Lady  Huntingdon,  that  "  he  went  to  meet  the  devil."  In 
1 741  a  wooden  tabernacle  was  built  for  him,  which  was 
superseded  by  a  brick  building  in  1753,  but  he  continued, 

•  Charles  Lamb. 


3«3  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

when  the  weather  allowed,  to  address  in  the  open  air  larger 
congregations  than  any  building  would  contain.  His  open- 
air  church  was  like  a  battle-field,  Merry-Andrews  exhibiting 
their  tricks  close  by  to  draw  off  his  congregations,  recruiting 
sergeants  with  their  drums  marching  through  the  midst  of 
his  hearers,  showers  of  dirt,  eggs,  &c,  being  perpetually 
hurled  at  him.  Whitefield's  last  sermon  in  an  English  place 
of  worship  was  preached  in  the  tabernacle  of  Moorfields 
(now  pulled  down)  August  31,  1769. 

Behind  Bunhill  Fields  (west),  in  Coleman  Street,  is  the 
entrance  to  the  dismal  Friends'  Burial  Ground,  which  was 
greatly  reduced  in  its  dimensions  for  building  purposes  iu 
1S77,  the  bones  in  the  appropriated  portion  of  the  ceme- 
tery being  removed  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  grave  of 
George  Fox  (1624 — 1690),  founder  of  the  Society  of 
Quakers,  whose  strong  religious  opinions  were  formed 
whilst  tending  his  sheep  as  a  shepherd  in  Leicestershire. 
He  became  an  itinerant  preacher  in  1647,  and  his  whole 
after-life  was  devoted,  amid  many  persecutions,  to  the 
spiritual  well-being  of  his  fellow-men.  George  Fox  was 
the  only  "  Friend  "  buried  with  a  monument,  but  his  stone 
is  now  concealed  by  a  Mission  Chapel.] 

Far  down  Bishopsgate  Without,  Skinner  Street  (on  the 
left)  was  the  centre  of  the  Skinners'  trade  as  early  as  the 
reign  of  Richard  II. 

On  the  right  is  SpitaJfields,  uow  densely  inhabited  by 
weavers.  It  once  belonged  to  the  Priory  of  St.  Mary  Spital, 
founded  in  1197  by  Walter  and  Rosia  Brune.  Its  old 
name  was  Lolesworth.  Sir  Horatio  Pallavicini  lived  here 
in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  Silk  weaving  was  introduced  in 
Spitalfields  by  French  emigrants  expelled  in  1685  on  the 


SPITALFIBLDS.  313 

revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes.  "  Spittlefields  and  the 
parts  adjoining,"  says  Stow,  "  became  a  great  harbour  for 
poor  Protestant  strangers,  Walloons  and  French,  who,  as 
in  former  days,  so  of  late,  have  been  found  to  become  exiles 
from  their  own  country  for  their  religion,  and  for  the  avoid- 
ing cruel  persecution.  Here  they  found  quiet  and  security, 
and  settled  themselves  in  their  several  trades  and  occupa- 
tions, weavers  especially ;  whereby  God's  blessing  is  surely 
not  only  brought  upon  the  parish,  by  receiving  poor 
strangers,  but  also  a  great  advantage  hath  accrued  to  the 
whole  nation,  by  the  rich  manufacture  of  weaving  silks, 
and  stuffs,  and  camlets,  which  art  they  brought  along  with 
them.  And  this  benefit  also  to  the  neighbourhood,  that 
these  strangers  may  serve  for  pattern  of  thrifty  honesty,  in- 
dustry, and  sobriety."  In  the  year  1687  alone,  no  less  than 
13,500  of  these  exiles  took  refuge  in  England.  They  so 
thoroughly  identified  themselves  with  the  nation  which 
received  them,  that  many  changed  their  French  names  into 
English  synonyms.  Thus  Le  Noir,  became  Black ;  Le 
Blanc,  White ;  Le  Brun,  Brown  ;  Oiseau,  Bird,  &c.  Many 
historic  French  names  are  still  to  be  found  in  the  district — 
Le  Sage,  Fouche  (Anglicised  into  Futcher),  and  Racine, 
whose  possessor  declares  himself  related  to  the  famous 
dramatist.  The  mothers  of  the  last  generation  were  often 
to  be  seen  in  their  old  French  costumes,  and  to  this  hour 
thousands  work  in  their  glazed  attics,  such  as  were  used  by 
their  forefathers  on  the  other  side  of  the  Channel,  which 
give  such  a  characteristic  aspect  to  the  neighbourhood.* 

In  a  walk   through  Spitalfields   no  one  will  fail   to   be 
struck  with  the  number  of  singing-birds  kept  in  the  houses, 

•  See  the  interesting  Report  of  the  New  Nichol  Street  Ragged  Schools,  1856. 


314  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

and  for  these  there  is  often  a  large  cage  near  the  roof.  The 
catching  and  training  of  singing-birds  is  a  branch  of  in- 
dustry peculiar  to  Spitalfields.  The  weavers  first  train  their 
call-birds.  An  amusing  article  on  bird-catching  in  the 
"  Encyclopaedia  Metropolitana  "  says,  "  The  bird-catchers 
frequently  lay  considerable  wagers  whose  call-birds  can  jerk 
(sing)  the  longest,  as  that  determines  the  superiority.  They 
place  them  opposite  to  each  other  by  an  inch  of  candle, 
and  the  bird  who  jerks  the  oftenest  before  the  candle  is 
burnt  out  wins  the  wager.  We  have  been  informed  that 
there  have  been  instances  of  a  bird  having  given  a  hundred 
and  seventy  jerks  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour ;  and  we  have 
known  a  linnet  in  such  a  trial  persevere  in  its  emulation 
till  it  swooned  from  its  perch." 

Spital  Square,  a.  gloomy  red  brick  square  of  the  early 
Georges,  marks  the  site  of  the  old  Hospital.  The  numbei 
of  remains  dug  up  here  prove  that  this  district  was  the 
burial-place  of  Roman  London.  Elizabeth  went  to  hear 
a  sermon  at  St.  Mary  Spittal,  with  two  white  beais 
following  her  in  a  cart,  to  be  baited  as  soon  as  it  was 
over ! 

In  Brick  Lane,  Spitalfields,  is  the  great  Brewery  of 
Truman,  Hanbury,  Buxton,  and  Co. 

Shoreditch,  which  joins  Spitalfields  on  the  west,  was 
originally  Soersditch,  from  "  its  lord,  Sir  John  Soerditch, 
of  Ickenham,  an  erudite  lawyer  trusted  by  Edward  III.,"  * 
but  tradition  continues  to  derive  its  name  from  the  beauti- 
ful goldsmith's  wife,  beloved  by  Edward  IV.  The  tradition 
has  probably  arisen  through  the  old  ballad  of  "  Jane  Shore's 
Lament,"  which  ends — 

•  Pennant. 


bHOREDlTCH.  3I 5 

44 1  could  not  get  one  bit  of  bread, 
Whereby  my  hunger  might  be  fed, 
Nor  drink,  but  such  as  channels  yield. 
Or  stinking  ditches  in  th-  field. 

Thus  weary  of  my  life,  at  lengthe 
1  yielded  up  my  vital  strength, 
Within  a  ditch  of  loathsome  scent, 
Where  carrion  dogs  did  much  frequent ; 

The  which  now,  since  my  dying  daye, 
Is  Shoreditch  called,  as  writers  saye  ; 
Which  is  a  witness  of  my  shine, 
For  being  concubine  to  a  king."  * 

Attached  to  the  Church  of  St.  Leonard  was  the  Holy 
well  nunnery,  founded  by  Sir  Thomas  Lovel,  who  died 
in  1524.     Most  of  its  windows  bore  die  lines — 

"  Al  ye  nunnes  in  Holywcl 
Pray  for  the  soul  of  Sir  Thomas  Lovel." 

Sir  George  Manners,  who  fought  with  Henry  VIII.  a_t  the 
siege  of  Tournay,  was  buried  under  the  high-altar. 

Shoreditch  has  always  had  an  immoral  reputation. 
Here  Mrs.  Milwood,  celebrated  in  the  ballad  of  "  George 
Barnwell,"  lived  "  next  door  unto  the  Gun."  "  The 
Theatre"  and  "the  Curtain,"  the  only  two  theatres  which 
were  in  existence  when  Shakspeare  came  to  London  (be- 
tween 15S3  and  1592),  were  both  in  Shoreditch.  "The 
Theatre"  was  built  in  1576  by  James  Burbage,  on  land 
leased  from  one  Giles  Allen,  and  by  1577  it  had  become  a 
favourite  resort :  it  was  removed  by  Richard  the  son  of 
James  Burbage,  that  its  materials  might  be  used  in  building 

•  Rea  ly  Jine   Shore,  released   from   her  prison  of  Ludgate  on  the  death  of 
Richard  111.,  lived  to  be  eighty,  and  died  1533. 


3i6  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

the  Globe  Theatre   in   Southwark.     "The  Curtain,"  built 
about  the  same  time  as  "  the  Theatre,"  continued  to  be  used 
till  the  time  of  Charles  I. :  its  site  is  marked  by  Gloucester 
Street,  which  was  called  Curtain  Court"  till  1745.     The 
roof  in   both    these   theatres  only  covered  the   stage   and 
galleries ;  the  central  space,  for  which  admission  was  only 
one  penny,  was  left  open  to  the  sky.     There  is  a  tradition 
that  Shakspeare  stood  at  the  doors  of  the  Shoreditch  play- 
houses and  held  the  horses  of  spectators  during  the  per- 
formance.    But  there  is  no  proof  that  he  was  ever  reduced 
to  this,  and  before  1597  his  "  Romeo  and  Juliet"  had  been 
acted  at  "the  Curtain,"  while  before  December,  1594,  he 
was  himself  an  actor,  for  entries  are  found  in  the  accounts 
of    the    Treasury    of   the    Chamber    for    sums    paid    "  to 
William  Kempe,    William    Shakspeare,   and    Richard   Bur- 
bage,  servauntes  to  the  Lord  Chamberlayne,  for  twoe  several 
comedies  or  interludes,  shewed  by  them  before  her  Majestie 
in  Christmas  tyme."  *      The  theatres   in  Shoreditch   were 
considered  as  centres  of  vice.     In  Stockswood's  sermon  at 
Paul's  Cross,  August  24,  1578,  the  preacher  says,  "What 
should  I  speak  of  beastlye  playes,  againste  which  out  of 
this  place  every  man  crieth  out  ?     I  know  not  how  I  might 
with  the  godly  learned  more  especially  discommende  the 
gorgeous  playing-place  erected  in  thefieldes  than  to  terme  it, 
as  they  please  to  have  it  called,  a  theatre,  that  is  even  after 
the  maner  of  the  olde  heathenish  theatre  at  Rome,  a  shew- 
place  of  al  beastlye  and  filthie  matters."      And  in  May, 
1583,   the    Lord    Mayor    wrote    to    Sir    F.    Walsingham, 
"  Among  others  we  finde  one  very  great  and   dangerous 
inconvenience,  the   assemblie   of  people  to  playes,  beare- 

*  See  Halliwell  S     Illustrations  of  the  Life  of  Shakspeare." 


BETHNAL   GREEN,  HACKNEY.  317 

bay  ling;  fencers,  and  prophane  spectacles  at  the  Theatre 
and  Curtaine,  and  other  like  places."  * 

Beyond  Spitalfields  to  the  east  is  the  black  poverty 
stricken  district  of  Bethnal  Green,  also  chiefly  inhabited  by 
weavers.  The  whole  population  is  of  recent  growth.  Pepys 
went  to  Sir  William  Rider's  gardens  at  Bethnal  Green,  and 
found  there  "  the  largest  quantity  of  strawberries  he  ever 
saw  and  very  good."  Sir  W.  Rider's  was  supposed  to  be 
the  house  of  "  the  Blind  Beggar,"  so  well  known  from  the 
ballad  in  Percy's  "  Reliques  " — 

"  My  father,  shee  said,  is  soone  to  be  seene, 
The  siely  blind  beggar  of  Bednall-green, 
That  daily  sits  begging  for  charitie, 
He  is  the  good  father  of  pretty  Bessee. 

His  markes  and  his  tokens  are  knowen  very  well ; 
He  alwayes  is  led  with  a  dogg  and  a  bell, 
A  siely  olde  man,  God  knoweth,  is  hee, 
Yet  hee  is  the  father  of  pretty  Bessee."t 

"  Bishop's  Hall "  and  "  Bonner's  Fields  "  commemorate  the 
residence  of  Bishop  Bonner  in  this  locality. 

The  district  of  Hoxton,  beyond  Shoreditch,  was  once 
celebrated  for  its  balsamic  wells,  and,  in  the  last  century, 
in  the  annals  of  gardening.  Farther  east  is  the  populous 
district  of  Hackney,  of  which  Archbishop  Sancroft  was  vicar. 
Here  the  popish  conspirators  assembled  at  "  the  Cock," 
Oct.  2,  1661,  with  the  intention  of  assassinating  Charles  II. 
on  his  return  from  a  visit  to  Sir  Thomas  Vyner ;  but  the 
plot  was  revealed  in  time,  though  the  conspirators  escaped. 

•  See  The  Builder,  April  17,  187$. 

+  The  beadle  ot  St.  Matthew's,  Bethnal  Green,  has  a  staff,  of  1669,  on  the  head 
of  which,  in  silver  gilt,  the  story  of  the  Blind  Beggar  and  his  daughter  is  repre- 
sented. 


31$  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

The  sign  of  "  the  King's  Head  "  at  Hackney  was  changed 
to  "  Cromwell's  Head "  under  the  Commonwealth,  for 
which  its  landlord  was  whipped  and  pilloried  at  the  Resto- 
ration, and  afterwards  called  his  inn  "  King  Charles's 
Head." 

Returning  down  Bishopsgate,  on  the  left  is  Houndsditch, 
a  relic,  in  its  name,  of  the  old  foss  which  encircled  the  city, 
formerly  a  natural  receptacle  for  dead  dogs,  whose  filth 
the  street  was  intended  to  remedy.  Richard  of  Ciren- 
cester says  that  the  body  of  Edric,  the  murderer  of 
Edmund  Ironsides,  was  thrown  into  Houndsditch.  His 
crime  had  raised  Canute  to  the  throne,  but  when  he  came 
to  claim  his  promised  reward — the  highest  position  in  the 
city — the  Danish  king  replied,  "  I  like  the  treason,  but  hate 
the  traitor  :  behead  this  fellow,  and,  as  he  claims  my  pro- 
mise, place  his  head  on  the  highest  pinnacle  of  the 
Tower."  Edric  was  then  scorched  to  death  with  flaming 
torches,  his  head  raised  on  the  highest  point  of  the 
Tower,  and  his  body  thrown  to  the  hounds  of  Hounds 
ditch. 

This  is  the  Jews'  quarter — silent  on  Saturdays,  busy  on 
Sundays.  Houndsditch  has  long  been  a  street  famous  for 
its  brokers.  In  his  "  Every  Man  in  his  Humour "  Ben 
Jonson  speaks  of  a  Houndsditch  man  as  "one  of  the  devil's 
near  kinsmen,  a  broker ; "  and  Beaumont  and  Fletcher 
allude  to  the  brokers  of  Dogsditch — ■ 

"  More  knavery  and  usury, 
Aad  foolery,  and  trickery,  than  Dogsditch." 

Cutler  Street,  on  the  left,  is  the  ancient  centre  for  the 
cutlers. 


BE  VIS  MARKS. 


319 


Duke's  Place,  Houndsditch,  occupies  the  site  of  Christ 
Church  Priory,  founded  in  1108  by  Queen  Maude.  It  was 
granted  at  the  Dissolution  to  Sir  Mhomas  Audley,  Lord 
Chancellor.  His  daughter  married  Thomas,  Duke  of  Nor- 
folk (whence    the  name),    and    was  wont   to   ride   hither 


In  Hcvis  Marks. 


through  the  city  with  one  hundred  horsemen  in  livery, 
preceded  by  four  heralds.  Holbein  died  in  the  Duke's 
house. 

Behind    Houndsditch   on   the   ricrlit  runs   Bevis   Marks 
(Bury's  Marks),  from  the  town-house  of  the  Abbots  of  Bury 


320  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

St.  Edmunds,  afterwards  "  granted  to  Thomas  Heneage  the 
father,  and  Sir  Thomas  Heneage  the  son."  * 

On  the  north  side  of  this  street,  before  the  Dissolution, 
stood  the  Hospital  of  the  Brotherhood  of  St.  Augustine 
Papey.  Here  the  sign  of  the  tavern  of  The  Blue  Pig,  only- 
very  recently  removed,  was  a  strange  instance  of  the 
endurance  of  the  sign  of  "  the  Blue  Boar,"  the  crest  of 
Richard  III.,  who,  as  Duke  of  Gloucester,  resided  close  by 
m  Crosby  Hall. 

•  Maitland,  ii.  78a. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CITY. 

THE  labyrinthine  but  most  busy  streets  which  form  the 
centre  of  the  City  of  London  to  the  south  of  the  Royal 
Exchange  are  filled  with  objects  of  interest,  though  of  minor 
interest,  amid  which  it  will  be  difficult  to  thread  our  way, 
and  impossible  to  keep  up  any  continuous  connection  of 
associations.  The  houses,  which  have  looked  down  upon 
so  many  generations  of  toilers,  are  often  curious  in  them- 
selves. The  City  churches  for  the  most  part  are  dying 
a  slow  death ;  their  congregations  have  ebbed  and  will 
never  flow  back.  Very  few  are  worth  visiting  for  their 
own  sakes,  yet  almost  every  one  contains  some  tomb  or  other 
fragment  which  gives  it  a  historic  interest.  Dickens  vividly 
describes  their  general  aspect  and  the  kind  of  thoughts 
which  are  awakened  by  attending  a  service  in  one  of  these 
queer  old  churches. 

"  There  is  a  pale  heap  of  books  in  the  corner  of  every  pew,  and  while 
the  organ,  which  is  hoarse  and  sleepy,  plays  in  such  a  fashion  that  I 
can  hear  more  of  the  rusty  working  of  the  stops  than  of  the  music,  I 
look  at  the  books,  which  are  mostly  bound  in  faded  baize  and  stuff. 
They  belonged,  in  1754,  to  the  Dowgate  family.  And  who  were  they  ? 
Jane  Comport  must  have  married  young  Dowgate,  and  come  into  the 
family  that  way.     Young  Dowgate  was  courting  Jane  Comport  when 

VOL.    I.  Y 


322  WALK'S  IN  LONDON. 

he  gave  her  her  prayer-book,  and  recorded  the  presentation  in  the  fly- 
leaf. If  Jane  were  fond  of  young  Dowgate,  why  did  she  die  and  leave 
the  book  here  ?  Perhaps  at  the  rickety  altar,  and  before  the  damp 
Commandments,  she,  Comport,  had  taken  him,  Dowgate,  in  a  flush  of 
youthful  hope  and  joy,  and  perhaps  it  had  not  turned  out  in  the  long 
run  as  great  a  success  as  was  expected. 

"  The  opening  of  the  sen-ice  recalls  my  wandering  thoughts.  I  then 
find  to  my  astonishment  that  I  have  been,  and  still  am,  taking  a  strccg 
kind  of  invisible  snuff  up  my  nose,  into  my  eyes,  and  down  my  throat. 
I  wink,  sneeze,  and  cough.  The  clerk  sneezes  ;  the  clergyman  winks ; 
the  unseen  organist  sneezes  and  coughs  (and  probably  winks) ;  all  our 
little  party  wink,  sneeze,  and  cough.  The  snuff  seems  to  be  made  of 
the  decay  of  matting,  wood,  cloth,  stone,  iron,  earth,  and  something 
else.  Is  the  something  else  the  decay  of  dead  citizens  in  the  vaults 
below  ?  As  sure  as  death  it  is !  Not  only  in  the  cold  damp  February 
day,  do  we  cough  and  sneeze  dead  citizens,  all  through  the  service,  but 
dead  citizens  have  got  into  the  very  bellows  of  the  organ  and  half 
choked  the  same.  We  stamp  our  feet  to  warm  them,  and  dead  citizens 
arise  in  heavy  clouds.  Dead  citizens  stick  upon  the  walls,  and  lie 
pulverised  on  the  sounding-board  over  the  clergyman's  head,  and  when 
a  gust  of  air  comes,  tumble  down  upon  him. 

******* 

"  In  the  churches  about  Mark  Lane  there  was  a  dry  whiff  of  wheat ; 
and  I  accidentally  struck  an  airy  sample  of  barley  out  of  an  aged  hassock 
in  one  of  them.  From  Rood  Lane  to  Tower  Street,  and  thereabouts, 
there  was  sometimes  a  subtle  flavour  of  wine ;  sometimes  of  tea.  One 
church,  near  Mincing  Lane,  smelt  like  a  druggist's  drawer.  Behind  the 
Monument,  the  service  had  a  flavour  of  damaged  oranges,  which,  a 
little  farther  down  the  river,  tempered  into  herrings,  and  gradually 
turned  into  a  cosmopolitan  blast  of  fish.  In  one  church,  the  exact 
counterpart  of  the  church  in  the  '  Rake's  Progress,'  where  the  hero 
is  being  married  to  the  horrible  old  lady,  there  was  no  speciality  of 
atmosphere,  until  the  organ  shook  a  perfume  of  hides  all  over  us  from 
some  adjacent  warehouse. 

"  The  dark  vestries  and  registries  into  which  I  have  peeped,  and  the 
little  hemmed  in  churchyards  that  have  echoed  to  my  feet,  have  left 
impressions  on  my  memory  as  distinct  and  quaint  as  any  it  has  in  that 
way  received.  In  all  those  dusty  registers  that  the  worms  are  eating, 
there  is  not  a  line  but  made  some  hearts  leap,  or  some  tears  flow,  in 
their  day.  Still  and  dry  now,  still  and  dry!  and  the  old  tree  at  the 
window,  with  no  room  for  its  branches,  has  seen  them  all  out.  So  with 
the  tomb  of  the  Master  of  the  old  Company,  on  which  it  drips.     His 


CANNON  STREET.  323 

son  restored  it  and  died,  his  daughter  restored  it  and  died,  and  then  he 
had  been  remembered  long  enough,  and  the  tree  took  possession  of 
him,  and  his  name  cracked  out." — The  Uncommercial  Traveller. 

The  great  new  street  which  leads  out  of  St.  Paul's  Church- 
3rard  to  the  S.W.  is  Cannon  Street,  originally  Candlewick 
Street,  the  head-quarters  of  the  wax-chandlers  who  flourished 
by  Roman  Catholicism.  In  the  formation  of  the  new  street, 
many  old  buildings  were  destroyed,  the  most  interesting 
being  Gerard's  (Gisor's?)  Hall  in  Basing  Lane,  with  a  noble 
crypt  probably  built  by  Sir  John  Gisors,  Mayor  in  1245  :  in 
which  a  gigantic  firpole  was  shown  as  the  staff  of  "  Gerard 
the  Giant."  The  figure  of  the  giant,  which  adorned  the 
outside  of  the  house,  is  now  in  the  museum  of  the  Guild- 
hall. Distaff  Lane,  near  the  entrance  of  Cannon  Street  on 
the  right,  leads  to  Old  Fish  Street.  Here  are  the  Church  of 
St.  Nicholas  Cole  Abbey,  the  first  church  finished  by  Wren 
after  the  Fire,  and  the  Church  of  St.  Mary  Magdalen, 
another  of  Wren's  works,  rather  good  in  its  proportions.  In 
the  vestibule  is  a  brass  rescued  from  the  old  church,  with 
the  date  1558,  and  the  inscription — 

"  In  God  the  Lord  put  all  your  trust, 
Repent  your  former  wicked  daies. 
Elizabeth,  our  queen  most  just, 
Bless  her,  O  Lord,  in  all  her  waies. 
So,  Lord,  increase  good  counsellours 
And  preachers  of  His  holy  word  ; 
Mislike  of  all  papists  desires — 
Oh  Lord,  cut  them  off  with  thy  sword. 
How  small  soever  the  gift  shall  bee, 
Thank  God  for  him  who  gave  it  thee  : 
XII.  penie  loaves  to  XII.  poor  foulkes 
Give,  every  Sabbath  day  for  aye." 

As  a  monument  saved  from  a  church  burnt  in  the  Great 
Fire  this  deserves  notice. 


3:4  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Knightrider  Street,  which  opens  hence  to  the  west,  is 
supposed  to  derive  its  name  from  the  processions  of  knights 
riding  from  Tower  Royal  to  tournaments  in  Smithfield. 
No.  5  was  the  house  of  the  great  physician  Linacre, 
bequeathed  by  him  to  the  College  of  Physicians. 

Cannon  Street  is  now  crossed  by  Bread  Street,  so  called 
from  the  market  in  which  bakers  of  Bromley  and  Stratford- 
le-Bow  were  forced  to  sell  their  bread  before  the  reign  of 
Edward  I.,  being  forbidden  to  sell  it  in  their  houses.  On 
the  right  is  St.  Mildred's,  Bread  Street,  one  of  Wren's  worst 
rebuildings,  dedicated  to  a  Saxon  princess  who  was  abbess 
of  Minster.  It  is  wretched  externally,  but  has  an  elegantly 
supported  dome.  The  pulpit  is  attributed  to  Grinling 
Gibbons.  An  interesting  monument  commemorates  Sir 
Nicholas  Crisp,  the  indefatigable  agent  of  Charles  I., 
who  at  one  time  would  wait  for  information  at  the 
water's  edge  dressed  as  a  porter,  with  a  basket  of  fish  on 
his  head,  and  at  another  would  disguise  himself  as  a  butter- 
woman  and  carry  his  news  out  of  London  mounted  between 
two  panniers.  His  epitaph  tells  how  "Sir  Nicholas  Crisp, 
anciently  inhabitant  in  this  parish  and  a  great  benefactor  to 
it,  was  the  old  faithful  servant  to  King  Charles  I.  and  King 
Charles  II.,  for  whom  he  suffered  very  much,  and  lost  above 
^100,000  in  their  service,  but  this  was  repaid  in  some 
measure  by  King  Charles  II." 

In  Bread  Street,  at  the  sign  of  the  Spread  Eagle,  the 
armorial  ensign  of  his  family,  John  Milton  was  born, 
December  9,  1608,  being  the  son  of  a  scrivener.  His 
birthplace  was  destroyed  in  the  Great  Fire  of  1666,  before 
the  publication  of  "  Paradise  Lost."  The  poet  was  baptised 
in  the  old  Church  of  All  Hallows  at  the  corner  of  Bread 


THE  LOST  CHURCH  OF  ALL   HALLOWS.         325 

Street  and  Watling  Street.  It  was  destroyed  in  the  Fire,  but 
rebuilt  by  Wren.  The  second  church  was  condemned  to 
destruction  in  1877,  the  same  year  which  witnessed  the 
demolition  of  the  house  in  Petty  France  which  was  the 
last  remaining  of  Milton's  many  London  homes.  In  the 
register  of  All  Hallows  his  baptism  is  recorded,  and  he  was 
commemorated  on  the  church  wall  towards  Watling  Street 
in  the  inscription,  which  city  waggoners  often  lingered  to 
decipher — 

"  Three  poets,  in  three  distant  ages  bora, 
Greece,  Italy,  and  England,  did  adorn. 
The  first  in  loftiness  of  thought  surpast, 
The  next  in  majesty — in  both  the  last. 
The  force  of  nature  could  no  further  go  : 
To  make  a  third,  she  joined  the  former  two.* 

John  Milton  was  born  in  Bread  Street  on 
Friday  the  9th  day  of  December,  1608, 
And  was  baptised  in  the  parish  church  of 
Allhallows,  Bread  Street,  on  Tuesday  the 
20th  day  of  December,  1608." 

In  the  old  church  was  buried  Alderman  Richard  Reed, 
who  refused  to  pay  his  contribution  to  the  Northern  Wars 
of  Henry  VIII.  and  was  sent  down  to  serve  as  a  soldier, 
at  his  own  cost,  "  that,  as  he  could  not  find  it  in  his  heart 
to  disburse  a  little  quantity  of  his  substance,  he  might  do 
some  service  for  his  country  with  his  body,  whereby  he 
might  be  somewhat  instructed  of  the  difference  between  the 
sitting  quietly  in  his  house  and  the  travail  and  danger 
which  others  daily  do  sustain,  whereby  he  hath  hitherto 
been  maintained  in  the  same."  He  was  taken  prisoner  by 
the  Scotch  and  obliged  to  purchase  his  ransom  for  a  large 

•  I)ryden. 


}26  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

sum.  In  the  vestry  of  the  later  church  was  a  monumental 
tablet  inscribed  "  In  memory  of  the  Rev.  W.  Lawrence 
Saunders,  M.A.,  Rector  of  All  Hallows,  who,  for  sermons 
here  preached  in  defence  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Reforma- 
tion of  the  Church  of  England  from  the  corruptions  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  suffered  martyrdom  in  ye  third  of  Queen 
Mary,  being  burned  at  Coventry,  February  ye  8th,  1555." 
John  Howe,  the  eminent  nonconformist  divine,  author  of 
u  The  Living  Temple,"  "  The  Blessedness  of  the  Righteous," 
&c,  was  buried  here  in  1705.  Some  of  the  fine  oak  carving 
from  All  Hallows  is  preserved  at  St.  Mary-le-Bow. 

Watling  Street — so  called  from  the  Saxon  word  Atheling, 
noble — is  part  of  the  old  Roman  road  from  London  to  Dover. 
As  we  look  down  it  we  see  one  of  the  most  picturesque 
views  in  the  City.  The  tower  on  the  right  belongs  to 
Wren's  restoration  of  the  Church  of  St.  Augustine,  formerly 
called  "  Ecclesia  Sancti  Augustini  ad  Portam"  from  its  posi- 
tion at  the  south-west  gate  of  the  precincts  of  St.  Paul's,  one 
of  the  six  gates  by  which  the  old  cathedral  was  approached. 
"  Here,"  says  Strype,  "  the  fraternity  met  on  the  eve  of  St. 
Austin,  and  in  the  morning  at  High  Mass,  when  every 
brother  offered  a  penny  and  was  ready  afterwards  either  to 
eat  or  to  revel  as  the  master  and  wardens  directed."  Beyond 
rises  the  great  dome,  "  huge  and  dusky,  with  here  and  there 
a  space  on  its  vast  form  where  the  original  whiteness  of 
the  marble  comes  out  like  a  streak  of  moonshine  amid  the 
blackness  with  which  time  has  made  it  grander  than  it  was 
in  its  newness."  *  In  Watling  Street  is  the  central  station 
of  the  Metropolitan  Fire  Brigade. 

The  Church  of  St.  Mary  Aider mary  or  St.  Mary  the  Elder, 

•  Hawthorne. 


TOIVER  ROYAL.  377 

hi  Bow  Lane  (right),  which  crosses  Watling  Street  to  the 
east,  occupies  the  site  of  the  first  church  dedicated  to  the 
Virgin  in  the  City.  The  present  building  (restored  1S76  77) 
is  Gothic  (Perpendicular)  in  spite  of  its  being  one  of  Wren's 
restorations  (in  16S1),  for  he  was  forced  by  a  bequest  of 
^5.000  in  aid  of  the  rebuilding  to  make  the  new  church  a 
copy  of  its  predecessor,  which  had  been  built  c.  15 10  by  : 
Henry  Keeble,  a  grocer,  Lord  Mayor  in  15 10,  called,  in 
epitaph  in  the  old  building — 

"  A  famous  worthy  wight 

"Which  did  this  Aldermary  Church 
Erect  and  set  upright." 

The  monuments  from  St.  Antholin's  have  been  placed  in  the 
tower.     Stow  says  that  "  Richard   Chawcer,  Vintner,  - 
to  this  church  his  tenement  and  tavern,  with  the  app 
nances  in  the  Royal  Street,  the  corner  of  Kirion  Lane,  and 
was  there  buried,  134S  "  :  this  was  the  father  of  Get 
Chaucer,  the  poet. 

S:.  Pancras  Lane,  on  the  left  of  Waiting  Street,  leads  to  a 
quiet  little  churchyard,  where,  an  inscription  says,  •■Before 
ye  dreadful  fire  anno  1666,  stood  ye  church  of  St.  Benet, 
Sherehog." 

-  .  •  Royal  (on  the  left  of  Cannon  Street1)  now  marks 
the  site  of  an  old  Royal  Palace,  inhabited  by  K 
Stephen  and  restored  by  Queen  Philippa,  after  which  it 
was  known  as  the  "  Queen's  Wardrobe."  I:  was  here 
that  the  Fair  Maid  of  Kent,  widow  of  the  Black  Pr.r.ce,  was 
living  during  the  Wat  Tyler  invasion,  when  the  rebels 
terrified  her  by  breaking  in,  and  :  bed  with  then 

swords,  but — 


3**  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

"  King  Richard,  having  in  Smithfield  overcome  and  dispersed  the 
rebels,  he,  his  lords,  and  all  his  company  entered  the  City  of  London 
with  great  joy.  and  went  to  the  lady  princess  his  mother,  who  was  then 
lodged  in  the  Tower  Royal,  called  the  Queen's  Wardrobe,  where  she 
had  remained  three  days  and  two  nights  right  sore  abashed.  But  when 
she  saw  the  king  her  son  she  was  greatly  rejoiced,  and  said,  '  Ah  !  son, 
what  great  sorrow  have  I  suffered  for  you  this  day ! '  The  king 
answered  and  said,  '  Certainly,  madam,  I  know  it  well,  but  now 
rejoice,  and  thank  God,  for  I  have  this  day  recovered  mine  heritage,  and 
the  realm  of  England,  which  I  had  near-hand  lost." — Stow. 

Riley  derives  the  name  of  Tower  Royal  from  a  street 
built  in  the  thirteenth  century  by  merchants  of  the  Vintry, 
who  imported  wine  from  the  town  of  La  Re'ole  near  Bor- 
deaux. The  "  great  house  "  of  Tower  Royal  was  granted 
to  the  first  Duke  of  Norfolk — "Jockey  of  Norfolk" — by 
Richard  III.  It  afterwards  became  a  "stable  for  the  king's 
horses  "  and  was  gradually  destroyed 

On  the  left,  between  the  end  of  Watling  Street  and  Budge 
Row,  so  called  from  sellers  of  Budge  (lamb-skin)  fur,  was 
St.  Antholin's  or  St.  Anthony's,  one  of  Wren's  churches, 
destroyed  by  the  Ecclesiastical  Commissioners  in  1876,  and 
its  site  built  over.  Great  intercession  was  vainly  made  for 
the  preservation  of  the  tower,  built  1685 — 88,  which  was 
a  noble  work  of  the  great  City  architect,  and  might  have 
been  the  greatest  ornament  to  the  new  street  and  utilised  as 
a  clock-tower.  It  only  occupied  forty-four  square  yards  and 
in  no  way  interfered  with  the  traffic,  but  the  impossibility  of 
doing  without  the  rent  of  this  space  in  the  most  richly 
endowed  square  mile  of  the  whole  territory  of  the  Church 
was  considered  a  sufficient  excuse  for  its  destruction !  The 
Commissioners  from  the  Church  of  Scotland  were  lodged 
close  by  St.  Antholin's,  with  a  gallery  opening  from  their 
house  into  the  church,  where  their  own  chaplains  preached, 


LONDON  STONE.  3»9 

of  whom  Alexander  Henderson  was  the  chief.  "  To  hear 
these  sermons,''  says  Clarendon,  "  there  was  so  great  a  con- 
flux and  resort  by  the  citizens,  out  of  humour  and  faction, 
by  others  of  all  qualities,  part  of  curiosity,  by  some  that  they 
might  the  better  justify  the  contempt  they  had  of  them, 
that  from  the  first  appearance  of  day  in  the  morning  of 
ever)'  Sunday  to  the  shutting  in  of  the  light  the  church  was 
never  empty  ;  they  (especially  the  women)  who  had  the 
happiness  to  get  into  the  church  in  the  morning  (they  who 
could  not  hung  upon  or  about  the  windows  without,  to  be 
auditors  or  spectators)  keeping  the  places  till  the  after- 
noon exercises  were  finished."*  '•  S.  Antholine's,"  savs 
Dugdale  "(from  its  'Morning  Lectures '),  was  the  grand 
nursery  whence  most  of  the  Seditious  Preachers  were 
after  sent  abroad  throughout  all  England  to  poyson 
the  people  with  their  anti-monarchical  principles."!  The 
Puritanical  piety  of  St.  Antholin's  is  much  ridiculed  by 
contemporary  poets. 

Facing  Cannon  Street,  opposite  the  Railway  Station,  is 
the  Church  of  St.  Swithin,  rebuilt  by  Wren,  in  the  Roman 
Renaissance  style,  but  remodelled  as  a  mongrel  Gothic 
church  in  1869.  In  the  old  church  Dryden  had  been 
married  to  Lady  Elizabeth  Howard,  December  1.  1663. 

Built  into  this  church,  facing  the  Station,  is  the  famous 
London  Stone,  now  encased  in  masonry  and  only  visible 
through  a  circular  opening  wi'.h  an  iron  grille.  It  is  sup- 
posed by  Camden  to  have  been  a  Roman  Milliarium — 
the  central  terminus  whence  all  the  great  Roman  roads 
radiated  over  England,  and  which  answered  to  the  Golden 

•  Clarendon's  "  Hist,  of  t'-e  Rebellion,"  e  L  it  ;  ;i. 

t  Dugdale's  "  Troubles  in  England,"  fol.  1681,  p.  37. 


33° 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


Milestone  in  the  Forum  at  Rome.  It  is  probably  now  a 
mere  fragment  of  its  former  self.  Stow  says,  speaking  of 
Walbrook — 

"  On  the  south  side  of  this  high  street,  neere  unto  the  channel!,  is 
pitched  upright  a  great  stone,  called  London  Stone,  fixed  in  the 
ground  very  deep,  fastened  with  bars  of  iron,  and  otherwise  so  stronglie 
set,  that  if  cartes  do  runne  against  it  through  negligence,  the  wheeles 


London  Stone. 


be  broken,  and  the  stone  itselfe  unshaken.  The  cause  why  this  stone 
was  there  set,  the  verie  time  when,  or  other  memory  hereof,  is  there 
none ;  but  that  the  same  hath  long  continued  there,  is  manifest, 
namely  since,  or  rather  before  the  time  of  the  Conquest.  For  in  the 
end  of  a  fayre  written  Gospell  booke,  given  to  Christes  Church  in 
Canterburie,  by  Ethelstane,  King  of  the  West  Saxons,  I  find  noted  of 
lands  or  rents  in  London,  belonging  to  the  said  Church,  whereof  one 
parcel  is  described  to  lye  near  unto  London  Stone.  Of  later  time  we 
read  that,  in  the  year  of  Christ   1135,  the  1st  of  King  Stephen,  a  fire 


ST.  MARY  ABCHURCH.  331 

which  began  in  the  house  of  one  Ailwarde,  neare  unto  London  Stone, 
consumed  all  east  to  Ealdgate  ....  and  those  be  the  eldest  notes 
that  I  read  thereof." 

London  Stone  seems  to  have  been  looked  upon  as  a  kind 
of  palladium  in  London,  as  the  Coronation  Stone  was  in 
Scotland.  As  such,  the  adventurous  Kentish  rebel,  Jack 
Cade,  seems  to  have  regarded  it,  for  when,  in  1450,  in  the 
time  of  Henry  VI.,  he  entered  London  with  royal  honours, 
calling  himself  John  Mortimer,  it  was  straight  to  London 
Stone  that  he  rode,  and,  striking  upon  it  with  his  sword, 
cried,  "  Now  is  Mortimer  lord  of  the  City."  Shakspeare 
makes  him  say — 

"  Now  is  Mortimer  lord  of  this  city.  And  here,  sitting  upon  London 
Stone,  I  charge  and  command  that  the  conduit  run  nothing  but  claret 
wine  this  first  year  of  our  reign.  And  now  henceforward  it  shall  be 
treason  for  any  that  calls  me  Lord  Mortimer." — Hen.  VI.pt.  ii.  Act 
iv.  sc.  6. 

Dryden  alludes  to  this  in  his  fable  of  the  "  Cock  and 

the  Fox  "— 

"  The  bees  in  arms 
Drive  headlong  from  the  waxen  cells  in  swarms. 
Jack  Straw  at  London  Stone,  with  all  his  rout, 
Struck  not  the  city  with  so  loud  a  shout." 

The  brick  church  of  St.  Mary  Abchurch  (from  Up-church, 
being  on  rising  ground),  finished  1689,  is  externally  one  of 
Wren's  ugliest  rebuildings,  but  internally  of  peculiar  and 
beautiful  design.  Its  cupola,  painted  by  Sir  fames  Thoni- 
hill  is  supported  by  eight  arches  and  pendentives.  The 
altar-piece  is  an  exquisite  work  of  Gibbons,  and  the  font- 
cover  a  fine  piece  of  Renaissance  work.  Here  are  monu- 
ments to  Sir  Patience  Ward,  the  Lord  Mayor  (1696)  under 
whom  the  Monument  was  built  (ot  whom   the  Merchant 


332  WALK'S  IN  LONDON. 

Tailors'  Company  have  a  fine  portrait)  ;  Edward  Sherwood, 
1^90 ;  and  Alderman  Perchard.  In  Crooked  Lane,  at  the 
end  of  Cannon  Street  on  the  right,  was  St.  Michael's  Church 
(now  destroyed),  where  Sir  William  Walworth,  who  slew 
Wat  Tyler,  was  buried,  with  the  epitaph — 

"  Here  under  lyeth  a  mon  of  fame, 
William  Walworth  called  by  name. 
Fishmonger  he  was  in  lyff  time  here, 
And  twise  Lord  Maior,  as  in  bookes  appere ; 
Who  with  courage  stout  and  manly  myght 
Slew  Jack  Straw  in  Kyng  Richard's  syght. 
For  which  act  done  and  trew  content, 
The  kyng  made  him  knyght  incontinent, 
And  gave  hym  amies,  as  here  you  see, 
To  declare  his  fact  and  chivalrie. 
He  left  this  lyff  the  yere  of  our  God, 
Thirteen  hundred  fourscore  and  three  odd." 

Cannon  Street  falls  into  King  William  Street  opposite 
the  statue  of  William  IV.  Behind  the  junction  of  King 
William  Street  and  Grace  Church  Street  is  the  Church  0/ 
St.  Clement,  Eastcheap,  one  of  Wren's  restorations.  In  the 
old  church  Bishop  Pearson  (pb.  1686)  was  rector.  His 
exposition  of  the  Creed  is  dedicated  "  to  the  right  worship- 
ful and  well-beloved,  the  parishioners  of  St.  Clement's  East- 
cheap." 

The  name  of  this  church  is  now  the  only  relic  of  the 
street  of  Eastcheap,  swallowed  up  in  Cannon  Street.  It 
was  once  the  especial  mart  of  the  Butchers,  afterwards 
removed  to  Leadenhall. 

"  Then  I  hyed  me  into  Est-Chepe, 
One  cryes  rybbs  of  befe,  and  many  a  pye ; 
Pewter  pottes  they  clattered  on  a  heape, 
But  for  lacke  of  money  I  myght  not  spede." 

John  Lydgate's  London  Lyckpenny, 


ST.  MARY   WOOLNOTH.  333 

Here  was  the  famous  tavern  of  the  Boar's  Head,  immor- 
talised by  Shakspeare,  burnt  in  the  Fire,  rebuilt,  and 
finally  destroyed  in  183 1  :  William  IV.'s  statue  marks  its 
site.  Washington  Irving  describes  his  vain  search  for  the 
tavern,  but  narrates  that  he  saw  at  the  "  Mason's  Arms,"  in 
Mile  Lane,  a  snuff-box  presented  to  the  Vestry  Meetings  at 
the  Boar's  Head  Tavern  in  1767,  with  a  representation  of 
the  tavern  on  the  lid,  and  a  goblet  from  the  tavern,  which 
he  fondly  believed  was  the  "  parcel-gilt "  goblet  on  which 
Falstaff  made  his  loving  but  faithless  vow  to  Dame 
Quickly. 

Grace  Church  Street  takes  its  name  from  the  demolished 
church  of  St.  Benet,  called  "  Grass  Church "  from  the 
adjoining  herb-market.  The  name  was  formerly  written 
"  Gracious  Street."  In  White  Hart  Court,  opening  from 
this  street,  was  the  Quakers'  Meeting  House,  in  which 
George  Fox,  the  founder  of  the  Quakers,  preached  two  days 
before  his  death,  and  in  the  house  of  Henry  Goldney  in  the 
same  court  he  died,  in  1690. 

Leaving  "the  Monument"  for  the  present,  we  must  now 
make  an  inner  circle,  and  turn  up  the  broad  new  King 
William  Street  nearly  as  far  as  the  Mansion  House. 

Here  (on  the  right),  in  the  junction  of  King  William 
Street  and  Lombard  Street,  is  the  grotesque  Church  of  St. 
Mary  Woolnoth  *  designed  by  Nicholas  Hawksmoor,  the 
"  domestic  clerk"  of  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  in  1716.  The 
niches  and  windows  at  the  sides  are  tolerably  bold  imitations 
of  fifteenth  century  Italian  work.  The  interior  is  quadran- 
gular, with  odd  wooden  decorations  against  the  walls,  and 
gaudily  painted  pillars.     Over  the  entrance  hang  the  helmet, 

•  The  origin  of  this  name  is  unknown. 


334  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

gloves,  sword,  spurs,  and  coat  of  Sir  Martin  Bowes,  Lord 
Mayor  in  1545,  whose  portrait  is  at  the  Goldsmiths'  Hall. 
Against  the  north  wall  is  a  monument  to  John  Newton, 
the  friend  of  Cowper,  author  of  the  "  Cardiphonia"  and 
"Omicion"  and  of  many  of  the  "  Olney  Hymns."  He 
v,as  for  sixteen  years  Rector  of  Olney,  and  for  twenty-eight 
years  rector  of  this  parish,  where  he  died  December  21, 
1807.  The  tablet  is  inscribed  with  an  epitaph  horn  his 
own  pen — 

"  John  Newton,  clerk,  once  an  infidel  and  libertine,  a  servant  of 
slaves  in  Africa,  was  by  the  rich  mercy  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,  preserved,  restored,  pardoned,  and  appointed  to  preach  the 
faith  he  had  long  laboured  to  destroy." 

"  I  remember,  when  a  lad  of  about  fifteen,  being  taken  by  my  uncle 
to  hear  the  well-known  Mr.  Newton  (the  friend  of  Cowper  the  poet) 
preach  his  wife's  funeral  sermon  in  the  church  of  St.  Mary  Woolnoth,  in 
Lombard  Street.  Newton  was  then  well  stricken  in  years,  with  a 
tremulous  voice,  and  in  the  costume  of  the  full-bottomed  wig  of  the 
day.  He  had,  and  always  had,  the  entire  possession  of  the  ear  of  his 
congregation.  He  spoke  at  first  feebly  and  leisurely,  but  as  he  warmed, 
his  ideas  and  his  periods  seemed  mutually  to  enlarge  :  the  tears  trickled 
down  his  cheeks,  and  his  action  and  expression  were  at  times  quite  out 
of  the  ordinary  course  of  things.  It  was  as  the  '  mens  agitans  molem  et 
magno  se  corpore  miscens.'  In  fact  the  preacher  was  one  with  his 
discourse.  To  this  day  I  have  not  forgotten  his  text,  Hab.  hi.  17,  18 : 
'  Although  the  fig-tree  shall  not  blossom,  neither  shall  fruit  be  in  the 
vines  ;  the  labour  of  the  olive  shall  fail,  and  the  fields  shall  yield  no 
meat ;  the  flock  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  fold,  and  there  shall  be  no 
herd  in  the  stalls  ;  yet  I  will  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  I  will  joy  in  the  God 
of  my  salvation.'  Newton  always  preached  extemporaneous." — DibdMs 
Reminiscences  of  a  Literary  Life. 

Let  us  now  turn  down  Lombard  Street — the  street  of 
Bankers,  which  derived  its  name  from  the  Italian  merchants 
who  frequented  it  before  the  reign  of  Edward  II.  Jane 
Shore,  the  beloved  of  Edward  IV.,  was  the  wife  of  a  gold- 


LOMBARD  STREET  AND  FENCHURCH  STREET.   335 

smith  in  this  street ;  Guy,  the  founder  of  Guy's  Hospital, 
was  a  bookseller  here  ;  and  here,  where  his  father  was  a 
linen-draper,  the  poet  Pope  was  born  in  1688  amongst 
the  merchants  and  money-makers.  At  No.  68  was  Sir 
Thomas  Gresham's  banking  office  and  goldsmith's  shop, 
once  surmounted  ljy  a  huge  gilt  grasshopper.  On  the 
right,  Nicholas  Lane  leads  by  the  churchyard  of  St.  Nicholas 
Aeon,  never  rebuilt  after  the  Great  Fire.  On  the  left  is 
the  Church  of  St.  Edmund  the  English  King  and  Martyr, 
which  now  also  serves  for  the  parishes  of  St.  Benet, 
Grace  Church,  and  St.  Leonard,  Eastcheap.  It  is  one  of 
Wren's  restorations.  In  the  old  church  on  this  site  was 
buried  John  Shute  (1563),  who  published  one  of  the  fust 
English  architectural  works — "  The  First  and  Chief  Groundes 
of  Architecture."  Opposite  this  church  a  court  till  lately 
led  to  a  Quakers'  Meeting  House,  where  Penn  and  Fox 
frequently  preached.  Birchin  Lane  (left)  was  formerly 
Burchover  Lane,  from  its  builder.  In  Clements  Lane 
(right)  the  quaint  sign  of  "  The  Three  Foxes  "  existed  till 
the  house  it  adorned  (No.  6)  was  let  to  three  lawyers,  who 
felt  it  personal  and  had  it  plastered  over. 

On  the  left  of  Lombard  Street  is  another  poor  work  of 
Wren,  the  Church  of  Ailhalloivs,  Lombard  Street.  The 
church  is  of  Saxon  foundation  and  is  mentioned  in  records 
of  1653.  It  is  now  called  "  the  Invisible  Church,"  so 
completely  is  it  concealed  by  houses,  and  this  4s  no  loss. 
In  the  interior  is  some  good  wood-carving. 

From  Lombard  Street,  Fenchurch  Street  leads  to  Aldgate, 
taking  its  name  from  the  fenny  ground  caused  by  the  over- 
flowings of  the  Lang  Bourne,  a  clear  brook  of  sweet  water 
which  ran  down  Fen  Church  Street  and  Lombard  Street  as 


iib 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


far  as  St.  Mary  Woolnoth,  where  it  broke  into  several  small 
rills  which  flowed  southward  to  the  Thames.  Many  of  the 
buildings  in  this  street  bear  a  date  immediately  after  the 
Great  Fire,  in  which  it  was  consumed.  Pepys  saw  "  Fan- 
church  Street,  Gracious  Street,  and  Lombard  Street  all  in 
dust."  At  the  corner  of  Lime  Street  (so  called  from  the 
lime-burners — the  neighbouring  Coleman  Street  and  Seacoal 
Lane  having  the  same  origin)  is  the  Church  of  St.  Dionis 
Backchurch  (dedicated  to  the  Athenian,  who  is  called  St. 
Denys  in  France),  rebuilt  by  Wren  after  the  Fire.  Its 
second  name  indicates  its  position.  St.  Gabriel  (of  which 
no  trace  remains),  standing  close  by,  was  called  "  Fore- 
church,"  from  its  position  in  the  centre  of  Fenchurch  Street. 
St.  Dionis  is  now  (1877)  condemned.  It  contains  the 
monument  of  Sir  Arthur  Ingram,  168 1,  from  whom  Ingram 
Court,  which  we  have  just  passed  on  the  left,  derives  its 
name ;  and  in  the  vestry  are  preserved  four  specimens  of  the 
earliest  type  of  fire-engines — large  syringes,  three  feet  long, 
fastened  by  straps  round  the  body  of  the  man  who  works  them. 
The  Pewterers'  Hall  in  Lime  Street  (No.  15)  contains  a 
curious  portrait  of  William  Smallwood,  Master  of  the  Com- 
pany in  the  time  of  Henry  VII. 

On  the  right  of  Fenchurch  Street,  Philpot  Lane  records 
its  ownership  by  Sir  John  Philpot,  grocer  and  mayor 
under  Richard  II.  Hard  by,  in  Rood  Lane,  the  next 
turn  on  the  right,  is  the  Church  of  St.  Margaret  Pattens, 
rebuilt  by  Wren,  and  so  named  "  because,  of  old,  pattens 
were  there  usually  made  and  sold."  *  The  church  contains 
a  good  deal  of  handsome  carving.  Dr.  Thomas  Birch  {ob. 
1766),  author  of  the  "General  Dictionary,"  "  Memoirs  of 

*  Stow. 


ALL  HALLOWS  STAINING. 


337 


the  Reign  of  Elizabeth,"  &c.,  was  rector  of  this  church  and 
was  buried  in  the  chancel. 

Mincing  Lane  (right)  is  named  from  houses  which 
belonged  to  the  Minchuns  or  nuns  of  St.  Helen's.  Near  the 
entrance  of  the  lane,  on  the  left,  an  iron  gate  is  the  entrance 
to  the  Hall  of  the  Ciothworkers1  Company,  whose  badge  is 
a  ram.  About  one  hundred  and  ten  poor  men  and  the 
same  number  of  women  are  clothed  throughout  by  this 
Company,  and  receive  a  guinea  each  after  attending  a  service 
at  one  of  the  neighbouring  churches  on  the  16th  of  May. 
The  Hall  is  very  handsome,  with  stained  windows  and 
curious  gilt  statues  of  James  I.  and  Charles  I.  saved  from 
the  Great  Fire.  The  cash-books  of  the  Company  exist, 
"  brought  forward,"  from  1480.  The  garden  of  the  Com- 
pany is  formed  by  the  Churchyard  of  All  Hallows  Staining, 
in  which  most  of  the  tombs  have  been  ruthlessly  buried 
under  the  shrubs  and  gravel.  Elizabeth  is  said  to  have 
attended  a  thanksgiving  service  here  on  the  day  of  her 
deliverance  from  the  Tower,  before  dining  at  the  Queen's 
Head.  The  church  is  demolished,  and  the  churchyard 
ruined  by  gravel  and  silly  rockwork,  but  the  fine  old  tower, 
which  escaped  the  Fire,  is  retained.  All  Hallows  Staining 
claims  to  be  the  earliest  stone  church  in  the  City. 

To  this  churchyard  has  been  removed  a  fragment  of  the 
beautiful  Crypt  of  the  Hermitage  of  St.  James  in  the  Wall, 
which  was  pulled  down  in  1874,  when  the  chapel  built 
above  it  by  William  Lambe  the  Clothworker  (1495 — 1580) 
was  removed  from  Cripplegate  to  Islington.  It  has  low 
zig-zag  Roman  arches. 

Returning  to  Fenchurch  Street,  on  the  left  is  the  Elephant 
Tavern,  rebuilt  in  1826,  on  the  site  of  a  tavern  whicn  was 

vol.  1.  z 


338 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


of  great  interest,  because,  being  a  massive  house  built  of 
solid  stone,  it  alone  resisted  the  Great  Fire,  and  the  flames, 
which  tore  swiftly  through  the  timber  buildings  of  this  part 
of  London,  left  it  standing  smoke-begrimed  and  flame- 
blackened,  but  sufficiently  uninjured  to  give  a  shelter  to 
numbers  of  the  homeless  inhabitants  of  the   13,200  houses 


All  Hallows  Staining. 


which  were  swept  away.  William  Hogart,  who  afterwards 
changed  his  name  to  Hogarth,  came  to  lodge  in  this  house, 
in  1697,  soon  after  the  death  Of  his  father,  who  kept  a  small 
school  in  the  Old  Bailey,  and  here  for  a  long  time  he 
earned  a  hand-to-mouth  subsistence  by  selling  his  engrav- 
ings on  copper.  "  I  remember  the  time,"  he  says,  "  when  I 
have  gone  moping  into  the  City  with  scarce  a  shilling,  but 


THE  IRONMONGERS'  HALL.  33<; 

as  soon  as  I  have  obtained  two  guineas  for  a  plate,  I  have 
returned  home,  put  on  my  sword,  and  sallied  forth  again 
with  all  the  confidence  of  a  man  with  thousands  in  his 
pockets."  Sometimes,  however,  the  plates  accumulated  un- 
sold till  the  artist  was  glad  to  sell  them  at  half-a-crown  the 
pound  to  Mr.  Bowles  of  the  Black  Horse  at  Cornhill.  It 
was  in  1727,  while  he  was  living  here,  that  Hogarth  made  a 
tapestry  design  for  Morris  the  upholsterer,  for  which  he  was 
refused  payment,  and  vainly  sued  for  it  in  the  Courts.  It  is 
believed  that  this  loss  induced  him  to  run  so  far  into  debt 
with  his  landlord  that  he  consented  to  wipe  off  the  score 
with  his  brush  by  caricaturing  on  the  wall  of  the  Elephant 
taproom  the  parochial  authorities  who  had  insulted  his  land- 
lord by  removing  the  scene  of  their  annual  orgie  to  a  tavern 
(Henry  the  Eighth's  Head)  opposite,  and  insulted  himself 
by  omitting  to  send  his  accustomed  invitation.  The  famous 
picture  of  "  Modern  Midnight  Conversation  "  was  the  result, 
in  which  every  phase  of  riotry  and  intoxication  was  repre- 
sented,* and  which  delighted  the  landlord  by  attracting 
half  London  to  his  house.  The  host  of  the  Elephant  was 
only  too  glad  to  obliterate  a  second  score  for  the  picture  of 
the  "  Hudson's  Bay  Company  Porters  going  to  dinner,"  in 
which  Fenchurch  Street,  as  it  then  was,  was  represented  ; 
and  to  these  greater  pictures  the  paintings  of  Harlequin  and 
Pierrot,  and  of  Harlow  Bush  Fair,  were  afterwards  added, 
so  that  the  Elephant  became  a  little  gallery  of  the  best 
works  of  Hogarth. t 

The  next  house  is  the  Hall  of  the  Ironmonger?  Company 
incorporated  by  a  charter  of  Edward   IV.     At  the  foot  of 

•  Orator  Henley,  the  famous  but  eccentric  and  profligate  preacher,  who  was 
the  "  orator  of  brazen  face  and  lungs  "  of  Pope's  DunciaJ,  was  introduced  here. 
+  See  The  Builder,  Sept.  n,  1875. 


340  WALKS  IN  LONDON: 

their  staircase  is  an  ancient  wooden  statue  of  St.  I^awrence, 
their  patron  saint,  and  an  ostrich,  the  bird  which  digests 
iron.  Their  picturesque  Hall  is  hung  with  pictures  and 
banners,  and  decorated  with  the  arms  of  the  Masters,  from 
those  of  the  first  Master,  Capel  de  Cure,  in  135 1.  The 
portraits  include — ■ 

Izaak  Walton  the  angler. 

Sir  R.  Jeffreys,  founder  of  almshouses  in  Whitechapel. 

Thomas  Belton,  who,  dying  in  1723,  left  20,000  guineas  to  be  applied 
to  the  redemption  of  Christian  slaves  taken  by  pirates.  The  bequest 
of  late  years  has  enormously  increased  in  value,  a  portion  of  the  build- 
ing land  purchased  for  ^9,000  having  been  sold  for  ,£"87,000.  In- 1847 
the  Company  got  a  scheme  passed  by  which  the  freemen  and  widows 
of  the  Company  participated  in  the  bequest,  as  well  as  800  National 
Schools  in  England  and  Wales. 

Admiral  Lord  Hood,  a  noble  portrait  by  Gainsborough,  presented 
on  his  admission  to  the  Company. 

Lord  Exmouth,  by  Sir  W.  Beechey. 

No.  53  on  the  opposite  side  of  Fenchurch  Street  was  the 
Queen's  Head  Tavern,  pulled  down  in  1876.  In  it  were 
preserved  the  metal  dish  and  cover  used  by  the  Princess 
Elizabeth  when  she  dined  here  on  pork  and  peas  upon  her 
release  from  the  Tower  in  1554.  The  modern  building 
erected  on  the  site  of  the  old  tavern  bears  a  commemora- 
tive statue  of  Elizabeth.  On  the  left,  in  Church  Row,  is 
the  truly  hideous  Church  of  St.  Catherine  Coleman,  occupy- 
ing the  site  of  an  ancient  garden  called  Coleman  Haw. 

Mark  Lane  (right)  is  one  of  the  busiest  streets  in  London. 
It  was  originally  "  Mart  Lane  from  the  privilege  of  fair 
accorded  by  Edward  I.  to  Sir  Thomas  Ross  of  Hamlake, 
whose  manor  of  Blanch  Appleton  became  corrupted  into 
Blind    Chapel    Court."*     In    the    reign    of  Edward    IV. 

•  Edinburgh  Review,  No.  267 


ST.  OLAVE,  HART  STREET.  341 

basket-makers,  vine-dressers,  and  other  foreigners  were 
permitted  to  have  shops  in  the  manor  of  Blanch  Appleton 
and  nowhere  else  in  the  City. 

Descending  Mark  Lane,  we  find,  on  the  left,  Hart  Street, 
where  (four  doors  from  Mark  Lane)  stood  the  richly  orna- 
mented timber  house  called  "  Whittington's  Palace,"  where, 
with  the  same  generosity  shown  by  the  Fuggers  at  Augs- 
burg, the  princely  Lord  Mayor  burnt  the  royal  bond  for  a 
debt  of  ^60,000,  when  Henry  V.  and  his  queen  came  to 
dine  with  him.  "  Never  had  king  such  a  subject,"  Henry 
is  said  to  have  exclaimed,  when  Whittington  replied, 
"  Surely,  sire,  never  had  subject  such  a  king." 

The  interesting  Church  of  St.  Olave,  Hart  Street,  is 
dedicated  to  a  Norwegian  who  came  to  England  and  fought 
on  behalf  of  Ethelred  II.  against  the  Danes.  Being  after- 
wards himself  made  king  of  Norway,  he  became  a  Christian, 
which  irritated  his  subjects,  who  invited  Canute  to  supplant 
him,  by  whom  he  was  defeated  and  slain  in  1028.  Several 
churches  were  dedicated  to  him  in  England  and  three  in 
London,  on  account  of  the  assistance  he  had  given  to  the 
Saxons  against  the  Danes.  This  church*  escaped  the  Great 
Fire,  and  is  full  of  interest.  It  is  the  "  our  owne  church  " 
so  frequently  mentioned  in  his  Diary  by  Samuel  Pepys,  whose 
parish  church  it  was,  and  who  is  buried  here  (1703)  with 
his  wife  and  his  brother  Tom  (1664)  "just  under  my  mother's 
pew."  The  interior  is  highly  picturesque,  and  its  monu- 
ments and  relics  of  old  iron-work  have  been  respected  in 
its  "  restoration,"  though  the  usual  follies  of  shiny  tiles  are 
introduced.  Making  the  round  of  the  building  from  the 
left,  we  see — 

•  The  keys  are  to  be  found  near — at  10,  Gould  Square,  Crutched  Friars, 


342  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

The  Tomb  of  Sir  Andrew  Riccard,  Turkey  merchant  and  Chairman 
of  the  East  India  Company,  1 672. 

Monument  to  Sir  John  Radcliffe,  son  of  Robert,  Earl  of  Sussex, 

1568. 
Half-figure  of  Peter  Turner,  1614,  son  of  the  herbalist. 
Inscription  to  William  Turner,  author  of  the  first  English  Herbal, 

1568. 

"The  fore-mentioned  William  Turner,  father  of  Peter,  was  an 
antient  gospeller,  contemporary,  fellow-collegian,  and  friend  to  Bishop 
Ridley,  the  martyr.  He  was  doctor  of  physic  in  King  Edward  the 
Sixth's  days,  and  domestic  physician  to  the  Duke  of  Somerset,  Pro- 
tector to  that  king;  he  was  also  a  divine  and  preacher,  and  wrote 
several  books  against  the  errors  of  Rome ;  and  was  preferred  by  King 
Edward  to  be  Dean  of  Wells  ;  and,  being  an  exile  under  Queen  Mary 
the  First,  returned  home  upon  her  death,  and  enjoyed  his  deanery  again. 
He  was  the  first  that,  by  great  labour  and  travel  into  Germany,  Italy, 
and  other  foreign  parts,  put  forth  an  Herbal  in  English,  anno  1568, 
the  groundwork  of  Gerard's  Herbal,  and  then  lived  in  Crutched  Friars, 
from  which  he  dated  his  epistle  dedicatory  of  that  book  to  the  queen." 
— Stow. 

"  Dr.  Turner's  Book  of  Herbs  will  always  grow  green,  and  never 
wither  as  long  as  Dioscorides  is  held  in  mind  by  us  mortal  wights." — 
Dr.  Bulleyn. 

Kneeling  Effigy  of  the  Florentine  merchant,  Pietro  Capponi,  1582. 

Two  curious  Monuments  (delightful  in  colour)  of  Andrew  Bayninge, 
16 10,  and  Paul  Bayninge,  1616,  aldermen,  with  an  epitaph  which  tells 

how — 

"  The  happy  summe  and  end  of  their  affaires, 

Provided  well  both  for  their  soules  and  heires." 

Above  the  tombs  of  these  brothers  the  Bust  of  the  foolish  beauty,  with 
whose  little  affectations  and  jealousies  we  are  so  singularly  well 
acquainted— the  Wife  of  Samuel  Pepys. 

(Right  of  altar)  The  admirable  Figure,  beautiful  in  profile,  of  Dame 
Anne  Radcliffe,  1585. 

The  Monument  of  Sir  John  Mennys,  167 1,  the  witty  Comptroller  of 
the  Navy  under  Charles  II.,  who  wrote  some  of  the  best  poems  in  the 
"  Musarum  Deliciaa."  This  is  the  Sir  John  Minnes  mentioned  in 
Pepys's  Diary  of  June  6,  1666,  when  he  says,  "  To  our  church,  it  being 
the  common  Fast-day,  and  it  was  just  before  sermon ;  but,  Lord  !  how 
all  the  people  in  the  church  did  stare  upon  me,  to  see  me  whisper  the 
news  of  the  victory  over  the  Dutch  to  Sir  John  Minnes  and  my  Lady 
Pen !     Anon  I  saw  people  stirring  and  whispering  below ;  and  by  and 


ST.  OLAVE,  HART  STREET. 


343 


by  comes  up  the  sexton  from  my  Lady  Ford,  to  tell  mc  the  news  which 
I  had  brought,  being  now  sent  into  the  church  by  Sir  W.  Batten,  in 
writing,  and  passed  from  pew  to  pew." 


The  Gate  of  the  Dead,  Seething  Lane. 

(South  Aisle)  The  curious  Brass,  much  mutilated,  of  Sir  Richard 
Haddon,  Lord  Mayor,  and  his  family. 

The  Brass  of  John  Orgone  and  his  wife  Eltyne,  1584,  with  the  in- 
scription — 

"  As  I  was,  so  be  ye  ; 
As  I  am,  you  shall  be  , 
That  I  gave,  that  I  have ; 
That  I  spent,  that  1  had  ; 
Thus  I  ende  all  my  coste, 
That  I  lefte,  that  I  loste." 

Admirable   Jacobian  Monument  of  Sir  J.  Deane,    1608,  with  his 
wives  and  children. 


344  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

• 

Devereux,  Earl  of  Essex,  the  Parliamentary  general,  was 
baptised  in  this  church,  1591,  by  Lancelot  Andrews,  after- 
wards Bishop  of  Winchester.  Its  churchyard  was  one  of 
those  used  for  burial  during  the  Plague,  a  fact  commemorated 
in  the  skulls  over  its  picturesque  and  grimy  gateway,  which 
is  surmounted  by  a  curious  chevaux  de  /rise  of  ancient  iron- 
work.    Pepys,  writing  on  January  30,  1665-6,  says — 

"Home,  finding  the  town  keeping  the  day  solemnly,  it  being  the  day 
of  the  king's  murther  ;  and  they  being  at  church,  I  presently  went  into 
the  church.  This  is  the  first  time  I  have  been  in  the  church  since  I 
left  London  for  the  Plague ;  and  it  frightened  me  indeed  to  go  through 
the  church,  more  than  I  thought  it  could  have  done,  to  see  so  many 
graves  lie  so  high  upon  the  churchyard  where  people  have  been  buried 
of  the  Plague.  I  was  much  troubled  at  it,  and  do  not  think  to  go 
through  it  again  a  good  while." 

The  gateway  looks  out  upon  Seething  Lane,  where  Pepys 
lived  during  the  last  nine  years  of  his  life,  being  here  during 
the  Great  Fire,  which  this  street  escaped.  Sir  Francis  Wal- 
singham  and  his  son-in-law  the  Earl  of  Essex  lived  here  in 
a  house  built  by  Sir  John  Allen,  Lord  Mayor  in  the  time  of 
Henry  VIII. 

The  Convent  of  Crossed  or  Crouched  Friars  (Fratres 
Sanctae  Crucis)  in  Hart  Street,  founded  by  Ralph  Hosier 
and  William  Saberner  in  1298,  has  given  a  name  to  the 
neighbouring  street  of  Crutched  Friars.  Here,  in  Cooper's 
Row,  were  Sir  John  Milborne's  Almshouses  (lately  removed 
to  Seven  Sisters  Road,  Holloway),  built  in  1535,  in  honour 
of  God  and  of  the  Virgin,  where,  having  strangely  survived 
Puritan  iconoclasm,  a  relief  of  the  Assumption  of  the  Virgin 
remained  to  the  last  over  the  entrance  gate.  Near  this  was  an 
early  Northumberland  House,  inhabited  by  the  second  Earl 
of  Northumberland,   who  was   slain  at  the  Battle   of  St. 


ALDGATE. 


345 


Alban's,  and  his  son  the  third  Earl,  who  fell,  sword  in  hand, 
at  the  Battle  of  Towton.  In  Crutched  Friars  are  the  vast 
buildings  of  the  East  India  Docks  Indigo  Warehouse. 

Returning  to  Fenchurch  Street,  we  pass,  on  the  left, 
Biiliter  Lane,  formerly  "  Bell-yeter  Lane,"  from  the  bell- 
founders,  though  Stow  says  it  was  formerly  "  Belzettars 
Lane,  so  called  of  the  first  owner  and  builder  thereof." 
Fenchurch  Street  leads  into  Aldgate  High  Street,  where 
Aldgate  Pump  occupies  the  site  of  a  famous  well  dedicated 
to  St.  Michael  the  Archangel.  Close  by  stood  a  little 
Chapel  of  St.  Michael,  which  belonged  to  the  neighbouring 
monastery  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  where  wayfarers  to  the 
eastern  counties  sought  the  divine  protection  for  their 
journey.  The  chapel  is  destroyed,  but  its  beautiful  Crypt 
still  exists  beneath  the  pavement  of  Aldgate,  though  the 
approaches  to  it  have  been  recently  blocked  up. 

Aldgate  was  one  of  the  great  gates  of  the  City,  and  the 
chief  outlet  to  the  eastern  counties  from  the  time  of  the 
Romans  to  its  destruction  in  1760.  Its  antiquity  is 
shown  in  the  name  of  Aeld  or  Old  gate.  It  was  rebuilt  in 
the  reign  of  John  by  the  Barons,  with  money  robbed  from 
the  coffers  of  the  monks  and  stone  taken  from  the  houses  of 
the  Jews,  for  they  feared  that  others  might  not  experience 
more  difficulty  than  they  had  done  themselves,  in  entering 
the  City  on  this  side.  The  dwelling-house  above  the  gate 
was  leased  by  the  corporation  in  1374  (48  Edward  III.)  to 
the  poet  Chaucer  for  life,  though  he  was  not  allowed  to 
underlet  any  portion  of  the  building  to  others.  In  147 1 
Aldgate  was  attacked  by  Thomas  Nevill,  the  "  Bastard  of 
Falconbergh,"  who  succeeded  in  effecting  an  entrance,  but, 
the  portcullis  being  let  down,  was  surrounded  and  slain  with 


3*0 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


his  men.  Tn  1553  Aldgate  was  hung  from  the  top  to  the 
bottom  with  streamers  to  welcome  Mary  I.,  as  she  entered 
London  in  triumph,  after  the  fall  of  the  partisans  of  Lady 
Jane  Grey.  The  gate  built  by  the  Barons  was  pulled  down 
in  1606  and  rebuilt  in  1609.  This  last  Aldgate  bore  on 
its  east  side  a  gilded  statue  of  James  I.  with  a  lion  and 
unicorn  chained  at  his  feet,  and  on  the  west  side  gilded 


HaUICK.St 


In  Aldgate. 


otatues  of  Peace,  Fortune,  and  Chanty.  It  was  used  after 
the  Fire  for  the  prisoners  who  had  been  lodged  in  the 
Poultry  Compter. 

The  name  of  Nightingale  Lane  just  outside  the  site  of 
Aldgate  is  an  odd  corruption  of  "  Knighten  Guild  Lane," 
commemorating  the  district  which  Stow  describes  as  "  a 
certain  portion  of  land  on  the  east  part  of  the  City,  left 
desolate  and  forsaken  by  the  inhabitants,  by  reason  of  too 


ALDGATB. 


347 


much  servitude,"  which  was  given  by  King  Edgai  to 
"thirteen  knights  or  soldiers  well-beloved,  for  service  by 
them  done,"  and  was  formed  by  them  into  the  liberty  called 
Knighten  Guild,  which  still  exists  as  Portsoken  (soke  of  the 
gate)  Ward. 

Stow,  the  antiquary,  lived  in  Aldgate,  and  here  witnessed 
the  death  of  the  Bailiff  of  Romford,  "a  man  very  well 
beloved,"  who  was  executed  on  an  accusation  of  having 
taken  part  in  a  rising  in  the  Eastern  Counties.  This  accu- 
sation was  brought  by  Sir  Stephen,  Curate  of  St.  Andrew 
Undershaft,  the  popular  agitator  whose  silly  sermon  at 
Paul's  Cross  led  to  the  destruction  of  the  parish  Maypole. 
The  bailiff  died,  protesting  his  entire  innocence.  "  I  heard 
the  words  of  the  prisoner,"  says  Stow,  "  for  he  was  executed 
upon  the  pavement  of  my  door,  where  I  kept  house ;"  and 
the  popular  indignation  was  so  great  that  the  curate  was 
forced  to  take  flight  from  the  City. 

Duke  Street,  on  the  left,  commemorates  Thomas  Howard, 
Duke  of  Norfolk,  who  married  the  heiress  of  the  property 
on  this  site.  On  the  right  is  Jeivry  Street  (leading  into 
Crutched  Friars),  called  even  in  Stow's  time  "  the  poor 
Jurie,  of  Jews  dwelling  there."  But  the  great  settlement  of 
Jews  here  was  in  1655,  under  Cromwell,  when  they  came 
to  England  in  such  numbers  that  there  was  no  room  for 
them  in  Old  Jewry  and  Jewin  Street. 

The  ugly  Church  of  St.  Botolph,  Aldgate,  was  built  by 
George  Dance  in  1744  on  the  site  of  an  earlier  church, 
for  there  were  churches  to  this  popular  saint  at  four  of  the 
gates — Billingsgate,  Aldersgate,  Bishopsgate,  and  Aldgate. 
Retained  from  the  older  church  are  the  curious  painted 
bust  of  Robert  Dow,  merchant  tailor,  1C12,  and  a  figure  in 


348  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

a  shroud  on  the  tomb  of  Sir  Nicholas  and  Lady  Elizabeth 
Carew,  with  their  son-in-law  Lord  Darcy  of  the  north  and 
their  grandson  Sir  Arthur  Darcy.  Almost  opposite  St. 
Botolph's  is  an  old  house  decorated  with  Prince  of  Wales's 
feathers,  the  Fleur-de-lis  of  France,  the  Thistle  of  Scotland, 
and  Portcullis  of  Westminster. 

The  Three  Nuns  Inn  (left)  near  St.  Botolph's  is  men- 
tioned in  Defoe's  History  of  the  Plague.  It  takes  its  name 
of  the  nuns  of  the  Minorite  convent  which  gave  its  name 
to  the  opposite  street  of  the  Minories. 

The  name  of  Petticoat  Lane  (on  the  left)  has  been  ludi- 
crously changed  into  Middlesex  Street ;  it  is  the  "  Hog 
Lane  "  of  Stow.  In  Gravel  Lane,  close  by,  stood,  till  1844, 
"  the  Spanish  Ambassador's  House,"  where  Gondomar  is 
said  to  have  once  lived.  In  another  house  near  this, 
which  belonged  to  Hans  Jacobsen,  jeweller  to  James  I., 
John  Strype  was  born,  and  his  name,  horribly  perverted, 
remains  in  "  Tripe  Yard  "  !  * 

"  Petticoat  Lane  is  essentially  the  old  clothes  district.  Embracing 
the  streets  and  alleys  adjacent  to  Petticoat  Lane,  and  including  the 
rows  of  old  boots  and  shoes  on  the  ground,  there  is,  perhaps,  between 
two  and  three  miles  of  old  clothes.  Petticoat  Lane  proper  is  long  and 
narrow,  and  to  look  down  it  is  to  look  down  a  vista  of  many-coloured 
garments,  alike  on  the  sides  and  on  the  ground.  The  effect  sometimes 
is  very  striking,  from  the  variety  of  hues  and  the  constant  flitting  or 
gathering  of  the  crowd  into  little  groups  of  bargainers.  Gowns  of 
every  shade  and  every  pattern  are  hanging  up,  but  none,  perhaps,  look 
either  bright  or  white  ;  it  is  a  vista  of  dinginess,  but  many-coloured 
dinginess,  as  regards  female  attire.  Dress-coats,  frock-coats,  great- 
coats, livery  and  game-keepers'  coats,  paletots,  tunics,  trowsers,  knee- 
breeches,  waistcoats,  capes,  pilot-coats,  working  jackets,  plaids,  hats, 
dressing-gowns,  shirts,  Guernsey  frocks,  are  all  displayed.  The  pre- 
dominant colours  are  black  and  blue,  but  there  is  every  colour ;  the 
light  dress  of  some  aristocratic  livery,  the  dull  brown-green  of  velveteen, 

•  The  Builder,  May  n,  1877. 


WHITE  CHAPEL.  34q 

the  deep  blue  of  a  pilot  jacket,  the  variegated  figures  of  the  shawl 
dressing-gown,  the  glossy  black  of  the  restored  garments,  the  shine  of 
the  newly-turpentined  black  satin  waistcoats,  the  scarlet  and  green  of 
some  flaming  tartan— these  things,  mixed  with  the  hues  of  the 
women's  garments,  spotted  and  striped,  certainly  present  a  scene 
which  cannot  be  beheld  in  any  other  part  of  the  greatest  city  in  the 
world,  nor  in  any  other  portion  of  the  world  itself. 

"  The  ground  has  also  its  array  of  colours.  It  is  covered  with  lines 
of  boots  and  shoes,  their  shining  black  relieved  here  and  there  bv  the 
admixture  of  females'  boots,  with  drab,  green,  plum,  or  lavender- 
coloured  '  legs,'  as  the  upper  part  of  the  boot  is  always  called  in  the 
trade.  There  is,  too,  an  admixture  of  men's  'button-boots,'  with 
drab-cloth  legs  ;  and  of  a  few  red,  yellow,  and  russet-coloured  slippers  ; 
and  of  children's  coloured  morocco  boots  and  shoes.  Handkerchiefs, 
sometimes  of  a  gaudy  orange  pattern,  are  heaped  on  a  chair.  Lace 
and  muslin  occupy  small  stands,  or  are  spread  on  the  ground.  Black 
and  drab  and  straw  hats  are  hung  up,  or  piled  one  upon  another,  and 
kept  from  falling  by  means  of  strings  ;  while  incessantly  threading 
their  way  through  all  this  intricacy  is  a  mass  of  people,  some  of  whose 
dresses  speak  of  a  recent  purchase  in  this  lane." — //.  Mayhem's  London 
Labour  and  the  London  Boor, 

Aldgate  now  falls  into  the  poverty-stricken  district  of 
Whitechapel.  The  name  of  Wentworth  Street  (left)  com- 
memorates Thomas  Wentworth,  Lord  Chamberlain  to 
Edward  VI.  On  the  right  of  the  main  street  is  the  Church 
of  St.  Mary,  which  once  occupied  an  important  position, 
as  before  the  time  of  railways  most  of  the  great  roads  into 
the  eastern  counties  and  all  the  coast  lines  on  this  side  of 
London  were  measured  from  "  Whitechapel  Church,"  which 
"  shared  with  Shoreditch  Church,  Hick's  Hall,  Tyburn 
Turnpike,  and  Hyde  Park  Corner  the  position  now  occu- 
pied by  the  great  railway-termini  north  of  the  Thames."* 

The  church  was  rebuilt  1876-77,  with  a  spire  two  hundred 
and  ten  feet  high  in  the  place  of  a  hideous  building  of 
Charles  II. 's  time.     It  is  one  of  the  few  churches  in  which, 

•  Saturday  Review,  Feb.  17,  1877 


350  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

as  the  churchyard  had  frequently  been  used  for  open-ail 
preaching,  an  outside  pulpit  has  been  added.  The  original 
name  of  the  church,  "  St.  Mary  Matfelon,"  is  derived  from 
the  Syriac  word  Matfel,  meaning  a  woman  who  has  recently 
given  birth  to  a  son.  There  is,  in  St.  Alban's  Abbey,  a 
picture  of  the  Last  Supper  which  was  painted  by  Sir  J. 
Thornhill  for  this  church,  but  which  the  Bishop  of  London 
caused  to  be  removed  as  a  scandal ;  because  Kennett, 
Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  was  therein  represented  as  Judas 
Iscariot. 

On  the  2 1 st  of  July,  1649,  a  man  named  Charles  Brandon 
was  buried  in  this  churchyard — "a  man  out  of  Rosemary 
Lane,  where  he  kept  a  rag-shop."  His  entry  in  the  Burial 
Register  is — "  This  man  was  the  executioner  of  Charles  I." 
and  a  rare  tract  entitled,  "  The  Confession  of  Richard 
Brandon,  the  Hangman,  upon  his  death-bed,  concerning 
the  beheading  of  his  late  Majesty,"  describes  how,  as  his 
corpse  was  being  carried  to  the  churchyard,  the  people 
cried  out,  "  Hang  the  rogue!  Bury  him  in  the  dung-hill !  " 
while  others  pressed  upon  him,  saying  they  would  quarter  him 
for  executing  the  king,  so  that  his  body  had  to  be  rescued 
by  force.*  Brandon  was  succeeded  in  his  horrible  office  by 
Dunn,  who  was  followed  by  Jack  Ketch,  whose  name 
has  been  transmitted  to  his  successors  for  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years. 

[From  Whitechapel  the  long  broad  thoroughfare  of  the 
Commercial  Road  leads  (right)  to  Stepney — the  Stibbenhidde 
or  Stebenheth  of  early  deeds  :  the  affix  indicating  the  hid 
or  haeredium  of  a  Saxon  freeman.  We  must  turn  here  to 
the  left  down  White  Horse  Street,  past  the  Radcliffe  Schools, 

*  £>ee  The  Irial  of  Charles  1.,  the  Pamiiy  .Library,  No.  xiii. 


STEPNEY.  351 

founded  in  1710,  and  adorned  with  quaint  figures  of  the 
charity  children  of  that  date,  to  where  St.  Dunstarfs  Church 
stands  in  its  great  churchyard,  a  beautiful  green  oasis  amid 
the  ugly  brick  houses.  Colet  was  vicar  of  this  church  before 
he  was  Dean  of  St.  Paul's.  He  was  followed  by  Richard 
Pace,  also  Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  described  by  Erasmus,  who 
was  his  intimate  friend  and  addressed  many  of  his  letters  to 
him,  as  "utriusque  literature  calentissimus,"  and  by  Stow  as 
"  endowed  with  many  excellent  gifts  of  nature  :  courteous, 
pleasant,  and  delighting  in  music;  highly  in  the  king's 
favour  and  well  heard  in  matters  of  weight."  In  1527  he 
was  sent  as  ambassador  to  Venice.  Afterwards  he  lost  the 
royal  favour  through  the  influence  of  Wolsey,  and  was 
imprisoned  for  two  years  in  the  Tower.  On  his  release,  he 
lived  in  retirement  at  Stepney  and  was  buried  near  the  altai 
of  the  church.  William  Jerome,  who  was  presented  to  the 
vicarage  of  Stepney  soon  after  the  death  of  Pace,  was 
executed  for  heresy  in  1540. 

St.  Dunstan's  is  a  handsome  perpendicular  building,  and 
contains  a  number  of  monuments,  chiefly  Jacobean.  In  the 
porch  is  a  stone  inscribed — 

"  Of  Carthage  wall  I  was  a  stone, 
Oh,  mortals,  read  with  pity, 
Time  consumes  all,  it  spareth  none, 
Man,  mountain,  town,  or  city. 
Therefore  oh  mortals  now  bethink 

Go  where  unto  you  must, 
Since  now  such  stately  buildings 
Lie  buried  in  the  dust." 

Thoftias  Hughes.     1663. 

On  the  right,  on  entering  the  church,  is  the  monument  ot 
Dame  Rebecca  Berry,  1696,  wife  of  Sir  John  Berry,  and 


j"2  WALK'S  IN  LONDON. 

afterwards  of  Thomas  Elton  of  Stratford-le-Bow,  wl  ich  is 
regarded  with  much  popular  favour,  though  there  are  those 
who  declare  that  Dame  Rebecca  has  only  been  connected 
with  the  ballad  of  "The  Fish  and  the  Ring"  or  "The 
Cruel  Knight  and  the  Fortunate  Farmer's  Daughter,"  by  the 
coat-of-arms  upon  the  tomb — which  is  heraldically  speaking 
— paly  of  six  on  a  bend  three  mullets  (Elton)  impaling  a 
fish  ;  and  in  the  dexter  chief  point  an  annulet  between  two 
bends  wavy.  The  legend  tells  that  a  knight  learned  in  the 
stars  was  present  at  her  birth,  and,  reading  her  horoscope, 
knew  that  she  was  fated  to  become  his  wife.  He  tried 
various  means  for  her  destruction,  and  finally  attempted  to 
drown  her  by  throwing  her  from  a  rock  into  the  sea,  but 
relented  at  the  last  moment,  and  threw  a  ring  into  the  waves 
instead,  bidding  her  never  see  his  face  again  unless  able  to 
produce  it.  She  became  a  cook,  and  having  found  the  ring 
in  a  codfish  she  was  dressing,  presented  it  to  the  knight 
and  was  married.  The  knight  can  have  had  nothing  tG 
regret  if  we  believe  the  epitaph — 

"  Come,  ladies,  you  that  would  appear 
Like  angels  fair,  and  dress  you  here. 
Come  dress  you  at  this  marble  stone, 
And  make  that  humble  grace  your  own 
Which  once  adorn'd  as  fair  a  mind 
As  e'er  yet  lodged  in  womankind. 
So  she  was  dress'd,  whose  humble  life 
Was  free  from  pride,  was  free  from  strife, 
Free  from  all  envious  brawls  and  jarrs 
Of  human  life  the  civil  warrs, 
These  ne'er  disturbed  her  peaceful  mind, 
Which  still  was  gentle,  still  was  kind, 
ffer  very  looks,  her  garb,  her  mien, 
Disclos'd  the  humble  soul  within. 
Trace  her  through  every  scene  of  life, 
View  her  as  widow,  virgin,  wile, 


STEPNL  Y. 


353 


Still  the  same  humble  she  appears, 

The  same  in  youth,  the  same  in  years. 

The  same  in  high  and  low  estate, 

Ne'er  vex't  with  this,  ne'er  moved  with  that. 

Go  ladies  now,  and  if  you'd  be, 

As  fair,  as  great,  as  good  as  she,        . 

Go  learn  of  her  humility." 

On  the  left  of  the  altar  is  the  handsome  canopied  tomb  of 
Sir  Henry  Colet,  Knight,  1510,  twice  Mayor  of  London, 
the  father  of  Dean  Colet.  Sir  Thomas  Spert,  founder  of 
the  Trinity  House  and  Comptroller  of  the  Navy  under 
Henry  VIII.,  is  also  buried  here.  In  the  churchyard  is  the 
altar-tomb  of  Admiral  Sir  John  Leake,  1720,  "the  brave 
and  fortunate,"  who  raised  the  siege  of  Londonderry. 
The  great  variety  of  curious  epitaphs  in  this  churchyard, 
"  in  which  you  may  spend  an  afternoon  with  great  pleasure 
to  yourself,"  is  described  in  No.  518  of  the  Spectator. 
Stupidly  covered  by  gravel,  in  the  path  leading  to  White 
Horse  Street,  is  the  tomb  of  Roger  Crab,  1680,  described 
in  the  pamphlet  called  "  The  English  Hermit,  or  the 
Wonder  of  the  Age."  He  served  for  seven  years  in  the 
Parliamentary  army,  and  suffered  much  in  the  cause,  but 
nevertheless  was  unjustly  imprisoned  by  Cromwell.  Soon 
after  his  release  he  literally,  followed  the  precept  of  the 
Gospel  by  distributing  all  his  goods  to  the  poor,  except  a 
cottage  at  Ickenham,  where  he  lived  entirely  on  herbs — 
"  dock-leaves,  mallows,  or  grass." 

Stepney  was  the  scene  of  a  parliament  under  Edward  I., 

and  the  Bishops  of  London  had  a  country  palace  and  park 

here  till  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.     There  is  a  tradition  that 

all  children  born  at  sea  are  parishioners  of  Stepney — 

"  He  who  sails  on  the  wide  sea 
Is  a  parishioner  of  Stepney."] 

VOL.    I.  A  A 


354  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

We  may  return  from  Aldgate  to  the  Exchange  through 
Leadenhall  Street.  On  the  left  is  Leadenhall  Market,  so 
called  from  the  manor  of  Sir  Hugh  Nevile,  by  whom  it  was 


founded. 


"Would'st  thou  with  mighty  beef  augment  thy  meal, 
Seek  Leadenhall." — Gay.     Trivia. 

On  the  north  (right)  of  the  street  is  the  Church  cf  St. 
Catherine  Cree,  rebuilt  1629,  interesting  because  its  interior 
was  the  first  work  executed  by  Inigo  Jones,  after  his  return 
from  Italy,  and  as  having  been  consecrated  (in  the  place 
of  an  older  church)  by  Laud,  as  Bishop  of  London  (January 
16,  163 1),  with  ceremonies  which  were  afterwards  made  a 
principal  accusation  of  Popery  against  him,  and  were 
greatly  conducive  to  his  death.  Hans  Holbein,  who  died 
of  the  plague  at  the  Duke  of  Norfolk's  house  in  Aldgate, 
1554,  was  buried  in  the  old  church.  The  south-eastern 
porch  of  the  existing  building  was  the  gate  of  the  watch- 
house.  It  bears  an  inscription  stating  that  "this  gate  was 
built  at  the  cost  and  charges  of  William  Avernon,  Citizen 
and  Goldsmith  of  London,  who  died  December,  anno  dni. 
1631."  Above — a  strange  memento  mori  to  the  ever-moving 
flow  of  life  through  the  street  beneath — is  the  ghastly  figure 
of  the  donor,  a  skeleton  in  a  shroud,  lying  on  a  mattress. 

The  church  contains  the  tomb  of  Sir  Nicholas  Throg- 
morton,  1570,  Chief  Butler  of  England  (the  father-in-law  of 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh),  from  whom  Throgmorton  Street  takes 
its  name,  His  effigy  in  armour  is  interesting  as  that  of  one 
who  played  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  reigns  of  the  Tudors. 
Having  been  server  to  Henry  VIII.,  he  followed  the  fortunes 
of  the  queen-dowager,  Katherine  Parr,  resided  with  her  as 


ST.    CATHERINE   CREE.  355 

cup-bearer  throughout  her  brief  married  life  with  Seymour, 
and  was  with  her  at  her  death.  He  afterwards  served  in 
Scotland  under  the  Protector  Somerset,  who  sent  him  to 
bear  the  news  of  the  victory  of  Pinkie  to  London.  Edward 
VI.  appointed  him  privy-councillor,  and  he  was  present  at 
the  young  king's  death  at  Greenwich.  In  February,  1554, 
he  was  arrested  on  a  charge  of  being  concerned  in  Sir 
Thomas  Wyait's  conspiracy,  and  was  tried  in  the  Guildhall, 
but  was  acquitted,  after  a  fierce  cross-examination,  owing  to 
his  own  presence  of  mind  and  his  spirited  defence,  though 
the  jury  were  fined  for  releasing  him.  For  the  third  time 
present  at  a  royal  death-bed,  he  fulfilled  the  request  of 
Elizabeth  by  taking  the  wedding-ring  given  by  Philip  from 
the  dead  finger  of  Mary,  and  delivering  it  to  the  new 
queen.  In  the  words  of  his  epitaph  he  became  "  one  of 
the  Chamberlains  of  the  Exchequer,  and  Ambassador  lieger 
to  the  Queen's  Majesty,  Queen  Elizabeth,  in  France."  He 
was  also  the  ambassador  sent  to  remonstrate  with  Mary, 
Queen  of  Scots,  on  her  intended  alliance  with  Darnley. 
But  in  the  close  of  his  life  he  intrigued  for  the  marriage  of 
Mary  with  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  and  was  sent  a  second 
time  to  the  Tower.  Though  released,  he  never  regained  the 
favour  of  Elizabeth,  and  died  of  a  broken  heart,  not  without 
suspicion  of  poison,  at  the  house  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester, 
February  12,  157 1. 

"He  was  a  man  of  large  experience,  piercing  judgment,  and  singular 
prudence  ;  but  lie  died  very  luckily  for  himself  and  his  family,  his  life 
and  estate  being  in  great  danger  by  reason  of  his  turbulent  spirit." — 
Camden. 

The  epitaph  of  R.  Spencer,  a  Turkey  Merchant,  records 
his  death  in  1667  after  he  had  seen  "the  prodigious  changes 


356  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

in  the  state,  the  dreadful  triumphs  of  death  by  pestilence, 
and  the  astonishing  conflagration  oi  the  city  by  fire." 

"The  Lion  Sermon,"  which  is  still  occasionally  preached 
in  this  church,  commemorates  an  adventure  of  Sir  John 
Gayor,  Knight  and  Merchant  of  London,  who,  while  travel- 
ling in  Arabia,  became  separated  from  his  caravan,  and, 
while  wandering  alone  in  the  night,  was  attacked  by  a  lion. 
Falling  on  his  knees,  he  vowed  his  fortune  for  his  deliver- 
ance. The  lion  turned  aside,  and,  with  other  charitable 
bequests,  Sir  John  left  ^200  to  the  parish  of  St.  Catherine 
Cree,  on  condition  of  his  escape  being  sometimes  described 
in  a  sermon. 

Cree  Lane,  which  runs  along  the  western  wall  of  the 
church,  once  led  to  the  magnificent  Priory  of  Holy  Trinity, 
also  called  Christ  Church,  which  was  founded  by  "  good 
Queen  Maude,"  wife  of  Henry  L,  on  the  persuasion  of 
Archbishop  Anselm.  The  first  Mayor  of  London,  the  draper 
Henry  Fitz-Alwyn,  who  continued  twenty  years  in  office, 
was  buried  in  its  church  in  1212.  The  fact  that  this  was 
one  of  the  richest  monasteries  in  the  kingdom  was  probably 
the  cause  of  its  being  one  of  the  first  to  be  attacked. 
Henry  VIII.  gave  it  to  Thomas  Dudley,  afterwards  Lord 
Chancellor.  His  daughter  married  Thomas  Howard,  Duke 
of  Norfolk,  who,  after  Audley's  death,  lived  here  in  great 
state  at  "  Duke's  Place."  His  son,  the  Earl  of  Suffolk,  sold 
the  property  to  the  City  of  London  for  a  large  sum,  which 
he  expended  in  the  building  of  Audley  End. 

We  now  reach,  on  the  right  (at  the  entrance  of  the 
ancient  street  called  St.  Mary  Axe,  where  the  famous 
surgeon  Sir  Astley  Cooper  commenced  practice),  the  Church 
of  St.  Andrew  Undtrshaft,  so  called,  says  Stow,  "'because 


ST.   ANDREW  UNDERSHAF7: 


357 


that  of  old  time  every  year  (on  May-day  in  the  morning), 
it  was  used  that  a  high  or  long  shaft  or  May-pole  was  set 
up  there  before  the  south  door."  The  shaft  of  the  May- 
pole was  higher  than  the  steeple.  It  was  pulled  down 
on  "  Evil  May  Day  "  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  but 
continued  hanging  on  hooks  in  Shaft  Alley  till  the  third 
year  of   Edward  VI.,   when   it  was  sawn  in  pieces  and 


.vim  &. 

Is — -~- v     -■■-*-■  .  \ i  - aT  4 


St.  Andrew  Undershaft. 


burnt  by  the  people  after  a  sermon  at  Paul's  Cross,  in 
which  the  preacher  told  them  that  it  had  been  mack' 
an  idol  of,  inasmuch  as  they  had  named  their  parish 
church  "  under  the  shaft."  'The  church,  which  has  a 
picturesque  many-turreted  tower,  is  a  good  specimen 
of  Perpendicular  (1520 — 1532).  In  the  east  window 
are    portraits    of     Edward    VI.,    Elizabeth,    James     I.. 


353 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


Charles  I.,  and  Charles  II.  On  the  north  wall  is  a  monu- 
ment to  Sir  Hugh  Hammersley,  1637,  with  effigies  of  him 
and  his  wife  kneeling  under  a  tent,  and  two  standing 
figures  at  the  sides,  attributed  to  one  Thomas  Madder. 
Close  by,  a  curious  little  specimen  of  a  painted  monument, 
is  that  of  Alice   Bynge,  who  had  "  three  husbands,  all 


Stew's  Tomb. 


Bachelors  and  stationers."  At  the  end  of  the  north  aisle  is 
the  striking  terra-cotta  tomb  (never  painted)  of  John  Stow 
the  famous  antiquary  (15  25 — 1605),  author  of  the  "Survey  of 
London,"  to  which  all  later  writers  on  the  city  are  so  much 
indebted.  The  venerable  old  man  is  represented  sitting  at 
his  table  with  a  book,  and  a  pen  in  his  hand.     He  was  a 


STOWS  TOMB.  359 

tailor  by  trade  and  resided  near  the  well  in  Uclgate.  He 
describes  how  the  compilation  of  his  works,  printed  and 
manuscript,  "  cost  many  a  weary  mile's  travel,  many  a  hard- 
earned  penny  and  pound,  and  many  a  cold  winter  night's 
study."  In  his  old  age  he  fell  into  great  poverty,  but  all 
he  could  obtain  in  his  eightieth  year  from  James  I.  for  his 
great  literary  services  was  "a  license  to  beg."  His  collec- 
tions for  the  "  Chronicles  of  England,"  now  in  the  British 
Museum,  occupy  sixty  quarto  volumes.  But  the  same  mis- 
fortunes which  attended  him  in  life  were  suffered  to  follow 
after  death,  and  his  remains  were  disturbed,  if  not  removed, 
in  1732. 

"  The  fact  that  Stowe  was  originally  a  tailor  may  account  for  the 
interest  which  he  always  took  in  matters  of  dress,  in  which  he  was  '  the 
grave  chronicler  of  matters  not  grave.'  " — Disraeli. 

"  I  confess,  I  have  heard  Stow  often  accused,  that  (as  learned 
Guicciardini  is  charged  for  telling  magnarum  rerum  minutias)  he 
reporteth  res  in  se  minutas,  toys  and  trifles,  being  such  a  Smell-feast, 
that  he  cannot  pass  by  Guildhall,  but  his  pen  must  taste  of  the  good 
chear  therein.  However  this  must  be  indulged  to  his  education ;  so 
hard  is  it  for  a  citizen  to  write  an  history,  but  that  the  fur  of  his  gown 
will  be  felt  therein.  Sure  I  am,  our  most  elegant  historians  who  have 
wrote  since  his  time  (Sir  Francis  Bacon,  Master  Camden,  &c),  though 
throwing  away  the  basket,  have  taken  the  fruit ;  though  not  mentioning 
his  name,  making  use  of  his  endeavours.  Let  me  adde  of  John  Stow, 
that  (however  he  kept  tune)  he  kept  time  very  well,  no  author  being 
more  accurate  in  the  notation  thereof." — Fuller's  Worthies. 

Opposite  St.  Andrew  Undershaft  is  an  Elizabethan  house 
from  whose  boldly  projecting  stories  the  inmates  must  have 
watched  the  erection  of  the  Maypole  and  the  dances  around 
it.  The  Neiv  Zealand  Chambers,  hard  by,  are  an  ambitious 
modern  imitation  by  Norman  Shaw  of  old  street  archi- 
tecture. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  Leadenhall  Street,  at  the  north- 


3&o  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

west  corner  of  Lime  Street,  was  the  House  of  the  East 
India  Company,  "  the  most  celebrated  commercial  associa- 
tion of  ancient  or  modern  times."  The  Company  was 
incorporated  in  1600,  and  first  leased  these  premises  from 
Lord  Craven,  who  was  born  in  the  old  house  on  this  site. 
The  East  India  House  was  several  times  rebuilt,  and  finally 
pulled  down  in  1862,  when  its  most  valuable  contents  were 
transferred  to  the  Indian  Museum  in  Whitehall.  Charles 
Lamb  was  a  clerk  in  the  House.  "  My  printed  works,"  he 
said,  "  were  my  recreations — my  true  works  may  be  found 
on  the  shelves  in  Leadenhall  Street,  filling  some  hundred 
folios." 

Leadenhall  Street  joins  Com/iill  (so  called  from  a  corn- 
market)  where  the  conduit-fountain  called  the  Standard 
(built  1502)  formerly  stood  like  a  high  round  tower.  Corn- 
hill  also  had  its  may-pole,  which  was  of  prodigious  size,  for 
Chaucer,  writing  of  vain-boasters,  says  that  they  look  as 
if  they  could  "  bear  the  great  shaft  of  Corn-hili."  Gray 
the  poet  was  born  (December  26,  17 16)  in  Cornhill, 
where  his  father  was  an  Exchange  Broker,  at  a  house  on 
the  site  of  No.  41,  which  was  destroyed  by  fire  in 
1748,  and  rebuilt  by  him.  No.  65,  the  offices  of  Messrs. 
King  the  publishers,  rebuilt  in  187 1,  stand  opposite  the 
place  where  the  fountain  known  as  "  the  Standard  at  Corn- 
hill  "  stood,  at  which  the  Great  Fire  stopped.  The  old 
house,  while  occupied  by  Messrs.  Smith  and  Elder,  was 
interesting  from  its  association  with  Leigh  Hunt,  Thackeray, 
Mrs.  Gaskell,  Charlotte  Bronte,  and  others.  It  was  here 
that  Charlotte  and  Anne  Bronte  presented  themselves  in 
1F4.8,  to  prove  their  separate  identity  to  the  publishers  who 
imagined,  as  all  the  world  did  then,  that  Cuner,  Acton, 


ST,   PETER'S,    C0RNH1LL.  361 

and  Ellis  Bell  were  the  same  person.  Hence  also  issued 
the  '"  Cornhill  Magazine,"  with  Thackeray  as  its  first 
editor. 

St.  MichaeTs,  Cornhill,  is  one  of  the  churches  built  by 
Wren  after  the  Fire.  Robert  Fabyan,  Alderman  and  Sheriff, 
who  wrote  the  "Chronicles  of  England  and  France  "  (151 1), 
and  the  father  and  grandfather  of  John  Stow  the  historian 
were  buried  in  the  old  church.  The  marked  feature  of  the 
present  building  is  its  great  Perpendicular  tower,  a  bad 
imitation  of  that  of  Magdalen  College  at  Oxford.  There  is 
a  rich  modern  door  with  a  relief  of  St.  Michael  weighing 
souls.  The  interior  is  covered  with  foolish  decorations  in 
polychrome.  Seven  seats  at  the  end  of  the  nave  are  set 
apart  as — the  Royal  pew,  Diocesan,  Corporation,  Drapers', 
Merchant  Tailors'  and  Rector's  pews. 

St.  Peter's,  Cornhill — hideous  outside— one  of  Wren's  re- 
buiklings  and  a  singularly  bad  specimen  of  his  work,  claims 
to  stand  on  the  eailiest  consecrated  ground  in  England, 
and  to  take  precedence  of  Canterbury  itself,  for  there 
(according  to  a  tablet  preserved  in  the  vestry)  King  Lucius 
was  baptized  four  hundred  years  before  the  coming  of 
Augustine  and  the  conversion  of  Ethelbert,  when  he  made 
it  the  metropolitan  church  of  the  whole  kingdom.  The 
wood  screen  in  this  church  was  set  up  by  Bishop  Beveridge 
(of  Si.  Asaph),  who  was  rector  here  1672  — 1704,  and  is  men- 
tioned in  one  of  his  sermons.  A  touching  monument  by 
Ryley  commemorates  the  seven  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Woodmason,  burnt  in  their  beds  in  their  father's  house  in 
Leadenhall  Street,  January  18,  1782.  The  cherub  heads 
upon  the  monument  are  known  from  a  beautiful  engraving 
by  Bartolozzi. 


302  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Change  Alley,  Comhill  (formerly  Exchange  Alley),  leading 
into  Lombard  Street,  was  the  chief  centre  of  the  money 
transactions  of  the  last  century,  when  the  Stock  Exchange 
was  held  here  at  "Jonathan's  Coffee  House."  It  was  the 
great  scene  of  action  in  the  South  Sea  Bubble  of  1720,  by 
which  so  many  thousands  of  credulous  persons  were  ruined. 

Another  Coffee  House  in  this  alley  which  played  a  great 
part  in  the  same  time  of  excitement  was  "  Garraway's,"  so 
called  from  Garway  its  original  proprietor.  It  was  here 
that  tea  was  first  sold  in  London. 

"  There  is  a  gulf  where  thousands  fall, 
There  all  the  bold  adventurers  came ; 
A  narrow  sound,  though  deep  as  hell, 
Change  Alley  is  the  dreadful  name. 

Meanwhile,  secure  on  Garway's  cliffs, 

A  savage  race  by  shipwrecks  fed, 
Lie  waiting  for  the  founder'd  skiffs, 

And  strip  the  bodies  of  the  dead." 

Swift. 

Now  we  reach  the  R.oyal  Exchange,  whence  we  set  forth 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE  TOWER  AND  ITS  SURROUNDINGS. 

FROM  the  statue  of  William  IV.  at  the  foot  of  King 
William  Street,  Little  East  Cheap  and  Great  Tower 
Street  lead  to  the  Tower  of  London.  This  is  one  of 
the  busiest  parts  of  the  City,  movement  is  impeded,  and  all 
the  side  streets  teem  with  bustle  and  traffic.  At  the  end  oi 
Great  Tower  Street  is  the  Church  of  Allhattows,  Barking, 
which  derives  its  surname  from  having  been  founded  by  the 
nuns  of  Barking  Abbey  befoie  the  reign  of  Richard  I.,  who 
added  a  chantry  in  honour  of  the  Virgin  where  the  north 
chancel  aisle  now  is.  This  chantry — "  Eerking  Chapel  " — 
contained  a  famous  image  of  the  Virgin  placed  there  by 
Edward  I.  in  consequence  of  a  vision  before  his  father's 
death,  in  which  she  assured  him  that  he  should  subdue 
Wales  and  Scotland,  and  that  he  would  be  always  victorious, 
whilst  he  kept  her  chapel  in  repair.  To  the  truth  of  this 
vision  he  swore  before  the  Pope,  and  obtained  an  indul 
gence  of  forty  days  for  all  penitents  worshipping  here  at  her 
shrine.  In  the  instrument  which  set  this  forth,  prayer  is 
especially  asked  for  the  soul  of  Richard  I.,  "  whose  heart  is 
buried  beneath  the  high  altar  "  :  the  lion-heart,  however,  is 
Jeally  in  the  museum  at  Rouen,  having  been  exhumed  from 


3%4  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

the  cathedral,  where  it  was  deposited  when  the  king's  body 
was  buried  at  Fontevrault. 

The  church,  which  is  chiefly  Perpendicular,  is  entered 
on  the  south  by  a  handsome  modern  Decorated  door.  The 
interior  has  all  the  charm  which  want  of  uniformity  gives, 
and  its  old  ironwork  (observe  the  sword-rests  of  three  Lords- 
Mayor — the  last  of  1727 — over  the  Corporation  Pew),  its 
ancient  monuments,  and  numerous  associations  give  it  a 
peculiar  interest.  Making  the  circuit  of  the  church  we  may 
notice — 

North  Aisle.  The  beautiful  canopied  altar  tomb  of  John  Croke, 
Alderman  and  Skinner,  1477,  and  his  wife  Margery,  1490,  who 
bequeathed  her  "great  chalys  of  silver  guilt"  to  the  church,  to  have 
the  souls  of  herself  and  her  husband  more  "tenderly  prayed  for." 
They  are  represented,  in  brass,  accompanied  by  small  groups  of  their 
sons  and  daughters,  with  prayers  coming  from  their  lips  :  these,  and 
the  coats  of  arms,  are  enamelled,  not  incised. 

The  figure  of  Jerome  Bonalius,  1583,  an  Italian  (probably  the 
Venetian  Consul),  kneeling  at  a  desk. 

Brass  of  Thomas  Virby,  Vicar,  1453. 

Brass  of  John  Bacon,  1437,  and  his  wife,  very  well-executed  figures 
with  flowing  draperies.  He  was  a  woolman  and  is  represented  on  his 
bag.     The  inscription  is  in  raised  letters. 

Pavement  of  North  Aisle.  The  grave  of  George  Snayth,  1651, 
"sometimes  auditor  to  William  Lawd,  late  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury." Snayth,  a  witness  of  the  archbishop's  will,  who  bequeathed  to 
him  ^"50,  desired  to  rest  near  his  master.  (The  windows  in  this  aisle 
commemorate  the  escape  of  the  church  in  the  Great  Fire.) 

The  Altar,  beneath  which  the  headless  body  of  Archbishop  Laud 
was  buried  by  his  steward  George  Snayth,  January  II,  1644.  It  is 
curious  that  Laud,  the  champion  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  was 
buried  according  to  the  ceremonies  of  the  Church  of  England,  lon^ 
after  it  was  disused  in  most  of  the  London  churches.  His  body  was 
removed  to  St.  John's  College,  Oxford,  in  1663. 

Nave.  Brass  of  Roger  James,  1563,  bearing  the  arms  of  the 
Brewers'  Company ;  and  the  noble  Flemish  brass  of  Andrewe  Evyngar, 
citizen  and  Salter,  and  his  wife  Ellyn,  1536,  which  has  all  the  delicacy 
of  a  Mending  picture  and  is  well  deserving  of  study.     Evyngar  was 


ALLH ALLOWS,   BARKING.  365 

the  son  of  a  brewer  at  Antwerp,  where  his  monument  was  probably 
executed.  There  is  only  one  brass  superior  to  it  in  England — in  the 
Church  of  St.  Mary  Cray  at  Ipswich.  On  the  upper  part  of  this 
monument  is  a  representation  of  the  Virgin  seated  in  a  chair  with  the 
dead  Christ  upon  her  knees.  On  the  right  are  the  arms  of  the  Salters' 
Company,  on  the  left  those  of  the  Merchant  Adventurers  of  Hamburg. 
The  symbols  of  the  four  Evangelists  appear  at  the  angles  of  the  inscrip- 
tion (from  the  litanies  of  the  Sarum  breviary),  "  Ne  rcminiscaris  domine 
delicta  nostra  vel  parentum  nost.  neque  vindictam  sumas  de  peccatis 
nostris."  Above  and  below  the  figures  are  the  words  (from  the  second 
and  third  nocturn  of  the  office  for  the  dead,  and  the  responsory  in  the 
second  nocturn  of  the  same),  "  Sana  domine  animam  mcam  quia 
peccavi  tibi.  Ideo  deprecor  majestatem  ut  tu  Deus  deleas  iniquitatera 
meam." 

Monument  of  John  Kettlewell  the  Nonjuror,  1695,  who  desired  "  to 
lie  in  the  same  grave  where  Archbishop  Laud  was  before  interred."  This 
■voluminous  author  was  the  Vicar  of  Coleshill,  deprived  in  1690  for  re- 
fusing to  take  the  oaths  to  William  and  Mary.  His  funeral  service  was 
performed  by  Bishop  Ken.  He  "  so  happily  and  frankly  explained  all 
the  details  of  our  duty,  that  it  is  difficult  to  say  whether  he  more  formed 
the  manners  of  men  towards  evangelical  virtue,  or  exemplified  it  in  his 
own  life." 

South  Aisle.  A  canopied  tomb  of  c.  1400,  with  a  small  enamel  of 
the  Resurrection. 

Brass  of  John  Rusche,  1498  ;  and  that  of  Christopher  Rawson, 
Merchant  of  the  Staple,  15 18,  and  his  two  wives,  for  the  repose  of 
whose  souls  he  founded  a  chantry  in  the  chapel  of  St.  Anne. 

The  important  brass  of  William  Thynne,  "  chefe  clerk  of  the  kechyn  " 
to  Henry  VIII.,  who  "departed  from  the  prison  of  his  frayle  body" 
in  1546.  This  brass  is  a  palimpsest,  the  other  side  being  engraved 
with  the  figure  of  an  ecclesiastic,  and  was  evidently  one  of  the 
monastic  brasses  torn  up  at  the  Dissolution.  Thynne  wears  the  chain 
which  was  the  badge  of  court  officers,  foi  he  was  Clerk  of  the  Kitchen, 
Clerk  of  the  Green  Cloth,  and  Master  of  the  Household  to  Henry  VIII. 
He  was  the  "  Thynnus  Aulicus  "—  the  courlicr,  of  Erasmus,*  and  was 
the  originator  of  the  wealth  and  power  of  the  Thynne  family.  His 
father  was  Thomas  Boteville,  of  an  ancient  family  which  came  from 
Poitou  in  the  reign  of  John,  and  which  acquired  the  name  of  Thynne 
from  John  of  th'  Inn,  one  of  its  members  who  resided  in  an  Inn  of 
Court.  William  Thynne  edited  the  first  edition  of  the  Works  of 
Chsucer  in  1532,  which  he  dedicated  to  Henry  VIII.,  and  which  wrs 

*  Epistt  la:  xv.  14. 


306  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

complete,  with  the  exception  of  "  the  Plowman's  tale,"  which  was  then 
suppressed  by  the  king's  desire,  but  which  appeared  in  the  edition  of 
1542,  which  was  edited  by  his  son  Francis,  who  narrates — 

"  This  tale  when  Kinge  Henry  the  Eigth  had  redde  he  called  my 
father  unto  him  and  said  :  '  William  Thynne,  I  doubt  this  will  not 
bee  allowed  ;  for  I  suspect  the  bishoppes  will  call  thee  in  question  for 
ytt.'  To  whome  my  father,  being  in  great  favore  with  his  prince,  saved, 
'  If  your  grace  be  not  offended  I  hope  to  be  protected  by  you.'  Where- 
upon the  king  did  bidd  hyrn  go  his  wave  and  feare  not.  All  which 
notwithstanding  my  father  was  called  in  question  by  the  bishopps  and 
heaveu  at  by  Cardinall  Wolseye  his  olde  enemeye  for  many  causes,  but 
mostly  for  that  my  father  had  procured  Skelton  to  publish  his  Collin 
Cloute  against  the  Cardinall,  the  most  part  of  which  book  was  compiled 
in  my  father's  house  at  Erith  in  Kent." 

The  only  son  of  William  Thynne  was  Francis,  the  Lancaster  Herald, 
a  distinguished  antiquary,  who  assisted  Holinshed  in  his  chronicles, 
"seeing,"  says  Fuller,  "  the  shoulders  of  Atlas  himself  may  be  weaiy, 
if  not  sometimes  beholden  to  Hercules  to  relieve  him."  Of  his 
nephews,  one  was  William,  Steward  of  the  Marches,  who  has  a  noble 
alabaster  tomb  in  Westminster  Abbey,  and  another  Sir  John  Thynne 
of  Longleat,  who  founded  the  House  of  Bath. 

Brass  of  Elizabeth  (1540)  wife  of  W.  Denham,  Alderman  and 
Sheriff,  whose  portrait  is  in  the  Ironmongers'  Hall. 

The  carvings  of  the  Font  are  by  Gibbons. 

The  Parish  Register  records  the  baptism,  October  23,  1644,  °* 
"William,  son  of  William  Penn  and  Margaret t  his  wife,  of  the  Tower 
Liberty."  The  eldest  son  of  Sir  William  Penn  (Commander  in  Chief 
of  the  Navy  under  the  Duke  of  York,  Knighted  in  1665)  was  born  "  on 
the  east  side  of  Tower  Hill,  within  a  court  adjoining  to  London 
Wall."  *  Being  turned  out  of  doors  by  his  father  for  his  Quaker 
opinions,  he  obtained  a  grant  (in  consideration  of  his  father's  services) 
from  Charles  II.  of  land  in  the  province  of  New  Netherlands  in 
America,  where  he  became  the  founder  of  "Pennsylvania/'  Return- 
ing to  England,  no  lied  at  Beaconsfield  in  1718." 

In  the  Churchyard  of  Allhallows  was  buried  Humfery 
Monmouth,  Alderman,  the  great  benefactor  of  the  early 
reformers,  who  harboured  and  helped  Tyndale,  was  im- 
prisoned  for  heresy  by   Sir   Thomas    More,  and  who  be- 

*  letter  from  P.  Gibson  to  William  Penn,  the  Quaker. 


TOWER   HILL.  367 

queathed  money  for  "four  godly  ministers"  (Mr.  Latimer, 
Dr.  Barnes,  Dr.  Crome,  and  Mr.  Taylor)  "to  preach  reformed 
doctrines  "  in  the  church  where  he  was  buried.  From  its 
nearness  to  the  Tower,  this  church  also  became  the  burial- 
place  of  several  of  its  victims.  Fisher,  Bishop  of  Rochester, 
the  Cardinal  of  St.  Vitalis  who  was  never  allowed  to  wear 
his  hat.  his  grave  being  "digged  by  the  watches  with  their 
halberds,"  was  laid  here  (without  his  head,  which  was 
exposed  on  London  Bridge)  "  without  coffin  or  shroud," 
near  the  north  door,  in  1535,  but  was  afterwards  moved 
that  he  might  be  near  his  friend  Sir  Thomas  More  in  the 
Tower.  Henry  Howard,  Earl  of  Surrey  (beheaded  for 
quartering  the  arms  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  though  he 
had  a  license  to  do  so  from  the  Heralds'  College),  "  the  first 
of  the  English  nobility  that  did  illustrate  his  birth  with  the 
beauty  of  learning,"*  was  also  buried  here  in  1546,  but  was 
moved  to  Framlingham  in  1614.  Here  still  reposes  Lord 
Thomas  Grey  (uncle  of  Lady  Jane),  beheaded  in  1554  for 
taking  part  in  the  rebellion  of  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt,  and  his 
perhaps  may  be  the  headless  skeleton  lately  found  at  the 
west  end  of  the  nave.f 

The  sign  of  the  Czar's  Head  (No.  48),  opposite  this 
church,  marks  a  house  where  Peter  the  Great,  when  in 
England,  used  to  booze  and  smoke  with  his  boon  com- 
panions. 

We  now  emerge  on  Tower  Hill,  a  large  plot  cf  open 
ground,  surrounded  with  irregular  houses.  In  one  of  those 
lived  Lady  Raleigh  while  her  husband  was  imprisoned  in  the 
Tower.    Where  the  garden  of  Trinity  Square  is  now  planted, 

*  Camden. 

t  For  further  details  as  to  this  church,  consult  "  Collections  in  Illustration  ri 
the  Parochial  Hist,  of  Allhallows,  Harking,''  by  Joseph  Maskell. 


368 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


a  scaffold  or  gallows  of  timber  was  always  erected  for  the 
execution  of  those  who  were  delivered  by  writ  out  of  the 
Tower  to  the  sheriffs  of  London,  there  to  be  executed. 
Only  the  queens  and  a  very  few  other  persons  have  suffered 
within  the  walls  of  the  Tower — almost  all  the  great  historical 
executions  have  taken  place  here  on  the  open  hill.  Amongst 
others,  this  honoured  spot  has  been  stained  with  the  blood 
of  Bishop  Fisher,  June  22,  1535  ;  Sir  Thomas  More,  July  6, 
1535;  Cromwell,  Earl  of  Essex,  July  28,  1540;  Henry- 
Howard,  Earl  of  Surrey,  1547  ;  Thomas,  Lord  Seymour  of 
Sudeley,  1549  ;  the  Protector  Somerset,  1552  ;  John  Dudley, 
Earl  of  Northumberland,  1553;  Lord  Guildford  Dudley, 
February  r2,  1553;  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt,  1554:  Thomas 
Wentworth.  Karl  of  Strafford,  May  12,  1641 ;  Archbishop 
Laud,  January  10,  1645  ;  Algernon  Sydney,  December  7, 
1633  ;  the  Duke  of  Monmouth,  July  15,  1685  ;  the  Earl 
of  Dervventwater  and  Lord  Kenmuir.  17 15;  Lords  Kil 
marnock  and  Balmerino,  August  18,  1746;  and  Simon, 
Lord  Lovat,  April  9,  1747,  the  last  person  beheaded  in 
England,  who  died  expressing  his  astonishment  that  such 
vast  multitudes  should  assemble  "  to  see  an  old  grey  head 
taken  off." 

Below  Tower  Hill,  separated  from  it  by  a  wide  moat  and 
ramparts  now  planted  with  gardens  on  the  side  of  the  town, 
is  the  immense  pile  of  fortifications  known  as  the  Tower  of 
London.  Though  one  of  the  most  ancient,  and  quite  the 
most  historical,  of  English  fortresses,  a  great  feeling  of 
disappointment  will  be  inevitably  felt  by  those  who  see  it 
for  the  first  time.  Its  picturesque  points  have  to  be  care- 
fully sought  for.  Its  general  aspect  is  poor,  mean,  and 
uninteresting,  a  fault  which  is  entirely  owing  to  the  feeble- 


THE   TOWER.  369 

ness  of  our  later  English  architects — to  the  sanu  utter 
ignorance  of  the  honour  due  to  light  and  shadow — and  the 
same  sacrifice  of  general  outline  to  finish,  which  has  ruined 
Windsor  Castle.  Here,  where  an  Italian  would  have  used 
enormous  blocks  of  stone,  perfect  rocks  heaped  one  upon 
another,  all  work  of  rebuilding  or  restoration  has  been  done 
with  small  stones  neatly  cut  and  fitted  together  like  bricks, 
producing  an  impression  of  durable  piteousness,  which  it 
requires  all  the  romance  of  history  to  counteract. 

A  tradition  which  ascribes  the  first  building  of  the  Tower 
to  Julius  Ctesar  has  been  greatly  assisted  by  Gray  through 
the  lines  in  the  Bard — 

"Ye  towers  of  Julius,  London's  lasting  shame, 
With  many  a  foul  and  midnight  murder  fed." 

But  no  existing  buildings  are  of  earlier  date  than  the 
White  Tower  or  Keep  which  was  built  by  William  the 
Conqueror  in  1078.  Gundulph,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  the 
builder  of  Rochester  Castle,  was  overseer  of  the  work.  He 
was  surnamed  "  the  Weeper "  and  appropriately  <:  laid  in 
tears  the  foundation  of  the  fortress  which  was  to  be  the 
scene  of  so  much  suffering."  The  Tower  was  much  enlarged 
by  William  Rufus,  of  whom  Henry  of  Huntingdon  says, 
"  He  pilled  and  shaved  the  people  with  tribute,  especially  !o 
spend  about  the  Tower  of  London  and  the  great  hall  of 
Westminster."  By  Rufus  and  Henry  I.,  St.  Thomas's  Tower 
was  built  over  the  Traitor's  Gate, — "  they  caused  a  grate 
castle  to  be  builded  under  the  said  Tower,  to  wit  on  the 
south  side  towards  the  Thames,  and  also  encastelated  the 
same  about."  In  the  reign  of  Henry  I.  we  read  of  Ralph 
Flambard,    Bishop  of   Durham,    being    imprisoned    in  the 

VOL.    I.  B  B 


37C  WALKS  /.V  LONDON. 

Tower,  but  a  rope  was  sent  to  him,  concealed  in  a  cask  of 
wine,  and  he  escaped  safely,  being  let  down  from  the  walls. 

King  Stephen  frequently  resided  in  the  Tower.  The 
moat  was  made  by  Longchamp  Bishop  of  Ely  in  1190  when 
he  was  intrusted  with  its  defence  for  Richard  I.  against 
John.  He  "  enclosed  the  castle  with  an  outward  wall  of 
stone,  thinking  to  have  environed  it  with  the  river  of 
Thames."  Of  all  English  sovereigns  the  Tower  was  most 
enriched  and  adorned  by  Henry  III.,  for  he  regarded  it 
rather  as  a  palace  than  a  fortress.  Griffin,  Prince  of  Wales, 
was  imprisoned  here  in  1244  and  attempted  to  escape  by  a 
rope  made  of  his  bedclothes,  but  it  broke,  and  he  met  with 
a  frightful  death  in  the  moat.  Under  Edward  I.  the  great 
prisoners  taken  in  the  Scottish  wars  were  immured  here. 
Baliol,  after  three  years,  was  released  on  the  intercession 
of  the  Pope,  but  William  Wallace  and  Sir  Simon  Fraser 
only  left  their  prison  to  be  executed  with  the  most  horrible 
brutality  in  Smithfield. 

Edward  II.  frequently  resided  in  the  Tower,  where  his 
eldest  daughter,  thence  called  Jane  of  the  Tower,  was  born. 
Under  Edward  III.,  John,  King  of  France,  and  David 
Bruce,  King  of  Scotland,  were  imprisoned  here.  In  the 
reign  of  Richard  II.  the  Tower  was  continually  filled  with 
prisoners  who  were  victims  of  the  jealousy  of  rival  factions, 
the  most  illustrious  being  the  young  king's  tutor,  the  excel- 
lent Sir  Simon  Burley,  of  whom  Froissart  says,  "  To  write 
of  his  shameful  death  right  sore  displeaseth  me ;  for  when  I 
was  young  I  found  him  a  noble  knight,  sage  and  wise  .  .  . 
yet  no  excuse  could  be  heard,  and  on  a  day  he  was  brought 
out  of  the  Tower  and  beheaded  like  a  traitor — God  have 
mercy  on  his  soul."     For  this  act,  when  his  own  friends 


THE   TOWER  37s 

obtained  the  chief  power,  King  Richard  caused  his  uncle 
the  Duke  of  Gloucester  to  be  put  to  death  at  Calais,  and 
the  Earl  of  Arundel  lost  his  head  on  Tower  Hill. 

During  the  rebellion  of  Wat  Tyler,  when  the  king,  who 
had  previously  been  fortified  in  the  Tower,  was  induced  to 
go  fonh  to  meet  the  insurgents,  the  rebels  broke  into  the 
fortress  and  pillaged  it,  beheading  Sudbury,  Archbishop  of 
Canteibury  (who  had  abused  them  as  "  shoeless  ribalds  "), 
Sir  Robert  Hales  the  treasurer,  and  others  whom  .  they 
found  there.  It  was  in  the  upper  chamber  of  the  White 
Tower  that  Richard  II.  abdicated  in  favour  of  his  cousin 
Henry  of  Bolingbroke,  and  hence  Henry  IV.  went  to  his 
coronation,  a  custom  which  was  followed  by  all  after 
sovereigns  of  England  till  James  II.  Henry,  Earl  of 
Huntingdon,  the  king's  brother-in-law,  was  the  first  of  along 
series  of  victims  beheaded  in  the  Tower  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  IV.,  in  which  Prince  James  of  Scotland,  son  of 
Robert  III.,  was  imprisoned  there.  Under  Henry  V.  the 
prisons  were  filled  with  the  captives  of  Agincourt,  including 
Charles,  Duke  of  Orleans,*  and  his  brother  John,  Count  of 
Angouleme.  In  this  reign  also  the  Tower  became  the 
prison  of  many  of  the  reformers  called  Lollards,  of  whom 
the  greatest  was  Lord  Cobham,  who  was  dragged  by  a  cl 
from  the  Tower  to  be  burnt  in  St.  Giles's  Fields. 

In  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.  the  fortress  was  occupied  by 
the  prisoners  of  the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  and  here  in  June, 
147 1,  King  Henry  VI.  died  mysteriously  just  after  the 
Battle  of  Tewkesbury — according  to  Fabian  and  Hall,  by 
the  hand  of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  who  "  murthered  the 

*  The   father  (by  his   third  wife)  of  Louis  XII.     He  had  previously  married 
Isabella  of  Valois,  widow  ol  Richard  II.  of  England. 


572  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

said  kyng  with  a  dagger."  Queen  Margaret  was  impi  soned 
here  till  1475.  Two  years  afterwards  George,  Duke  of 
Clarence,  brother  of  Edward  IV.,  was  put  to  death  in  the 
Tower.  With  the  death  of  Edward  IV.  the  darkest  page 
in  the  annals  of  the  fortress  is  opened  by  the  execution  of 
Lord  Hastings,  soon  to  be  followed  by  the  alleged  murder 
of  the  young  King  Edward  V.,  and  his  brother  Richard, 
Duke  of  York. 

Hence  Elizabeth  of  York  went  to  her  coronation  as  wife 
of  Henry  VII.,  and  here  she  died  after  her  confinement  in 
1503.  Her  little  daughter  Katherine  was  the  last  princess 
born  in  the  Tower.  The  most  illustrious  victim  of  this 
reign  was  Edward,  Earl  of  Warwick,  son  of  the  murdered 
Duke  of  Clarence,  and  the  last  male  Plantagenet,  who  was 
beheaded  in  1499,  his  only  crime  being  his  royal  blood. 
In  the  same  year  Perkin  Warbeck,  the  White  Rose  of 
England,  who  claimed  to  be  the  younger  son  of  Edward 
IV.,  was  imprisoned  here  before  being  taken  to  be  hung  at 
Tyburn. 

The  accession  of  Henry  VIII.  witnessed  the  imprison- 
ment and  execution  of  Empson  and  Dudley  the  tax- 
gatherers  of  his  father,  and  in  1521  that  of  Edward  Bohun, 
Duke  of  Buckingham,  whose  chief  fault  was  his  descent 
from  Thomas  of  Woodstock,  youngest  son  of  Edward  III. 
The  next  great  executions  on  Tower  Hill  were  those  of 
Fisher,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  and  Sir  Thomas  More,  who 
suffered  for  refusing  to  acknowledge  the  king's  supremacy. 
These  were  soon  followed  by  the  private  execution  of 
Queen  Anne  Boleyn  and  her  brother  Lord  Rochford,  and 
by  the  death  on  Tower  Hill  of  Henry  Norris,  William 
Brereton,  Sir  Francis  Weston,  and  Mark  Smeaton  for  her 


2  HE   TOWER.  3;- 

sake.  The  endless  victims  of  the  northern  insurrections 
and  of  the  dissolution  of  monasteries  next  succeeded  to 
the  prisons  of  the  Tower,  followed  by  those  accused  of 
treasonable  correspondence  with  Cardinal  Pole,  including 
his  venerable  mother,  Margaret,  Countess  of  Salisbury, 
niece  of  the  Kings  Edward  IV.  and  Richard  III.,  who  was 
brutally  beheaded  within  the  walls.  In  1540  Thomas 
Cromwell,  Earl  of  Essex,  the  chief  promoter  of  the  dissolu- 
tion of  monasteries,  who  had  offended  Henry  VIII.  by 
bringing  about  his  marriage  with  Anne  of  Cleves,  was 
imprisoned  and  brought  to  the  block.  His  execution  was 
soon  followed  by  that  of  Queen  Catherine  Howard  and  her 
confidante  Lady  Rochford. 

In  1546  Anne  Askew  was  racked  in  the  Tower  for  the 
Protestant  faith  before  her  burning  in  Smithfield.  And  in 
1547  the  poet  Earl  ^f  Surrey  was  executed  on  Tower  Hill, 
the  only  ground  for  the  accusation  of  high  treason  brought 
against  him  being  that  he  quartered  (as  he  had  a  right  to 
do)  the  arms  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  and  that  he  was 
fond  of  conversing  with  foreigners.  His  father  Thomas 
Howard,  Duke  of  Norfolk,  only  escaped  being  added  to  the 
victims  of  Henry  VIII. 's  jealousies  by  the  tyrant's  death. 

In  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.,  Thomas,  Lord  Seymour  of 
Sudeley,  his  uncle,  and  the  widower  of  his  stepmother, 
Queen  Katherine  Parr,  was  beheaded  on  Tower  Hill  for 
government  intrigues,  and  for  having  defrauded  the  mint  to 
an  amount  of  something  like  ^40,000  and  having  established 
cannon  foundries  where  he  had  twenty-four  cannons  ready 
for  immediate  service. 

"As  touching  the  kind  of  his  death,  whether  he  be  saved  or  no,  I 
ret'er  that  to  God     In   the  twinkling  of  an  eye  He  may  save  a  man, 


l-\  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

and  turn  his  heart.  What  He  did  I  cannot  tell.  And  when  a  man 
hath  two  strokes  .vith  an  axe,  who  can  tell  but  between  two  strokes  he 
doth  repent  ?  It  is  hard  to  judge.  But  this  I  will  say,  if  they  will 
ask  rne  what  I  think  of  his  death,  that  he  died  very  dangerously, 
irksomely,  and  horribly.  He  was  a  wicked  man,  and  the  realm  is  well 
rid  of  him." — Latimer's  Sermons,  p.  162. 

In  1 551  the  King's  other  uncle,  the  Duke  of  Somerset, 
Lord  Protector,  being  most  unjustly  found  guilty  of  felony, 
was  beheaded  amid  the  tears  of  the  people.  His  execution 
was  followed  by  those  of  his  friends,  Sir  Thomas  Arundel, 
Sir  Michael  Stanhope,  Sir  Ralph  Vane,  and  Sir  Miles 
Partridge. 

The  accession  of  Mary  brought  Lady  Jane  Grey  and  her 
husband  Lord  Guildford  Dudley  to  the  Tower  and  the 
scaffold,  with  her  father-in-law  John  Dudley,  Duke  of 
Northumberland,  and  his  adherents  Sir  John  Gates  and 
Sir  Thomas  Palmer.  The  rebellion  of  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt, 
a  principal  cause  in  the  execution  of  Lady  Jane  Grey,  led 
to  his  being  beheaded.,  to  the  execution  of  the  Duke  of 
Suffolk  and  Lord  Thomas  Grey,  and  to  the  imprisonment 
in  the  Tower  of  the  Princess  Elizabeth. 

The  accession  of  Elizabeth  sent  a  number  of  Roman 
Catholic  bishops  and  abbots  to  the  Tower  for  refusing  to 
acknowledge  her  supremacy.  Lady  Katherine  Grey,  sister 
of  Lady  Jane,  was  also  kept  in  prison  till  her  death  in  1567 
for  the  crime  of  a  secret  marriage  with  the  Earl  of  Hertford. 
Thomas  Howard,  Duke  of  Norfolk,  son  of  the  unfortunate 
Earl  of  Surrey,  was  imprisoned  and  executed  in  157 1,  for 
having  aspired  to  the  hand  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots.  In 
the  latter  part  of  the  queen's  reign  numbers  of  Jesuit  priests 
were  committed  to  the  Tower  and  executed,  and  Henry 
Percy,  Earl  of   Northumberland,  being   imprisoned  there, 


THE   TOWER.  375 

died  by  suicide.  Sir  John  Perrot,  a  natural,  son  ot  Henry 
VIII.,  unjustly  imprisoned,  died  of  a  broken  heart. 
Through  the  bitter  jealousy  of  the  reigning  court  favourites, 
Cecil  and  Raleigh,  Robert  Devereux,  Earl  of  Essex,  was 
imprisoned  and  beheaded  privately  in  the  Tower  in  1601, 
his  execution  being  followed  by  those  of  Sir  Christopher 
Blunt,  Sir  Charles  Danvers,  Sir  Gilley  Merrick,  and  Henry 
Cuffe. 

Shortly  after  James  I.  came  to  the  throne  an  alleged 
plot  for  the  re-establishment  of  popery  and  raising  of  Lady 
Arabella  Stuart  to  the  throne  led  to  that  lady's  imprison- 
ment for  life  in  the  Tower  (where  she  died  insane)  with 
Lord  Thomas  Grey  and  Lord  Cobham,  and  to  the  execution 
of  George  Brook  the  brother  of  the  latter.  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  imprisoned  at  the  same  time  (1603),  was  released 
in  1616,  but  he  was  reimprisoned  in  1618  to  gratify  the 
malice  of  Gondomar  the  Spanish  ambassador,  and  (though 
he  had  been  appointed  admiral  of  the  fleet  with  command 
of  an  expedition  to  Guiana,  during  his  short  interval  of 
liberty)  he  was  beheaded  two  months  afterwards  on  his  old 
accusation. 

In  1606  the  dungeons  of  the  Tower  were  filled  with  the 
conspirators  of  the  Gunpowder  Plot,  who  were  all  hung, 
cut  down,  and  disembowelled  while  they  were  still  living. 
In  1613  Sir  Thomas  Overbury  was  poisoned  in  the  Tower 
by  the  Earl  of  Rochester  and  the  Countess  of  Essex,  who 
obtained  a  pardon  by  the  favour  of  King  James,  though  he 
had  prayed  that  "God's  curse  might  light  upon  him  and  his 
posterity  (which  it  did)  if  he  spared  any  that  were  guilty." 

In  1630  Sir  John  Eliot  was  committed  to  the  Tower, 
where  he   vrote  his  "  Monarchic  of  Man,"  and  continued, 


370  WALKS  IN  LCXDON. 

though  his  lodging  was  ten  times  changed,  till  his  death  in 
Nov.  1632. 

In  1641  Thomas  Wentworth,  Earl  of  Stafford,  unjustly 
condemned  for  high  treason  against  the  will  of  his  sovereign 
Charles  I.,  was  beheaded  on  Tower  Hill,  having  been 
blessed  from  a  window  on  his  way  to  execution  by  Arch- 
bishop Laud,  who  was  then  himself  a  prisoner,  having  been 
impeached  for  Romish  tendencies,  and  who  was  himself 
beheaded  on  January  4,  1643.  In  the  wars  which  followed, 
Sir  John  Hotham  and  his  son,  the  Duke  of  Hamilton,  the 
Earl  of  Holland  and  Lord  Capel  were  imprisoned  and 
suffered  death  for  the  cause  of  their  king. 

With  the  return  of  Charles  II.  came  the  imprisonment 
and  death  of  many  of  the  regicides,  but  the  next  important 
executions  were  those  of  Algernon  Sidney  and  William  Lord 
Russell;  and  that  of  the  Duke  of  Monmouth,  who  was 
executed  for  high  treason  against  his  uncle  James  II.  in 
1685.  In  1 683  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  six 
bishops  were  imprisoned  in  the  Tower  for  a  libel  upon 
the  king  and  his  government.  Executions  were  now  rare, 
but  numerous  prisoners  still  filled  the  Tower.  Among 
these  in  1722  was  Bishop  Atterbury,  whose  imprisonment 
for  Jacobitism  is  commemorated  by  Pope — 

"  How  pleasing  Atterbury's  softer  hour, 
How  shone  his  soul  unconquered  in  the  Tower." 

In  17 15  Lord  Derwentwater  and  Lord  Kenmuir  were  be- 
headed on  Tower  Hili  for  their  devotion  to  the  Stuarts. 
The  Earl  of  Nithsdale  escaped  in  a  cloak  and  hood  pro- 
vided by  his  heroic  wife.  Loyalty  to  the  Stuarts  likewise 
led    in    1746    to   the    execution    of    Lords    Kilmarnock, 


THE  MIDDLE   GATE. 


377 


Balmerino,    and   Lovat,   with    Charles    Ratcliflfe,   younger 
brother  of  Lord  Dervvent water. 

The  parts  of  the  Tower  generally  exhibited  to  the  public 
are  the  Armoury  and  the  Jewel  Tower.  These,  however, 
are  the  parts  least  worth  seeing.  To  visit  the  rest  of  the 
Tower  an  order  should  be  obtained  from  the  Constable. 
Visitors  are  shown  over  the  Tower  by  Beefeaters,  as  the 
Wardens  of  the  Tower  are  called,  who  still  wear  the  pictur- 
esque dress  of  the  Yeomen  of  the  Guard  of  Henry  VIII. 
established  in  1285,  a  privilege  which  was  obtained  for 
them  in  perpetuity  from  Edward  VI.  by  his  uncle  the 
Protector  Somerset,  who  had  noted  their  diligence  in  their 
office  while  he  was  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower.  It  has  been 
well  observed  that  the  dress  of  the  Beefeaters  in  the  Tower 
shows,  more  than  anything  else  in  London,  the  reverence 
of  England  for  her  past.  Their  name  is  supposed  to  be 
derived  from  the  fact  that  the  commons  of  the  early  Yeomen 
of  the  Guard,  when  on  duty,  was  beef — and  the  name  was 
probably  derisory,  beef  being  then  a  cheap  article  of  con- 
sumption, for  when  under  Henry  VIII.  butchers  were 
compelled  by  law  to  sell  their  mutton  at  three  farthings, 
beef  was  only  a  half-penny. 

Before  reaching  the  moat  we  pass  by  what  is  called  "  the 
Spur  "  beneath  the  Middle  Gate,  where  an  ancient  arch  with 
a  portcullis  is  now  built  into  modernised  bastions.  This 
was  the  gate  where  Elizabeth,  coming  from  Canonbury 
before  her  coronation,  on  entering  the  fortress  which  had 
been  her  prison,  alighted  from  her  palfrey,  and  falling  upon 
her  knees  "  offered  up  to  Almighty  God,  who  had  delivered 
her  from  a  danger  so  imminent,  a  solemn  and  devout 
thanksgiving   for  an    'escape   so   miraculous,'    as   she   ex* 


WALKS  IN  L0X1 


pre-,  I  it  herself  [      lei  aut  of  the  mouths  of 

73  with  a  semi- 

rular  a: ea  gland  formerly  kept  their 

wild  beasts.  :~:rst  of  I  ere  three  leopards  pre- 

sented  fee  Hen      EIL  by  the  Emperor  Frederick,  in  allusion 

to  the  royal  arms.     A  bear  was  soon  added,  for  which  the 


Middle  Tower. 


London  rdered  to  :         lea  muzzle  and  iron 

hen  out  of  the  water,  and  a  strong  cord 

to  hold  him  hing  in  the   T  a  elephant 

procured   in  the  same  reign,    and   a   lion  in  that  of 

Edward  II.     The  wild  Tower  were  the  most 

.       jf  London  in  the       it  and  the  beginning  of 

-t  century, — -'Our  fir  I  was   to   the  lions," 

*  See  Bnrne:  'a  .  ' 


THE    TRAITOR'S   GATE. 

says    Addison   in   the  "  F.  .  '      In   1S34    the  royai 

menagerie    was   used  as   a  foundation    for  the  Zoolog 
Garcens  collection.     To  the   right  is   a  te.  »  the 

bank  of  the  Thames,  where  we  should  mire  the 

wide  reach  of  the  Thames,  here  ca.  Pool,  crowded 

with  shipping,  so  that  or.e  seems  to  be 
.-ry  of  beautiful  V  The 

to  the  river  are   the   Q  S 

where  the  sovereigns  embarl  :df  corona:  .     . 

wharf  from  which  we  are  r;,_;ng  is  :  h — twice 

destroyed  and  twice  rebuilt      iring 
III.  so  exc.  unpopular  with  the  Lon .'. 

'•  A  monk  of  St.  Alban's,  who  tells  the  tale,  asserts  that  a  priest  who 

assing  near  the  fortress  sa  Iressed  in 

his  robes,  holding  a  cross,  and  attended  by  the  spiri:  of  a  -ring 

sternly  on  these  new  works.     As  ike  pries:  came  up,  :':.- 
to  the  mason-  i  the 

walls  sharply  with  the  holy  cross,   on  which 

the  river,  leaving  a  wreath  of  smoke  behind.     T^  too  much 

scared  to  accost  the  more  pote^:  spirit :  but  he  I  to  the  humble 

clerk  and  asked  him  the  ar  c 

said  the  shade.     .     .     .     The   ghost  farther  -  that 

the  two  most  popular  ssoz  and  the 

t,  had  undertaken  tt  ••var  upon  these  EHad  they 

been  built,'  said  the  shade,  'for  the  defence  of  London,  and  ia 
to  find  food  for  masons  and  joiners  -  :  but 

thev  are  built  against  the  St.  Thoma- 

yed  them,  the  Confess 
.  he  names  of  the  ... 

One  of  the  rooms,  fitte  -  an  oratory,  ani 

perfect,  is   called   the  Confessor's  Ch. 

.1  of  bearing  its  erhcial  name  of  V.  known  _ 

Thomas's  tower." — H 

An  arch  beneath  the  terrace  forms  the  to  the 

Traitor's  Gait,  thr   agl  reached  to 

.    -  >w-browed  arch  whici)  we  still 


3«o  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

see.  Here  it  was  that  Anne  Boleyn  was  landed,  having 
been  hurried  hither  without  warning  from  a  tournament  at 
Greenwich,  and  fell  upon  her  knees  upon  the  steps,  praying 
God  to  defend  her,  as  she  was  innocent  of  the  crime  of 
which  she  was  accused.  Rere,  eighteen  years  after,  her 
daughter  Elizabeth  stepped  on  shore,  exclaiming,  "  Here 
iandeth  as  true  a  subject,  being  a  prisoner,  as  ever  landed 
at  these  stairs,  and  before  thee,  O  God,  I  speak  it."  Fuller 
mentions  the  proverb,  "  A  loyal  heart  may  be  landed  at 
Traitor's  Gate  "— 

"  That  gate  misnamed,  through  which  before, 
Went  Sidney,  Russell,  Raleigh,  Cranmer,  More." 

Rogers'  Human  Life. 

In  the  room  over  the  g  te  died  the  last  Lord  Grey  of 
Wilton  (1614)  after  eleven  years  of  cruel  imprisonment — on 
accusation  of  wishing  to  marry  Lady  Arabella  Stuart  without 
permission  of  James  I. 

Beyond  the  Traitor's  Gate,  guarding  the  outer  ward 
towards  the  river,  were  the  Cradle  lower,  the  Well  Tower, 
and  the  Galley  man  Toiver.  Near  the  last  was  the  approach 
cailed  the  Iron  Gate. 

Returning  to  the  main  entrance,  we  pass  into  the  Outer 
Ward  through  the  Byward  lower  (so  called  from  the  pass- 
word given  on  entering  it),  having  on  the  left  the  Bell 
Tower,  in  which  Bishop  Fisher  and  Lady  Arabella  Stuart 
were  confined.  There  is  a  similar  "Bell  Tower"  at 
Windsor,  there  almost  the  only  remnant  of  the  ancient 
castle. 

We  should  examine  the  Traitor's  Gate  as  we  pass  it. 
The  walls,  both  at  the  sides  and  in  front  towards  the  river, 
are   perforated  with   little   passages,  with   loopholes   from 


THE    TRAITOR'S  GATE. 


38i 


which  the  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower  could  watch,  unseen, 
the  arrival  of  the  prisoners.  We  may  linger  a  moment  at 
the  top  of  its  steps  also,  to  recollect  that  it  was  here  that  as 
Sir  Thomas  More  was  being  led  back  to  prison,  after  his 
condemnation,  with  the  fatal  sign  of  the  reversed  axe  carried 
before  him,  his  devoted  daughter  Margaret,  who  had  been 
watching  unrecognised  amid  the  crowd,  burst  through  the 


Traitor's  Gate. 


guards  and  flinging  herself  upon  his  neck,  besought   his 
blessing. 

"  The  blushing  maid 
"Who  through  the  streets  as  through  a  desert  stray'd, 
And  when  her  dear,  dear  father  passed  along, 
Would  not  be  held  ;  but  bursting  through  the  throng, 
Halberd  and  axe,  kissed  him  o'er  and  o'er, 
Then  turned  and  wept,  then  sought  him  as  before, 
Believing  she  should  see  his  face  no  more." 

Rogers'  Human  Life. 


& 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


Margaret  was  forced  away  from  her  father,  but  a  second  time 
broke  away  and  threw  her  arms  round  his  neck,  with  such 
piteous  cries  of  "  Oh  my  father,  my  father  !  "  that  the  very- 
guards  were  melted  into  tears,  while  he,  "  remitting  nothing 
of  his  steady  gravity,"  gave  her  his  solemn  blessing  and 
besought  her  "  to  resign  herself  to  God's  blessed  pleasure, 
and  to  bear  her  loss  with  patience." 


'-^jf 


The  Bloody  Gate. 


Immediately  opposite  the  Traitor's  Gate,  another  ancient 
arch  with  a  portcullis  admits  us  to  the  Inner  Ward.  The 
old  ring  on  the  left  of  the  arch  is  that  to  which  the  rope 
was  fastened,  stretched  across  the  roadway,  from  the  boat 
which  brought  in  the  prisoners.  This  is  altogether  the 
most  picturesque  point  in  the  building.  It  is  called  the 
Bloody  Toiver,  from  the  belief  that  here  the  sons  of  Edward 


THE    WAKEFIELD   TOWER.  383 

IV.  were  murdered  by  order  of  their  uncle  Richard  III. 
There  is  not,  however,  any  proof  that,  if  the  murder  was 
committed,  it  occurred  here,  and  the  present  name  has  only 
been  given  to  the  place  since  the  reign  of  Elizabeth :  it  was 
previously  called  "  the  Garden  Tower,"  because  it  joined 
the  constable's  garden,  which  now  forms  part  of  the  parade. 

Though  there  is  no  proof  that  the  princes  were  murdered 
here,  a  very  old  tradition  points  out  the  angle  at  the  foot  of 
the  wall,  outside  the  gate  on  the  right,  as  the  place  of  their 
hasty  burial  by  their  reputed  assassins,  Dighton  and  Forrest, 
before  their  removal  by  Richard  III.  to  the  foot  of  the 
staircase  in  the  White  Tower. 

The  gate  looks  the  same  now  as  it  did  when  Sir  Thomas 
Wyatt  passed  through  it  to  his  prison,  when  Sir  John 
Bridges  seized  him  and  shook  him  by  the  collar,  calling 
him  names  and  saying — "  but  that  the  law  must  pass  upon 
thee,  I  would  stick  thee  with  my  dagger  " — "  To  the  which," 
says  Holinshed,  "  Wyatt,  holding  his  arms  under  his  side, 
and  looking  grievously  with  a  grim  look  upon  the  lieutenant, 
said,  '  It  is  no  mastery  now,'  and  so  passed  on." 

It  is  from  the  little  portico  on  the  right  within  the  Bloody 
Gate  that  nightly,  at  n  p.m.,  the  sentry  of  the  guard 
challenges  the  Chief  Warder  having  the  keys  of  the  fortress 
— "  Who  goes  there  ?  "  "  Keys."  "  Whose  keys  ?  "  "  Queen 
Victoria's  keys."  Upon  which  the  Warder  exclaims,  "  God 
bless  Queen  Victoria."  The  soldiers  respond,  the  keys 
pass  on,  and  the  guard  disperse. 

Just  within  the  gate,  on  the  right,  some  steps  lead  into 
the  Wakefield  Tower,  where  the  Regalia  is  now  kept.  This 
tower,  which  is  said  to  derive  its  name  from  the  prisoners 
kept   here   after   the  Battle  of  Wakefield,  has  a  beautiful 


3»4 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


vaulted  roof.  Opening  from  the  raised  recess  of  the  window 
on  the  south  side  is  the  oratory  of  Henry  VI.,  which 
tradition  points  out  as  the  scene  of  his  murder.  The  centre 
of  the  chamber  is  occupied  by  a  great  glass-case  containing 
the  Regalia,  with  the  magnificent  gold  plate  used  at  Coro- 
nation banquets.     The  collection  of  plate  and  jewels  here 


The  Wakefield  Tower. 


is  valued  at  three  millions.     The  most  important  objects 
are — 

The  Queen's  State  Crown,  made  1838.  It  is  covered  with  precious 
stones.  In  front,  in  the  centre  of  a  cross  of  diamonds,  is  the  famous 
ruby  given  to  the  Black  Prince  by  Don  Pedro  of  Castile  (1367)  after 
the  Battle  of  Najera.  Henry  V.  wore  it  in  his  helmet  at  the  Battle  of 
Agincourt. 

St.  Edward's  Crown,  made  for  the  Coronation  of  Charles  IT.,  and 
used  ever  since  at  coronations.  It  replaced  a  crown  destroyed  during 
the  Commonwealth,  which  tradition  ascribed  to  the  Confessor. 


THE  REGALIA.  385 

The  Prince  of  Wales's  Crown,  of  gold,  without  jewels. 

The-  Crown  used  for  the  Queen's  Consort,  of  geld,  set  with  diamonds 
and  precious  stones. 

The  Queen's  Circlet,  made  for  Mary  of  Modena,  wife  of  James  II. 

The  Orb,  a  ball  of  gold,  set  with  jewels  and  surmounted  by  a  cross, 
held  by  the  sovereigns  in  their  right  hand  at  coronation,  and  carried  in 
their  left  on  their  return  to  Westminster  Hall.  This  is  a  badge  of 
universal  authority,  borrowed  from  the  Roman  emperors. 

St.  Edward's  Staff,  a  golden  sceptre  carried  before  the  sovereign  at 
coronation. 

The  King's  Sceptre  with  the  Cross,  which  is  placed  in  the  right 
hand  of  the  sovereign  at  coronation  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

The  King's  Sceptre  with  the  Dove,  surmounted  by  a  cross,  with  a 
dove  as  the  emblem  of  Mercy. 

The  Queen's  Sceptre  with  the  Cross. 

The  Queen's  Ivory  Rod,  an  ivoiy  sceptre,  with  a  golden  cross  and 
dove,  made  for  Mary  of  Modena. 

The  Armillce,  or  Bracelets,  worn  by  sovereigns  at  coronations. 

The  Royal  Spurs,  carried  by  ancient  custom  at  coronations  by  the 
Lords  Grey  de  Ruthyn,  as  representatives  of  the  Earls  of  Hastings. 

The  Ampulla,  or  golden  eagle,  which  holds  the  consecrated  oil  at 
coronations.  The  spoon  belonging  to  the  Ampulla  is  the  oldest  piece 
of  plate  in  the  collection. 

The  Curtana,  or  Sword  of  Mercy,  carried  at  coronations  between 
the  Swords  of  Temporal  and  Spiritual  Justice. 

The  Salt-cellar  of  State — a  model  of  the  White  Tower. 

The  Silver  Fountain,  presented  to  Charles  H.  by  the  town  of  Ply- 
mouth. 

The  Silver  Font,  used  at  the  baptisms  of  the  royal  children. 

The  crown  jewels  have  frequently  been  pledged  by  the 
English  kings  to  Flemish  and  French  merchants.  A  deter- 
mined attempt  to  carry  them  off  was  made  by  an  Irishman 
named  Thomas  Blood  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  He  was 
a  desperate  ruffian,  who,  amongst  other  wild  deeds,  had 
carried  off  the  Duke  ofOrmond  and  very  nearly  succeeded 
in  hanging  him  at  Tyburn  to  avenge  the  deaths  of  some  of 
his  associates  in  a  Dublin  insurrection,  when  the  Duke  was 
Lord  Lieutenant.     On  the  present  occasion  he  came  first 

vol.  1.  C  C 


385  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

with  his  supposed  wife  to  see  the  Regalia,  and  while  there 
the  woman  pretended  to  be  taken  ill,  and  her  being  con- 
veyed into  the  rooms  of  Talbot  Edwards,  the  Deputy- 
keeper,  then  e'ghty  years  old,  was  made  the  pretext  for  an 
acquaintance,  which  ended  in  a  proposition  on  the  part  of 
Blood  to  bring  about  a  marriage  between  his  son  and  the 
daughter  of  Edwards.  Some  days  after  he  returned  with 
the  imaginary  bridegroom  and  two  other  companions,  and, 
while  waiting  for  the  lady,  begged  to  show  them  the  crown 
jewels.  Edwards  complied,  and,  as  soon  as  the  door, 
according  to  custom,  was  locked  on  the  inside,  they  gagged 
the  old  man,  beat  him  till  he  was  half  senseless,  and  began 
to  pack  up  the  regalia.  Fortunately  young  Edwards 
returned  from  Flanders  at  that  moment  and  arrived  to  see 
his  father.  The  old  keeper,  hearing  him,  contrived  to  cry 
out  "  Murder,"  and  the  conspirators  made  off,  Blood 
carrying  the  crown,  and  one  of  his  companions,  Perrot,  the 
orb.  They  were  pursued  and  seized.  The  most  extra- 
ordinary part  of  the  story  is,  that  backed  by  the  remi- 
niscence of  his  attack  on  the  Duke  of  Ormcnd,  Blood  so 
contrived  to  terrify  the  king  by  his  account  of  the  vengeance 
which  his  friends  would  take  in  case  of  his  execution,  that 
he  was  not  only  released,  but  allowed  a  pension  of  ^"500  a 
year!  while  poor  old  Edwards,  promised  a  pension  which 
was  never  paid,  was  allowed  to  die  almost  in  destitution. 

Before  the  Regalia  were  removed  hither,  the  Wakefield 
Tower  was  used  as  a  Record  office.  It  was  here  that 
Selden,  with  Sir  Robert  Cotton,  searched  for  the  precedents 
upon  which  the  Petition  of  Rights  was  founded.  Here  also 
Prynne  forgot  the  loss  of  his  ears  in  compiling  materials 
for  his  books,  for  when  some  one   asked  Charles   II.  at 


THE    WHITE   TOWER.  387 

the  Restoration  what  should  be  done  to  keep  Prynne  quiet, 
he  said,  "Let  him  amuse  himself  with  wiiting  agains*:  the 
Catholics  and  poring  over  the  records  in  the  Tower,"  of 
which  he  forthwith  gave  him  the  custody,  with  a  salary  of 
^500  a  year. 

The  centre  of  the  Inner  Ward  is  occupied  by  the  mighty 
White  Tower,  an  immense  quadrangular  building  with 
corner  turrets,  and  pierced  with  Norman  arches  and 
windows.  Below  it,  on  the  south,  under  an  open  roof,  are 
preserved  several  curious  specimens  of  early  guns,  chiefly  of 
the  time  of  Henry  VIII.,  the  earliest  dating  from  Henry 
VI.  The  most  interesting  pieces  are  "  the  Great  Harry " 
of  Henry  VIII.  and  a  gun  inscribed  "Thomas  Semeur 
Knyght  was  Master  of  the  King's  Ordynannce  when  John 
and  Robert  Owen  Brethren  made  thys  Pece,  Anno  Domini 
1546." 

"  If  there  be  any  truth  in  the  proverb,  '  As  long  as  Megg  of  West- 
minster,' it  relateth  to  a  great  gun,  lying  in  the  Tower,  commonly 
call'd  'Long  Megg,' and  in  troublesome  times  (perchance  upon  111 
May-day  in  the  reign  of  King  Henry  the  Eighth)  brought  to  West- 
minster, where  for  a  good  time  it  continued.  But  this  nut  (perchance) 
deserves  not  the  cracking." — Fuller's  Worthies. 

At  the  south-west  angle  is  the  entrance  of  the  Horse 
Armoury,  through  which  visitors  are  usually  hurried  full 
speed  by  the  warders.  The  gallery  is  decorated,  fantas- 
tically and  rather  absurdly,  with  weapons.  In  the  centre 
are  twenty-two  equestrian  figures  in  suits  of  armour,  illus- 
trating the  different  reigns  from  Edward  I.  to  James  II. 
The  suits  of  armour  are  all  ascribed  to  different  kings  or 
knights,  but  for  the  most  part  without  authority. 

The  collection  is  a  fine  one,  but  not  to  be  compared  to 
those  of  Madrid  and  Vienna,  or  even   to  that  of  Turin. 


388 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


Suits  which  really  belonged  to  those  to  wnom  they  are 
assigned,  and  which  therefore  especially  require  notice, 
are — 

Right  (in  the  recess).  The  glorious  suit  (of  German  manufacture) 
presented  to  Henry  VIII.  on  his  marriage  with  Katharine  of  Arragon. 
There  is  a  similar  suit  in  the  Belvidere  at  Vienna. 

"  The  badges  of  this  Icing  and  queen,  the  rose  and  the  pomegranate, 
are  engraved  on  various  parts  of  the  armour.  On  the  fans  of  the 
genouilleres  is  the  Sheaf  of  Arrows,  the  device  adopted  by  Ferdinand, 
the  father  of  Katharine,  on  his  conquest  of  Granada.  Henry's 
badges,  the  Portcullis,  the  Fleur-de-lys,  and  the  Red  Dragon,  also 
appear ;  and  on  the  edge  of  Use  Ian  boys  or  skirts  are  the  initials  of  the 
royal  pair,  '  H.  K.,'  united  by  a  true  lover's  knot.  The  same  letters 
similarly  united  by  a  knot,  which  includes  also  a  curious  love-badge, 
formed  of  a  half  rose  and  half  pomegranate,  are  engraved  on  the 
croupiere  of  the  horse. 

"But  the  most  remarkable  part  of  the  embellishment  of  this  suit 
consists  in  the  saintly  legends  which  are  engraved  upon  it.  These 
consist  of  ten  subjects,  full  of  curious  costume,  and  indicating  curious 
manners."— Hewitt's  Tower  Armouries. 

Suit  of  russet  armour,  covered  with  filigree  work,  of  the  time  of 
Edward  VI.  The  horse  armour  is  adorned  with  the  badges  of  Bur- 
gundy and  Granada.  It  probably  belonged  to  the  Archduke  Philip, 
who  married  the  unfortunate  Joanna,  daughter  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella.  This  horse  armour  is  believed  to  have  been  presented  to 
Henry  VII.  when  Philip  and  Joanna  were  forced  by  storms  to  take 
refuge  in  England  in  1506. 

Left.    Another  suit  of  Henry  VIII. — probably  authentic. 

Tilting  suit  which  belonged  to  Robert  Dudley,  Elizabeth's  Earl  of 
Leicester.  Observe  the  initials  R.  D.  on  the  genouilleres,  and  the 
Bear  and  Ragged  Staff  on  the  chanfron  of  the  horse,  encircled  by  the 
collar  of  the  garter.     This  suit  was  originally  gilt. 

Gilt  suit  of  the  Earl  of  Essex  (1581),  which  was  worn  by  the  king's 
champion  at  George  II.'s  coronation. 

Gilt  suit  of  Charles  I.  given  by  the  Armourers'  Company.  This  suit 
was  laid  on  the  coffin  of  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  at  his  funeral. 

Gilt  suit  made  for  Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,  eldest  son  of  James  I., 
as  a  child. 

Suit  made  for  Charles  II.  in  his  fifth  year. 

Armour  attributed  to  James  II.  The  nead  is  interesting  as  having 
been  carved  by  Grinling  Gibbons  as  a  portrait  of  Charles  H. 


QUEEN  ELIZABETH'S  ARMOURY.  38., 

The  oldest  piece  of  armour  here  is  an  Asiatic  suit  of  the  time  of  the 
Crusades,  brought  from  Tong  Castle,  in  Shropshire. 

In  a  cabinet  in  the  recess  at  the  end  of  the  armoury  (right)  are  the 
awful  "  Headsman's  Mask,"  and  the  Burgonet  of  Will  Somers,  je-ter 
to  Sir  Thomas  More  and  afterwards  to  Henry  VIH. :  it  is  a  kind  of 
head-piece,  with  ram's  horns. 

A  staircase  leads  (passing  through  some  imitation  pillars 
and  a  Norman  doorway  formed  out  of  a  window)  to  Queen 
Elizabeth's  armoury.  Here  also  the  old  Norman  walls  are 
everywhere  spoilt  by  deal  panelling  and  a  ridiculous  deco- 
ration of  pistols,  sabres,  &c,  arranged  in  the  forms  of  feathers 
or  flowers.  At  the  foot  of  the  stairs  is  a  curious  suit  of 
armour  sent  to  Charles  II.  by  the  Great  Mogul. 

On  the  left  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  Armoury  is  a  dark  cell 
falsely  called  the  prison  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  At  the 
entrance  are  inscriptions  left  by  prisoners  after  Sir  Thomas 
Wyatt's  rebellion — 

"  He  that  indvreth  to  the  ende  shall  be  savid  M.  10. 
R.  Hudson.  Kent.  Ano.  1553." 

"  Be  faithful  vnto  the  deth  and  I  wil  give  thee  a  crowne  of  life.  T. 
Fane.     1554." 

"  T.  Culpeper  of  Darford." 

The  Armoury  is  closed  by  a  ludicrous  figure  of  Elizabeth 
on  horseback,  as  she  is  supposed  to  have  appeared  at  Tilbury 
Fort.     The  objects  especially  to  be  observed  here  are — 

The  Instruments  of  Torture— thumbscrews ;  bilboes;  the  torture- 
cravat  called  "  Skelhngton's  daughter"  after  its  inventor;  and  a 
Spanish  collar  of  torture  taken  in  the  Armada. 

The  Axe  which  is  said  to  have  beheaded  the  Earl  of  Essex. 

The  Block  used  at  (and  made  for)  the  executions  of  Balmerino, 
Kilmarnock,  and  Lovat. 

Returning  to  the  outside  of  the  Tower,  we  find  a  second 
staircase.     On  its  first  landing  (as  an  inscription  tells)  some 


390  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

bones  were  found  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  and  were 
buried  in  Westminstei  Abbey  as  those  of  the  princes,  sons 
of  Edward  IV.  Edward  V.  was  twelve  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  his  brother  Richard  eight.  Their  murder  has  never 
been  proved  and  is  still  one  of  the  mysteries  of  history : 
Hey  wood,  by  his  play  of  Edward  JV.,  has  assisted  the  belief 
in  it.  He  thus  describes  their  arrival  here  with  their  uncle 
Gloster. 

"  Prince  Edward.    Uncle,  what  gentleman  is  that  ? 

Gloster.     It  is,  sweet  Prince,  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower. 

Prince  Edward.     Sir,  we  are  come  to  be  your  guests  to-night. 
I  pray  you,  tell  me,  did  you  ever  know 
Our  father,  Edward,  lodge  within  this  place  ? 

Brackenbury.     Never  to  lodge,  my  liege,  but  oftentimes 
On  other  occasions  I  have  seen  him  here. 

Prince  Richard.     Brother,  last  night  when  you  did  send  for  me, 
My  mother  told  me,  hearing  we  should  lodge 
Within  the  Tower,  that  it  was  a  prison, 
And  therefore  marvell'd  that  my  uncle  Gloster, 
Of  all  the  houses  for  a  king's  receipt 
"Within  this  city,  had  appointed  none 
Where  you  might  keep  your  court  but  only  here. 

Gloster.    Vile  brats  !   how  they  do  descant  on  the  Tower. 
My  gentle  nephew,  they  were  ill-advised 
To  torture  you  with  such  unfitting  terms 
(Whoe'er  they  were)  against  this  royal  mansion. 
What  if  some  part  of  it  hath  been  reserved 
To  be  a  prison  for  nobility, 
Follows  it  therefore  that  it  cannot  serve 
To  any  other  use  ?     Caesar  himself, 
That  built  the  same,  within  it  kept  his  court, 
And  many  kings  since  him  ;  the  rooms  are  large, 
The  building  stately,  and  for  strength  beside 
It  is  the  safest  and  the  sarest  hold  you  have. 

Prince  Edward.     Uncle  of  Gloster,  if  you  think  it  so» 
'Tis  not  for  me  to  contradict  your  will ; 
We  must  allow  it  and  are  well  content. 

Gloster.     On  then,  in  God's  name. 

Prince  Edward.  Yet  before  we  go, 


THE    WHITE   TOWER.  39J 

One  question  more  with  you,  Master  Lieutenant ; 
We  like  you  well ;  and,  but  we  do  perceive 
More  comfort  in  your  looks  than  in  these  walls, 
For  all  our  uncle  Gloster's  friendly  speech, 
Our  hearts  would  be  as  heavy  still  as  lead. 
I  pray  you,  tell  me,  at  which  door  or  gate 
Was  it  my  uncle  Clarence  did  go  in 
When  he  was  sent  a  prisoner  to  this  place  ? 

Brackenbury.     At  this,  my  liege  !     Why  sighs  your  Majestv  ? 

Prince  Edward.     He  went  in  here  that  ne'er  came  back  again ! 
But  as  God  hath  decreed,  so  let  it  be  ! 
Come,  brother,  shall  we  go  ? 

Prince  Richard.    Yes,  brother,  anywhere  with  you." 

Heywood  thus  pourtrays  the  night  before  the  murder  : 

"  Scene,  a  Bedroom  in  the  Tower — enter  the  two  young  Prince*  in 
their  bedgowns  and  caps. 

Richard.     How  does  your  lordship  ? 

Edward.  Well,  good  brother  Richard. 

How  does  yourself?     You  told  me  your  head  ached. 

Richard.     Indeed  it  does ;  my  lord,  feel  with  your  hands 
How  hot  it  is ! 

Edward.     Indeed  you  have  caught  cold 
With  sitting  yesternight  to  hear  me  read ; 
I  pray  thee  go  to  bed,  sweet  Dick,  poor  little  heart ! 

Richard.     You'll  give  me  leave  to  wait  upon  your  lordship. 

Edward.     I  had  more  need,  brother,  to  wait  on  you  ; 
For  you  are  sick,  and  so  am  not  I. 

Richard.     Oh  lord  !  methinks  this  going  to  our  bed, 
How  like  it  is  to  going  to  our  grave. 

Edward.     I  pray  thee  do  not  speak  of  graves,  sweet  heart, 
Indeed  thou  frightest  me. 

Richard.     Why,  my  lord  brother,  did  not  our  tutor  teach  u&, 
That  when  at  night  we  went  unto  our  bed 
We  still  should  think  we  went  unto  our  grave. 

Edward.  Yes,  that's  true 

If  we  should  do  as  every  Christian  ought, 
To  be  prepared  to  die  at  any  hour. 
But  I  am  heavy. 

Richard.     Indeed,  so  am  I. 

Edward.     Then  let  us  say  our  pi  ayers  and  go  to  bea. 

[  Tliey  kneel,  and  solemn  music  within  :  it  ceases  and  they  rise.] 


392  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Richard.     What,  bleeds  your  grace  ? 
Edward.     Ay,  two  drops,  and  no  more. 
Ricliard.     God  bless  us  both ;  and  I  desire  no  more. 
Edward.     Brother,  see  here  what  David  says,  and  so  say  I : 
Lord,  in  thee  will  I  trust  although  I  die." 

Parts  I.  and  IT. 

Hence  a  winding  stair  leads  to  St.  Johns  Chapel 
(of  1078),  the  most  perfect  Norman  chapel  in  England, 
encircled  by  heavy  circular  pillars  with  square  cornices 
and  bases,  and  a  very  wide  triforium  over  the  aisles. 
The  stilted  horseshoe  arches  of  the  apse  resemble  on  a 
small  scale  those  of  St  Bartholomew  the  Great.  The 
pavement  is  modern  but  admirably  adapted  to  the  place. 
Here,  while  he  was  kneeling  in  prayer,  Brackenbury,  the 
Lieutenant  of  the  Tower,  received  an  order  to  murder  the 
young  Edward  V.  and  his  brother,  and  refused  to  obey  it; 
here  Mary  attended  a  mass  for  her  brother  Edward  VI.  at 
the  time  of  his  funeral;  and  here  the  Duke  of  Northumber- 
land, father-in-law  of  Lady  Jane  Grey,  heard  mass  and 
publicly  "kneeled  down  and  axed  all  men  forgiveness,  and 
likewise  forgave  all  men,"  before  his  execution. 

It  is  on  this  floor  of  the  White  Tower  that  Flambard, 
Bishop  of  Durham,  Griffin,  Prince  of  Wales,  John  Baliol, 
and  the  Duke  of  Orleans  were  confined.  Baliol  especially 
lived  here  in  g^eat  state,  with  an  immense  household. 

Adjoining  the  chapel  was  the  ancient  Banqueting  Hall, 
now  filled  with  weapons.  The  upper  floor,  also  now 
divided  as  an  armoury,  was  the  Council  Chamber  in  which 
Richard  II.  abdicated  in  favour  of  Henry  IV. 

"  King  Richard  was  released  from  his  prison,  and  entered  the 
hall  which  had  been  prepared  for  the  occasion,  royally  dressed,  the 
sceptre  in  his  hand  and  the  crown  on  his  head,  but  without  supporters 
oa  either  side.      He   addressed   the  company  as  follows :     '  I  have 


THE   COUNCIL    CHAMBER.  ^93 

reigned  king  of  England,  duke  of  Aquitaine,  and  lord  of  Ireland 
about  twenty-two  years,  which  royalty,  lordship,  sceptre,  and  crown  I 
now  freely  and  willingly  resign  to  my  cousin,  Henry  of  Lancaster,  and 
entreat  of  him,  in  the  presence  of  you  all,  to  accept  this  sceptre.' 
Pie  then  tendered  the  sceptre  to  the  duke  of  Lancaster,  who  took  it 
and  gave  it  to  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  King  Richard  next 
raised  the  crown  with  his  two  hands  from  his  head,  and,  placing  it 
before  him,  said,  '  Henry,  fair  cousin,  and  duke  of  Lancaster,  I  present 
and  give  to  you  this  crown,  with  which  I  was  crowned  king  of  England, 
and  all  the  rights  dependent  on  it.' 

"  The  duke  of  Lancaster  received  it,  and  delivered  it  over  to  the 
archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  was  at  hand  to  take  it.  These  two 
things  being  done,  and  the  resignation  accepted,  the  duke  of  Lancaster 
called  in  a  public  notary,  that  an  authentic  act  should  be  drawn  up  of 
this  proceeding,  and  witnessed  by  the  lords  and  prelates  then  present. 
Soon  after  the  king  was  conducted  to  where  he  had  come  from,  and 
the  duke  and  other  lords  mounted  their  horses  to  return  home." — 
Froissart. 

Shakspeare  has  introduced  the  speech  of  King  Richard — 

"  I  give  this  heavy  weight  from  off  my  head, 
And  this  unwieldy  sceptre  from  my  hand, 
The  pride  of  kingly  sway  from  out  my  heart  ; 
With  mine  own  tears  I  wash  away  my  balm, 
"With  mine  own  hands  I  give  away  my  crown, 
With  mine  own  tongue  deny  my  sacred  state, 
With  mine  own  breath  release  all  duteous  oaths : 
All  pomp  and  majesty  I  do  forswear ; 
My  manors,  rents,  revenues  I  forego ; 
My  acts,  decrees,  and  statutes  I  deny : 
God  pardon  all  oaths  that  are  broke  to  me ! 
God  keep  all  oaths  unbroke  are  made  to  thee  ! 
Make  me,  that  nothing  have,  with  nothing  griev'd  ; 
And  thou  with  all  pleas'd,  that  hast  all  acliiev'd ! 
Long  mayst  thou  live,  in  Richard's  seat  to  sit, 
And  soon  lie  Richard  in  an  earthen  pit ! 
God  save  King  Henry,  unking'd  Richard  says, 
Ana  send  nun  many  years  of  sunshine  days  !  "  . 

Here  also  occurred  that  stranger  scene  in  1483,  when  the 
Frotector  (afterwards  Richard  III.),  coming  in  amongst  the 


394 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


lords  in  council,  asked  the  Bishop  of  Ely  to  send  for  some 
strawberries  from  his  famous  garden  in  Holborn.  It  is 
irresistible  to  quote  Sir  Thomas  More's  graphic  account  of 
what  followed. 

"  The  protector  set  the  lords  fast  in  communing,  and  thereupon  pray- 
ing them  to  spare  him  for  a  little  while,  departed  thence.  And  soon 
after  one  hour,  between  10  and  II,  he  returned  into  the  chamber 
among  them,  all  changed,  with  a  wonderful  sour,  angry  countenance, 
knitting  the  brows,  frowning  and  frothing  and  gnawing  on  the  lips ;  and 
so  sat  him  down  in  his  place,  all  the  lords  much  dismayed  and  sore 
marvelling  of  this  manner  of  sudden  change,  and  what  thing  should 
him  ail. 

"  Then,  when  he  had  sitten  still  a  while,  thus  he  began :  •  What  were 
they  worthy  to  have,  that  compass  and  imagine  the  destruction  of  me, 
being  so  near  of  blood  unto  the  king,  and  protector  of  his  royal 
person  and  his  realm  ? '  At  this  question  all  the  lords  sate  sore 
astonished,  musing  much  by  whom  this  question  should  be  meant,  of 
which  every  man  wist  himself  clear.  Then  the  lord-chamberlain,*  as 
he  who  for  the  love  between  them  thought  he  might  be  boldest  with 
him,  answered  and  said  that  they  were  worthy  to  be  punished  as 
heinous  traitors  whoever  they  were.  And  all  the  others  affirmed  the 
same.  '  That  is,'  quoth  he,  'yonder  sorceress,  my  brother's  wife,  and 
another  with  her,'  meaning  the  queen. 

•  ••••« 

Then  said  the  protector,  'Ye  shall  all  see  in  what  wise  that  sorceress, 
and  that  other  witch,  of  her  counsel,  Shore's  wife,  with  their  affinity, 
have  by  their  sorcery  and  witchcraft  wasted  my  body.'  And  therewith 
he  plucked  up  his  doublet-sleeve  to  his  elbow,  upon  bis  left  arm, 
when  he  shewed  a  werish  withered  arm  and  small,  as  it  was  never 
other.  And  thereupon  every  man's  mind  sore  misgave  him,  well  per- 
ceiving that  this  matter  was  but  a  quarrel.  For  well  they  wist  that 
the  queen  was  too  wise  to  go  about  any  such  folly.  And  also,  if  she 
would,  yet  would  she,  of  all  folk,  least  make  Shore's  wife  of  counsel, 
whom  of  all  women  she  most  hated,  as  that  concubine  whom  the  king 
her  husband  had  most  loved.  And  also  no  man  was  there  present 
but  well  knew  that  his  arm  was  ever  such  since  his  birth. 

"  Nevertheless  the  lord-chamberlain  answered  and  said,  '  Certainly, 
my  lord,  if  they  have  so  heinously  done,  they  be  worthy  heinous 
punishment.' 

*  Lord  Hastings,  whose  wile,  Catherine  Neville,  was  Richard's  first  cousin. 

-' 


THE    WHITE    TOWER.  395 

*  '  What,'  quoth  the  protector,  '  thou  servest  me  ill  I  ween  with  ifs 
and  with  amis ;  I  tell  thee  they  have  so  done,  and  that  I  will  make 
good  on  thy  body,  traitor.'  And  therewith,  as  in  a  great  anger,  lie 
clapped  his  fist  upon  the  board  a  great  rap  ;  at  which  token  given,  one 
cried  '  treason  '  without  the  chamber.  Therewith  a  door  cl  ipped,  and 
in  came  there  rushing  iren  in  harness  as  many  as  the  chamber  might 
hold.  And  anon  the  protector  said  to  the  Lord  Hastings,  •  I  arrest 
thee,  traitor.'  'What  me,  my  lord  ?  '  quoth  he.  'Yea  thee,  traitor,' 
quoth  the  protector.  And  another  let  fly  at  the  Lord  Stanley,  who 
shrunk  at  the  stroke,  and  fell  under  the  table,  or  else  his  head  had 
been  cleft  to  the  teeth ;  for,  as  shortly  as  he  shrank,  yet  the  blood  ran 
about  his  ears. 

"Then  were  they  all  quickly  bestowed  in  divers  chambers  ;  except 
the  lord -chamberlain,  whom  the  protector  bad  speed  and  shrive 
apace,  '  for  by  S.  Paul,'  quoth  he,  '  I  will  not  to  dinner  till  I  see  thy 
head  off.'     It  booted  him  not  to  ask  'why'  ;  but  heavily  he  took  a 
priest  at  adventure,  and  made  a  short  shrift ;  for  a  longer  would  not  be 
suffered,  the  protector  made  so  much  haste  to  dinner,  which  he  might 
not  go  to  till  this  were   done,  for  saving  of  his  oath.     So  was  he 
brought  forth  into  the  green,  beside  the  chapel  within  the  Tower, 
tus  head  laid  down  upon  a  long  log  of  timber,  and  there  stricken  off; 
and  afterward  his   body  with   the  head   interred  at  Windsor,  beside 
the  bodv  of  King  Edward  ;  both  whose  souls  our  Lord  pardon! "— 
of  Richard  III. 

Having   looked   out   of    the   window    whence   Rich 
beheld  the  execution  on  Tower  Green,  we  may  enter  the 
broad  triforiiun  of  St.  John's  Chapel,  whence  there  was  a 
communication  with  the  royal  apartments. 

There  is  a  glorious  view  from  the  leads  on  the  summit  of 
the  White  Tower.  Greenwich  is  visible  on  a  fine  day. 
The  turrets  are  restorations.  In  that  by  which  we  enter 
(N.E.)  King  John  imprisoned  the  beautiful  Maud,  daughter 
of  Robert  Fitzwalter  of  Barnard's  Castle. 

The  vaults  of  the  White  Tower  were  used  as  prisons, 
though  there  is  no  authority  for  the  statement  of  the 
Warders  that  Bishop  Fisher  and  Sir  Thomas  More  were 
imprisoned  there.     As  we  descend,  we  may  see  the  remains 


3Q6 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


of  the  old  staircase  on  the  right :  a  sword  shown  as  Smith 
O'Brien's  is  kept  there.  The  holes  in  which  the  rack  vnas 
fixed  upon  which  Anne  Askew  was  tortured  are  still  to  be 
seen  in  the  floor  of  the  vault.  Burnet  narrates  that  the 
Lord  Chancellor  Wriothesley,  throwing  off  his  coat,  himself 
drew  it  so  severely  that  he  almost  tore  her  body  asunder. 
In  the  prison  called  Little  Ease  Guy  Fawkes  was  impri- 
soned, with  his  companions,  and  here  he  was  racked,  and 
confessed  after  thirty  minutes  of  torture.  On  a  wall  in  one 
of  the  vaults  is  the  inscription,  "  Sacris  vestris  indutus,  dura 
sacra  mysteria  servans,  captus  et  in  hoc  angusto  carcere 
inclusus.  T.  Fisher  " — probably  by  a  Jesuit  priest  involved 
in  the  conspiracy. 

The  Armouries  and  the  Regalia  are  the  sights  usually 
shown  to  strangers.  Those  really  interested  in  the  Tower 
will  obtain  leave  to  make  the  circuit  of  the  smaller  towers, 
of  which  there  were  twelve  encircling  the  Inner  Ward. 
Returning  to  the  Bloody  Gate,  and  ascending  the  steps  on 
the  right  they  will  be  shown  the  rooms  over  the  gateway 
which  are  full  of  curious  or  great  reminiscences. 

On  the  wall  of  a  small  chamber  (left)  on  the  first  floor  is 
an  inscription  by  the  Bishop  of  Ross,  so  long  an  active 
partisan  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  who,  while  here,  confessed 
the  Norfolk  and  Northumberland  plots  in  her  favour,  and 
declared  her  privy  to  the  death  of  Darnley :  only  the 
name  is  now  legible,  the  rest  of  the  inscription  having  been 
chipped  by  axes  in  the  time  of  the  Commonwealth. 
Another  room  on  this  floor  is  that  whither  Felton,  the 
murderer  of  Buckingham,  was  brought  to  prison,  blessed  by 
the  people  on  his  way.  Here  also  Colonel  Hutchinson  was 
imprisoned  after  the   Restoration — "  It  was  a  great   dark 


THE  BLOODY  TOWER.  397 

room,"  says  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  "with  no  window  in  it,  and 
the  portcullis  of  a  gate  was  drawn  up  within  it,  and  below 
there  sate  every  night  a  court  of  guard."  The  same  prison 
was  afterwards  occupied  by  a  very  different  character, 
James  II. 's  Judge  Jeffreys,  who  was  taken  at  Wapping  in 
the  dress  of  a  sailor  by  a  man  he  had  injured,  and  who 
died  here  of  drinking,  having,  during  his  imprisonment, 
been  insulted  by  receiving  a  present  of  a  barrel,  apparently 
containing  Colchester  oysters,  but  really  a  halter. 

On  the  upper  floor  is  the  room  where  the  supposed 
murder  of  the  Princes  took  place.  Its  window  opens  upon 
a  narrow  passage  by  which  the  assassins  are  said  to  have 
entered  from  the  outside  walk  upon  the  walls.  The  rooms 
have  been  subdivided  in  late  times.  In  one  of  them  Margaret 
Cheyne  was  imprisoned,  the  wild  woman  who  excited  the 
second  pilgrim-invasion  of  Yorkshire  in  the  reign  of  Henry 
VIII.,  its  object  being  to  overthrow  the  power  of  Cromwell 
and  restore  Catherine  of  Arragon.  Here  Dudley,  Earl  of 
Northumberland,  father-in-law  of  Lady  Jane  Grey,  was 
imprisoned,  and  hence  he  was  led  to  the  scaffold.  Here 
was  the  first  prison  of  Archbishop  Cranmer.  Henry,  Earl 
of  Northumberland,  imprisoned  for  exciting  a  Catholic 
crusade  against  Elizabeth,  shot  himself  here,  June  21,  1585, 
to  avoid  the  confiscation  of  his  estates.  In  the  same  room 
Sir  Thomas  Overbury,  in  the  reign  of  James  I.,  underwent 
slow  agonies  of  poisoning  at  the  hands  of  the  Earl  and 
Countess  of  Somerset  and  their  minions.  Here  also  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  lived  through  his  second  and  longest  im- 
prisonment of  sixteen  years,  being  accused  of  a  plot  in 
favour  of  Lady  Arabella  Stuart.  His  imprisonment  was 
not  rendered  unnecessarily  severe,  and  his  wife  and  son 


$qi  WALKS  IN  LOXDOX. 

were  allowed  to  live  near  him  in  the  Tower.  In  the  still 
existing  room  he  wrote  his  "  History  of  the  World,r  and 
burn:  its  second  volume  as  a  sacrifice  to  Truth  on  being  con- 
ed that  a  murder,  which  &e  fan  .  .:  he  had  seen  from 
his  prison  window,  was  only  an  optical  delusion.*  Here  he 
received  the  visits  of  Ben  Jonson  and  other  clever  men 
of  the  time,  and  of  Prince  Henry,  who  said,  "  No  man  but 
my  father  would  keep  such  a  bird  in  such  a  cage."  In  the 
adjoining  garden  he  used  to  work,  to  cultivate  rare  plants, 
and  distil  curious  essences  from  them.  The  narrow 
walk  upon  the  wall,  connected  with  these  apartments,  is 
still  called  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  Walk. 

We  should  next  •visit  the  Lieutenanf  s  Lodgings,  where 
Mrs.  Hutchinson  was  born,  being  the  daughter  of  Sir  Allan 
Apsiey,  Lieutenant  of  the  To  er.  On  the  ground  floor  we 
see  the  curious  Axe  or  Offue  o"  the  Chief  Warder,  which 
was  carried  before  the  Lieutenant  when  he  accompanied 
prisoners  to  the  House  of  Lords.  As  they  returned,  the  axe 
before  the  prisoner.  If  the  trial  was  not  finished 
the  face  of  the  axe  was  away  from  him  ;  if  he  was  con- 
demned i:  was  turned  towards  him  :  thus  those  watching 
through  the  loopholes  of  the  Traitor's  Gate  knew  his  fate  at 
once. 

To  the  south  room  on  the  upper  floor  Guy  Fawkes  and 
his  friends  were  brought  for  examination  before  Cecil, 
Nttingham,  Mountjoy,  and  Northampton.  Cecil  wrote  of 
Guy  F:  He  is  no  more  dismayed  than  if  he  were 

taken  for  a  poor  roblery  on  the  highway."  There  is  a  fine 
bust  in  wood  or"  James  I.  over  the  chimney-piece,  and  the 
names  of  the  conspirators  are  given  on  one  of  a  set  of 

*    D  Israeli,  "Curios::  na." 


THE  LIEUTENANT'S  LODGIXGS. 

tablets  on  the  left,  which  contain  curious  Latin  inscriptions 
put   up  by  Sir  William  Waad,   Lieutenant  of  the  Tower, 
to  flatter  the  vainglorious  James  I.,  from  some  of  which 
following  are  translated : — 

"  James  the  Great.  King  of  Great  Brr  "rious  for  piet- 

foresight,  learning,  hardihood,  clemency,  and  the  other  royal  virtues; 
champion  and  patron  of  the  Christian  faith,  of  the  public  safety,  and  of 
universal  peace  ;  author  most  subtle,  most  august,  and  most  auspicious. 

"  Queen  Anne,  the  most  serene  daughter  I  .rick  the  Second, 

invincible  King  of  the  Danes. 

"  Prince  Henry,  ornament  of  nature,  stren  gthened  with  learning,  blest 
grace,  born  and  given  to  us  from  God. 

"  Charles,  Duke  of  York,  divinely  disposed  to  even-  virtue. 

"  Elizabeth,  full  sister  of  both,  most  worthy  of  her  pare: 

"  DoThou,  all-seeing,  protect  these  as  the  apple  of  the  eye,  and  guard 
them  without  fear  from  wicked  men  beneath  the  shadow  of  tlr 

"  To  Almighty  God,  the  guardian,  arrester,  and  avenger,  who  has 
punished  this  great  and  incredible  conspiracy  against  our  most  mi- 
Lord  the  King,  our  most  serene  Lady  the  Queen,  our  div  osed 
Prince,  and  the  rest  of  our  Royal  House ;  and  against  all  persons  of 
quality,  our  ancient  nobility,  our  soldiers,  prelates,  and  judges;  the 
authors  and  advocates  of  which  conspiracy,  Romanised  Jesuits,  of 
perfidious,  Catholic,  and  serpent-like  ungodliness,  with  others  equally 
criminal  and  insane,  were  moved  by  the  infamous  desire  of  destroying  the 
true  Christian  religion,  and  by  the  treasonous  hope  of  overthrowing  the 
kingdom,  root  and  branch  ;  and  which  was  suddenly,  wonderfully,  and 
divinely  detected,  at  the  very  mom  a  the  ruin  was  impending, 
on  the  5th  day  of  November,  in  the  year  of  grace  1605.  "William 
"Waad,  whom  the  King  has  appointed  his  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower, 
returns  on  the  ninth  of  October,  in  the  sixth  year  of  the  reign  of  James 
the  First,  1608,  his  great  and  everlasting  thanks." 

This  is  the  room  where  Pepys  (Feb.  2S,  1663-4)  "did  go 
to  dine  with  Sir  J.  Robinson,  his     1        ry  table  be:    a 
good,  and  his  lady  a   very  high-car:     s        but  comely-big 
woman."     James,  Duke  of  Monmouth,  I 
from    Sedgemoor,    was    imprisoned    in    the     L  anrt 

lodgings  (16S5)  till  his  uuon. 


400  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

We  now  reach  the  Bell  Tower,  so  called  from  being  sur- 
mounted by  a  wooden  turret,  containing  the  alarm  bell  of 
the  garrison.  At  the  entrance  of  the  upper  room  from  the 
walk  upon  the  wall  is  the  inscription — 

"  Bi .  tortvre. .  stravnge  .  my  .  trovth  .  was  .  tried  .  yet  .  of  .  my  . 
lybertie  .  denied  :  ther  .  for  .  reson  .  hath  .  me  .  pe^  waded  .  that  . 
pasyens  .  mvst  .  be  .  ymbrasyd  :  thogh  .  hard  .  fortvne  .  chasyth  .  me  . 
wyth  .  smart .  yet  .  pasyens  .  shall .  prevayl." 

The  curious  vaulted  chamber  of  the  Bell  Tower  is  that 
where  John  Fisher,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  was  imprisoned  in 
his  eightieth  year.  He  was  condemned  for  treason  because 
he  believed  in  the  prophecies  of  the  Maid  of  Kent,  who 
said  that  a  judgment  would  follow  Henry  VIII. 's  divorce  of 
Katherine  of  Aragon.  "  You  believe  the  prophecies,"  said 
Cromwell,  "  because  you  wish  them  to  be  true."  From  the 
Bell  Tower  he  wrote  piteously  to  Cromwell,  "  I  beseech 
you  to  be  good  master  in  my  necessity  j  for  I  have  neither 
shirt,  nor  suit,  nor  yet  other  clothes  that  are  necessary  for 
me  to  wear,  but  that  be  ragged  and  rent  too  shamefully. 
Notwithstanding,  I  might  easily  suffer  that,  if  I  could  keep 
my  body  warm.  But  my  diet  also,  God  knoweth  how 
slender  it  is  at  many  times.  And  now  in  mine  age,  my 
stomach  may  not  away  but  with  a  few  kinds  of  meats,  which, 
if  I  want,  I  decay  forthwith."  While  Fisher  was  in  prison 
the  Pope,  to  comfort  him,  sent  him  a  cardinal's  hat.  "  Fore 
God,"  said  the  king,  "  if  he  wear  it  he  shall  wear  it  on  bis 
shoulders,"  and  his  death-warrant  was  signed,  so  that  "  his 
cardinal's  hat  and  his  head  never  met  together."*  The  old 
man  put  on  his  best  suit  for  what  he  called  his  marriage 
day,  and  went  forth  gladly  to  the  scaffold,  with  his  New 

•  FnUflr. 


THE  BELL   TOWER.  401 

Testament  in  his  hand.  It  opened  at  the  passage,  "This 
is  life  eternal,  to  know  thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus 
Christ,  whom  thou  hast  sent." 

The  Bell  Tower  is  said  to  have  been  also  the  prison  of 
the  Princess  Elizabeth,  but  it  is  more  probable  that  she 
was  confined  in  the  royal  apartments.  It  is  certain  that 
after  a  month's  strict  confinement  she  was  allowed  to  walk 
in  the  Queen's  Garden.  Arabella  Stuart,  however,  who 
had  married  Sir  William  Seymour,  "  with  the  love  which 
laughs  at  privy  councils,"  *  certainly  languished  here  for  four 
years  after  her  capture  in  Calais  roads  while  attempting  to 
escape  with  her  husband  to  France. 

"What  passed  in  that  dreadful  imprisonment  cannot  perhaps  be 
recovered  for  authentic  history  ;  but  enough  is  known  ;  that  her  mind 
grew  impaired,  that  she  finally  lost  her  reason,  and  if  the  duration  of 
her  imprisonment  (four  years)  was  short,  it  was  only  terminated  by  her 
death.  Some  loose  effusions,  often  begun  and  never  ended,  written 
and  erased,  incoherent  and  rational,  yet  remain  in  the  fragments  of  her 
papers.  In  a  letter  she  proposed  addressing  to  Viscount  Fenton,  to 
implore  for  her  his  majesty's  favour  again,  she  says,  '  Good  my  lord, 
consider  the  fault  cannot  be  uncommitted  ;  neither  can  any  more  be 
required  of  any  earthly  creature  but  confession  and  most  humble  sub- 
mission.' In  a  paragraph  she  had  written,  but  crossed  out,  it  seems 
that  a  present  of  her  work  had  been  refused  by  the  King,  and  that  she 
had  no  one  about  her  whom  she  might  trust."— D' Israeli.  Curiosities 
of  Literature. 

"Where  London's  towres  theire  turrets  show 
So  stately  by  the  Thames's  side, 
Faire  Arabella,  childe  of  woe  ! 

For  many  a  day  had  sat  and  sighed. 
And  as  shee  heard  the  waves  arise, 

And  as  shee  heard  the  bleak  windes  roare, 
So  faste  did  heave  her  heartfelte  sighes, 
And  still  so  faste  her  teares  did  poure." 
From  Evans's  Old  Ballads  {probably  by  MickU). 

*  D'Israeli. 
VOL.   I.  DO 


4o»  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Adjoining  the  Bell  Tower  is  a  room  with  an  ancient 
chimney-piece  inscribed — "  Upon  the  twentieth  daie  of  June 
in  yere  of  our  Lord  a  thousand  five  hundred  three  score  and 
five,  was  the  Right  honorahle  countes  of  Lennox  Grace 
committede  prysoner  to  thys  lodgynge  for  the  marreage  of 
her  sonne  my  Lord  Henry  Darnle  and  the  Queen  of  Scot- 
land. Here  is  their  names  that  do  wayte  upon  her  noble 
Grace  in  thys  plase — M.  Elizh.  Hussey,  M.  Jane  Baily,  M. 
Elizh.  Chamberlen,  M.  Robarte  Partington,  Edward  Cuffin, 
Anno  Domini  1566."  This  is  a  memorial  of  Margaret, 
Countess  of  Lennox,  first  cousin  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  being 
the  daughter  of  Margaret,  Queen  of  Scotland,  by  her  second 
marriage  with  the  Earl  of  Angus.  She  was  imprisoned  on 
the  marriage,  and  released  on  the  murder,  of  Darnley.  She 
died  in  great  poverty  (leaving  two  grandchildren,  James  IV., 
son  of  Henry,  and  Arabella,  daughter  of  Charles  Stuart), 
and  was  buried  in  state  at  Westminster  at  the  expense  of 
Elizabeth. 

In  the  centre  of  the  west  side  of  the  court  is  the  Beau- 
champ  Tower,  which  probably  derived  its  name  from  Thomas 
de  Beauchamp,  Earl  of  Warwick,  having  been  imprisoned 
there  by  Richard  II.  before  his  removal  to  the  Isle  of  Man, 
in  1397.  The  room  on  the  upper  story  of  this  tower  is  one 
of  the  most  interesting  in  the  fortress.  It  is  surrounded  by 
a  number  of  arched  embrasures,  and  the  walls  are  half 
covered  with  inscriptions  from  the  hands  of  its  prisoners, 
which  will  be  found  of  the  greatest  interest  by  those  who 
see  them  on  the  spot,  though  a  description  of  them  here 
is  dull  reading.     We  may  notice — 

Right  of  First  Recess.  In  old  Italian.—"  Dispoi  :  che  :  vole  :  la  : 
fortvna  :  che  :  la  :  mea  :  speransa  :  va  :  al  :  vento  :  pianger  :  ho  : 


THE  BEAUCHAMP  TOWER.  403 

volio  :  el  :  tempo  :  perdvto  :  e  :  semper  :  stel :  me  :  tristo  :  e  :  discon- 
teto  :  Wilim  :  Tyrrel  .  1541." 

Over  the  Fireplace.  The  autograph  of  Philip  Howard,  Earl  of 
Arundel,  eldest  son  of  Thomas  Howard,  Duke  of  Norfolk,  beheaded 
1572,  for  the  sake  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots.  "  Quanto  plus  afflictionis 
pro  Christo  in  hoc  saeculo,  tanto  plus  glorise  cum  Christo  in  futuro. 
Arundell.     June  22,  1587. 

"  Gloria  et  honore  eum  coronasti  Domine. 
In  memoria  eterna  erit  Justus." 

Lord  Arundel,  having  embraced  the  Catholic  faith,  had  wished  to 
emigrate,  but  was  seized,  and  imprisoned  on  an  accusation  of  unlaw- 
fully supporting  Catholic  priests.  The  joy  he  expressed  on  hearing  of 
the  Spanish  Armada  cause^  his  being  tried  in  Westminster  Hall  and 
condemned  to  death,  but  he  was  reprieved  and  languished  all  his  life 
in  prison.  Elizabeth  vainly  offered  his  restoration  to  liberty,  riches, 
and  honour,  if  he  would  renounce  his  faith.  He  died  Oct.  19,  1595, 
thus,  though  not  without  suspicion  of  poison,  escaping  the  capital 
punishment  inflicted  upon  his  father,  grandfather,  and  great  grand- 
father. 

Right  of  Fireplace.  Sculpture  by  John  Dudley,  Earl  of  Warwick  ; 
eldest  son  of  John  Dudley,  Duke  of  Northumberland,  imprisoned  for 
■.he  cause  of  Lady  Jane  Grey,  who  had  married  his  brother  Lord  Guild- 
ford Dudley.  Beneath  the  lion,  bear,  and  ragged  staff,  is  the  sculptor's 
name,  and  a  border  of  roses  (for  Ambrose),  oak  leaves  (for  Robert),  and 
two  other  flowers,  the  whole  being  emblematical  of  the  names  of  his 
four  brothers,  imprisoned  with  him,  as  we  see  by  the  inscription — 

"  Yow  that  these  beasts  do  wel  behold  and  se, 
May  deme  with  ease  wherefore  here  made  they  be, 

With  borders  eke  wherein 

4  brothers  names  who  list  to  serche  the  ground." 

Of  the  five  brothers,  John  died  in  prison,  Guildford  was  beheaded,  the 
other  three  were  released  after  six  months'  imprisonment. 

Recess  on  Right  of  Fireplace.  The  inscription  "  Dolor  patientia 
vincitur.  G.  Gyfford.  August  8,  1586,"  and  another,  are  probably  by 
George  Gyfford,  gentleman  pensioner  to  Elizabeth,  falsely  accused  of 
having  sworn  to  kill  the  queen. 

On  the  left  side  of  the  same  recess  is  a  panel  adorned  with  lozenges, 
inscribed — 

"J.  H.  S. 
157 1  .  die  io°  Aprilis. 


404  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

"  Wise  men  ought  circumspectly  to  se  what  they  do ;  to  examine 
before  they  speake  ;  to  prove  before  they  take  in  hand ;  to  beware 
whose  company  they  use  ;  and,  above  all  things,  to  whom  they  trust. 
Charles  Bailly." 

The  writer  was  a  secret  agent  for  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  arrested  at 
Dover  with  letters  in  cipher  for  her,  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  and  her  other 
adherents,  and  harshly  imprisoned  and  tortured  on  the  rack  to  obtain 
additional  disclosures.  Amongst  Lord  Burghley's  State  Papers  there 
is  a  touching  letter  from  him  to  that  statesman — "  For  God's  sake,  and 
for  the  passion  which  he  suffered  for  us,  take  pitie  of  me ;  and  bend 
your  mercy  full  eyes  towards  me,  Charles  Bailly,  a  poore  prisoner  and 
stranger  .  .  .  who  have  no  frend  at  all  to  help  me  with  a  penny,  and 
am  allready  naked  and  torne." 

Another  inscription  by  the  same  hand  is — 

"  Principium  sapientie  timor  Domini.  I.H.S.  X.P.S.  Be  frend  to 
one.  Be  ennemye  to  none.  Anno  D.  1571.  10  Sept.  The  most 
unhappy  man  in  the  world  is  he  that  is  not  patient  in  adversities ;  For 
men  are  not  killed  with  the  adversities  they  have :  but  with  ye  impa- 
cience  which  they  suffer. 

"  Tout  vient  apoient,  quy  peult  attendre.  Gli  sospiri  ne  son 
testimoni  veri  dell'  angoscia  mia.  set.  29.     Charles  Bailly." 

A  third  inscription  by  the  same  has  simply  the  name  and  the  date, 

1571- 

Close  to  this  is—"  1570.  Jhon  Store.  Doctor."  This  Store  or 
Story  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons,  who  was  committed 
on  the  accession  of  Elizabeth,  for  the  vehemence  with  which  he  spoke 
against  the  Reformation,  but  escaped  to  Antwerp.  He  was,  however, 
ensnared  on  board  an  English  ship,  carried  back  to  the  Tower,  and 
condemned  and  cruelly  executed  for  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  with 
tortures  even  more  barbarous  than  those  used  against  Protestants.  He 
was  drawn  on  a  hurdle  to  Tybum,  hung,  cut  down  while  still  alive,  and 
struggled  with  the  executioner  while  he  was  being  disembowelled  ! 

Passing  over  inscriptions  by  peisons  of  whom  nothing  is  known,  we 
find— 

Third  Recess — 

(Left  side.)  "T.  C.  I  leve  in  hope  and  I  gave  credit  to  mi  frinde  in 
time  did  stande  me  most  in  hande.  So  wovlde  I  never  do  againe, 
excepte  I  hade  hime  suer  in  bande ;  and  to  al  men  wishe  I  so,  unles  ye 
sussteine  the  leke  lose  as  I  do. 

"  Unhappie  is  that  mane  whose  actes  doth  procuer 
The  miseri  of  this  hous  in  prison  to  induer. 

1576.    Thomas  Clarke." 


THE  BEAUCHAMP  TOWER.  405 

[Right  side.) 

"  Hit  is  the  poynt  of  a  wyse  man  to  try  and  then  trvste. 
For  hapy  is  he  who  fyndeth  one  that  is  jvste. 

T.  C." 

These  are  believed  to  be  by  Thomas   Clarke,  a  Roman  Catholic 
priest  who  recanted  at  St.  Paul's  Cross,  July  1,  1593. 
Below  the  first  of  these  are  the  lines,  by  a  sufferer  on  the  rack — 

"Thomas  Miagh  which  liethe  here  alone 
That  fayne  wold  from  hens  begon 
By  tortvre  stravnge  mi  trovth  was 
Tryed  yet  of  my  libertie  denied 

1 58 1.     Thomas  Myagh." 

Betiveen  the  last  two  Recesses  are,  amongst  many  other  inscriptions, 
under  the  name  Thomas  Rooper,  1570,  the  figure  of  a  skeleton,  and  the 
words,  "  Per  passage  penible  passons  a  port  plaisant." 

Near  this  is  "  Geffrye  Poole.  1562."  Doubtless  inscribed  by  that 
descendant  of  George,  Duke  of  Clarence,  who  was  imprisoned  in  the 
Tower  for  life,  and  on  whose  evidence  his  own  brother,  Lord  Mon- 
tague, with  the  Marquis  of  Exeter  and  others,  were  beheaded. 

Near  this  is  the  word  JANE,  supposed  to  refer  to  Lady  Jane  Grey 
and  to  have  been  cut  by  her  husband,  Lord  Guildford  Dudley,  impri- 
soned here  with  his  brothers. 

Near  this  also  is  "Edmonde  Poole,"  which  is  several  times  repeated 
in  the  room,  commemorating  one  of  the  great-grandsons  of  George, 
Duke  of  Clarence,  imprisoned  here  for  life  on  accusation  of  wishing  to 
supplant  the  Protestant  religion  and  make  Mary  of  Scotland  queen  of 
England.  His  brother  Arthur  Pole  has  left  his  inscriptions — "  Deo. 
servire  .  penitentiam  .  inire .  fato  .  obedire .  regnare .  est.  A.  Poole.  1564. 
I.  H.  S."  and  "  I.  H.  S.  A  passage  perillus  maketh  a  port  pleasant. 
Ao.  1568.     Arthur  Poole.     JEt.  sue  37.  A.P." 

Last  Recess  (left).  "  I  hope  in  th'  end  to  deserve  that  I  would  have. 
Men:  Novem :  Ao.  1573,"  with  the  name  "Hugh  Longworthe " 
underneath  and  the  prostrate  figure  of  a  man.  This  is  especially 
curious  as  probably  having  been  the  work  of  one  Peter  Burchet  of  the 
Middle  Temple,  who  being  imprisoned  here  for  wounding  Sir  John 
Hawkins,  murdered  (to  "  deserve  "  his  punishment  ?)  his  fellow-prisoner 
Hugh  Longworth,  as  he  was  reading  his  Bible  in  this  window.  Burchet 
was  hung  by  Temple  Bar,  Nov.  11,  1573. 

After  the  last  Recess.  "  AS  :  VT  :  IS  :  TAKY  .  Thomas  Fitz- 
gerald," commemorates  the  eldest  son  of  Gerald  Fitzgerald,  ninth  Earl 


4o6  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

of  Kildare,  imprisoned  for  a  rebellion  in  Ireland,  and  hung  and  quar- 
tered at  Tyburn,  with  his  five  uncles,  Feb.  3,  1537. 

Left  of  the  {original)  east  window.  Under  the  word  "Thomas"  is 
a  great  A  upon  a  bell,  being  the  rebus  of  Dr.  Thomas  Abel,  domestic 
chaplain  to  Queen  Catherine  of  Arragon,  imprisoned  and  executed  for 
his  fidelity  to  the  cause  of  his  mistress. 

Near  this  is  "  Doctor  Cook,"  the  signature  of  Laurence  Cook,  Prior 
of  Doncaster,  hung  for  denying  the  king's  supremacy,  and  "  Thomas 
Cobham,  1555,"  commemorating  the  youngest  son  of  Lord  Cobham, 
who  was  condemned  for  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt's  insurrection. 

The  last  inscription  we  need  notice  is  a  carving  of  an  oak-tree  with 
acorns  and  the  initials  "R.  D."  beneath,  the  work  of  Robert  Dudley, 
afterwards  Queen  Elizabeth's  Earl  of  Leicester,  who,  being  already 
married  to  Amy  Robsart,  was  imprisoned  with  his  father  and  brothers 
for  the  affair  of  Lady  Jane  Grey. 

An  illustrious  prisoner  of  the  Beauchamp  Tower,  who  has 
left  no  memorials,  is  Sir  John  Oldcastle,  Lord  Cobham,  who 
was  sentenced  to  be  burnt  to  death  for  the  doctrines  of 
Wickliffe.  The  people  broke  into  the  Tower  and  rescued 
him,  and  he  remained  under  their  protection  in  safety  for 
three  months.  After  this,  being  forced  to  fly,  he  wandered 
for  four  years  through  England  and  Wales,  with  1,000  marks 
set  upon  his  head.  At  length  he  was  betrayed  by  a  Welsh 
follower,  brought  to  London,  and  burnt  before  his  own 
house  in  Smithfield. 

On  the  wall  at  the  top  of  this  tower  was  the  touching 
"  Epitaph  on  a  Goldfinch  " — 

"Where  Raleigh  pin'd,  within  a  prison's  gloom, 
I  cheerful  sung,  nor  murmur'd  at  my  doom ; 
Where  heroes  bold,  and  patriots  firm  could  d.yoll, 
A  goldfinch  in  content  his  note  might  swell : 
But  death,  more  gentle  than  the  law's  decree, 
Hath  paid  my  ransom  from  captivity. 

Buried,  June  23,  1 794,  by  a  fellow- 
-prisoner  in  the  Tower  of  London." 


THE   TOWER    GREEN.  407 

Almost  opposite  the  Beauchamp  Tower  is  "  the  Green 
within  the  Tower  "  (now  a  gravelled  space,  where  it  is  said 
that  grass  has  never  consented  to  grow  since  the  executions) 
whither  Hastings  (1483)  was  brought  hastily  from  the 
council  chamber  in  the  White  Tower,  and  where,  "  without 
time  for  confession  or  repentance,  his  head  was  struck  off 
upon  a  log  of  timber." 

A  stone  here  marks  the  spot  on  which  several  of  the  most 
illustrious  of  the  Tower-victims  have  suffered  death,  the  greater 
part  of  the  prisoner.?  having  been  executed  on  Tower  Hill. 
Here  the  beautiful  Anne  Boleyn  walked  to  her  death  in  the 
calm  of  innocence,  comforting  her  attendants,  and  pray- 
ing with  her  last  breath  for  her  brutal  husband.  Here  the 
aged  Countess  of  Salisbury,  the  last  lineal  descendant  of 
the  Plantagenets,  refused  to  lay  her  head  upon  the  block, 
and  rushed  round  and  round  the  platform,  her  white  hair 
streaming  on  the  wind,  till  she  was  hewn  down  by  the 
executioner.  Here  a  letter  from  an  eye-witness  describes 
the  death  of  Queen  Catherine  Howard  (who  had  been  a 
wife  only  one  year  six  months  and  four  days)  and  Lady 
Rochford  as  "  the  most  godly  and  Christian  end  that  ever 
was  heard  tell  of  since  the  world's  creation."  Hither  Lady 
Jane  Grey,  "the  queen  of  nine  days,"  came  to  her  death 
"  without  fear  or  grief,"  attended  by  her  faithful  women, 
Mistress  Tylney  and  Mistress  Ellen. 

u  These  are  the  words  that  the  Lady  Jane  spake  upon  the  scaffold  at 
the  hour  of  her  death.  First,  when  she  mounted  upon  the  scaffold,  she 
said  to  the  people  standing  thereabout,  '  Good  people,  I  am  come 
hither  to  die,  and  by  a  law  I  am  condemned  to  the  same.  The  fact 
against  the  queen's  highness  was  unlawful,  and  the  consenting  there- 
unto by  me  :  but  touching  the  procurement  and  desire  thereof  by  me 
or  on  my  behalf,  I  do  wash  my  hands  thereof  in  innocency  before  God, 


4o8  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

and  the  face  of  you,  good  Christian  people,  this  day :  "  and  therewith 
she  wrung  her  hands,  wherein  she  had  her  book.  Then  said  she,  '  I 
pray  you  all,  good  Christian  people,  to  bear  me  witness  that  I  die  a 
true  Christian  woman,  and  that  I  do  look  to  be  saved  by  no  other 
mean,  but  only  by  the  mercy  of  God,  in  the  blood  of  his  only  son  Jesus 
Christ :  and  I  confess,  that  when  I  did  know  the  word  of  God,  I 
neglected  the  same,  loved  myself  and  the  world ;  and  therefore  this 
plague  and  punishment  is  happily  and  worthily  happened  unto  me  for 
my  sins ;  and  yet  I  thank  God,  that  of  his  goodness  he  hath  thus  given 
me  a  time  and  respite  to  repent.  And  now,  good  people,  while  I  am 
alive,  I  pray  you  assist  me  with  your  prayers.'  And  then,  kneeling 
down,  she  turned  her  to  Fecknam,  saying,  '  Shall  I  say  this  psalm  ? ' 
and  he  said  '  Yea.'  Then  said  she  the  psalm  of  '  Miserere  mei  Deus ' 
in  English,  in  most  devout  manner,  throughout  to  the  end ;  and  then 
she  stood  up,  and  gave  her  maiden,  Mistress  Ellen,  her  gloves  and 
handkerchief,  and  her  book  to  Master  Burges.  And  then  she  untied 
her  gown,  and  the  hangman  pressed  upon  her  to  help  her  off  with  it ; 
but  she,  desiring  him  to  let  her  alone,  turned  towards  her  two  gentle- 
women, who  helped  her  off  therewith,  and  also  with  her  frowes,  p?aft 
and  neckerchief,  giving  to  her  a  fair  handkerchief  to  bind  about  her 
eyes. 

"  Then  the  hangman  kneeled  down  and  asked  her  forgiveness,  whom 
she  forgave  most  willingly.  Then  he  willed  her  to  stand  upon  the 
straw ;  which  doing,  she  saw  the  block.  Then  she  said,  '  I  pray  you 
decapitate  me  quickly.'  Then  she  kneeled  down,  saying,  '  Will  you 
take  it  off,  before  I  lay  me  down  ? '  And  the  hangman  said,  '  No, 
Madam.'  Then  tied  she  the  handkerchief  about  her  eyes,  and  feeling 
for  the  block,  she  said,  '  What  shall  I  do  ?  Where  is  it  ?  Where  is 
it  ? '  One  of  the  standers-by  guiding  her  thereunto  she  laid  her  head 
down  upon  the  block,  and  then  stretched  forth  her  body,  and  said, 
•  Lord,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit ;  "  and  so  finished  her  life 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  God,  1554,  the  12th  day  of  February." — Foxe. 
Acts  and  Monuments. 

Lady  Jane  had  "  the  innocency  of  childhood,  the  beauty  of  youth, 
the  solidity  of  the  middle,  the  gravity  of  old  age,  and  all  at  eighteen ; 
the  birth  of  a  princess,  the  learning  of  a  clerk,  the  life  of  a  saint, 
yet  the  death  of  a  malefactor  for  her  parent's  offences." — Holy  State, 
p.  311. 

On  this  same  spot,  in  1598,  suffered  Henry  Devereux, 
Queen  Elizabeth's  Earl  of  Essex,  having  obtained  his  last 
petition,  that  his  execution  might  be  in  private,  and  coming 


ST.   PETER'S  CHAPEL.  409 

to  his  death  "  more  like  a   bridegroom  than    a   prisoner 
appointed  for  death." 

Close  by,  on  the  left  (having  observed  the  inscription 
"  Nisi  Dominus  Frustra  "  over  the  chaplain's  door),  we  may 
enter  the  Prisoner's  Chapel,  aptly  dedicated  to  St.  Peter  in 
the  Chains,  built  by  Edward  I.,  rebuilt  by  Edward  III.,  but 
altered  with  perpendicular  windows  and  arches  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  VIII.,  and  restored  under  Salvin,  1876-7.  The 
chapel  has  always  been  used  for  the  prisoners  of  the  Tower, 
and  it  was  here  that  the  seven  bishops  imprisoned  for 
conscience  sake,  being  allowed  to  attend  service,  were  con- 
soled by  the  accident  of  the  Lesson  being  from  2  Cor.  vi.  3,  4 
— "  Giving  no  offence  in  anything,  that  the  ministry  be  not 
blamed :  but  in  all  things  approving  ourselves  as  the 
ministers  of  God,  in  much  patience,  in  afflictions,  in  neces- 
sities, in  distresses,  in  stripes,  in  imprisonments,"  &c. 

The  chapel  contains  several  interesting  monuments.  At 
the  N.E.  corner  of  the  north  aisle  is  the  noble  alabaster 
tomb  (originally  in  front  of  the  chancel)  of  Sir  Richard 
Cholmondeley,  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower  under  Henry  VII. 
(ob.  1544),  and  his  wife  Elizabeth.  His  effigy  is  in  plate 
armour  with  a  collar  of  SS.,  his  head  rests  on  a  helmet,  his 
feet  on  a  lion  :  his  wife,  who  lies  on  her  left  side,  has  a 
pointed  headdress :  both  the  statues  were  once  coloured 
and  gilt.  The  north  wall  of  the  chancel  is  occupied  by  the 
tomb  of  Sir  Richard  Blount  (1560)  and  Sir  Michael  Blount, 
his  son  (1592),  both  Lieutenants  of  the  Tower.  On  the 
south  wall  of  the  chancel  are  some  quaint  monuments  to  the 
Carey  family  and  the  black  marble  tablet  to  Sir  Allan 
Apsley  (father  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson),  1630.  Other  monu- 
ments commemorate  Valentine  Pyne  (1677),  Master  Gunner 


4io  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

of  England  ;  Sir  Jonas  More  (1670),  Surveyor-General  of 
the  Ordnance  under  Charles  II.  ;  and  Talbot  Edwards 
(1674),  the  venerable  Keeper  of  the  Regalia  at  the  time  of 
the  Blood  conspiracy.  On  the  east  wall  of  the  chancel  are 
brass  tablets  to  Sir  John  Fox  Burgoyne,  Constable  of  the 
Tower,  1870;  and  Lord  de  Ros,  Deputy  Lieutenant  of  the 
Tower,  1874. 

But  no  monuments  mark  the  graves  of  the  most  illustrious 
of  the  victims  of  the  Tower,  whose  bones  lie  beneath  the 
pavement.  When  it  was  taken  up  in  1876  some  bones  of  a 
female  of  25  or  30  years  old  were  found  before  the  altar  at 
two  feet  below  the  ground,  and  have  been  almost  conclu- 
sively identified  as  those  of  Queen  Anne  Boleyn,  whose 
body,  says  Burnet,  was,  immediately  after  her  execution, 
"  thrown  into  a  common  chest  of  elm-tree,  that  was  made  to 
put  arrows  in,  and  buried  in  the  chapel  within  the  Tower 
before  twelve  o'clock."  Stow  describes  how  immediately 
before  the  altar  lie  "two  Dukes  between  two  Queens" — 
the  Protector  Somerset  (1552)  and  Lady  Jane  Grey's  Duke 
of  Northumberland  between  Anne  Boleyn  and  Katherine 
Howard.  Of  the  girlish  Queen  Katharine  no  bones  have 
been  found,  but  some  male  bones  with  a  skull  have  been 
identified  as  those  of  the  Duke  of  Northumberland,  whose 
head  was  buried  with  him.  The  Duke  of  Monmouth,  the 
unfortunate  son  of  Charles  II.,  was  buried  beneath  the  altar, 
where  his  bones  exist  still.  On  the  left  of  Anne  Boleyn 
(north  of  chancel)  lies  her  brother,  Lord  Rochford ;  to  the 
right  of  Katherine  Howard  (south)  were  her  friend  Lady 
Rochford,  and  the  venerable  Countess  of  Salisbury,  whose 
bones  have  been  identified.  Behind  the  Queens  lie  Lord 
Guildford  Dudley,  Lady  Jane   Grey,  the  Duke  of  Suffolk, 


ST    PETER'S  CHAPEL. 


411 


Duke  of  Norfolk,  Earl  of  Arundel,  Earl  of  Essex,  and  Sir 
Thomas  Overbury. 

Under  a  stone  at  the  west  end  of  the  chapel  rest  Kilmar- 
nock, Balmerino,  and  Lovat.  Their  coffin-plates  are  pre- 
served in  the  vestry,  inscribed — 

"Willielmus,  Comes  de  Kilmarnock,  Decollates  18°  die  Augusti, 
1746.     JEtatis  sua?  420." 

"Arthurus,  Dominus  de  Balmerino,  Decollatus  180.  die  Augusti, 
1746.    ^Etatis  suae  580." 

"  Simon,  Dominus  Frazer  de  Lovat,  Decollat.  April  9,  1747. 
/Etat.  suae  80."  (The  inscription  upon  which  Lord  Lovat  looked 
upon  the  scaffold  and  uttered  "  Duke  et  decorum  pro  patria  mori.") 

To  the  north  of  this,  Bishop  Fisher  was  removed  from 
Allhallows,  Barking,  that  he  might  lie  near  his  friend  Sir 
Thomas  More.     Prisoners  buried  in  the  chapel  were — 

Gerald  Fitzgerald,  Earl  of  Kildare,  died  in  prison,  1534. 
John  Fisher,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  beheaded,  1535. 
Sir  Thomas  More,  beheaded,  1535. 
George  Boleyn,  Viscount  Rochford,  beheaded,  1536. 
Queen  Anne  Boleyn,  beheaded,  1536. 
Thomas  Cromwell,  Earl  of  Essex,  beheaded,  1540. 
Margaret  Clarence,  Countess  of  Salisbury,  beheaded,  1541. 
Queen  Catherine  Howard,  beheaded,  1542. 
Jane,  Viscountess  Rochford,  beheaded,  1542. 
Thomas,  Lord  Seymour  of  Sudeley,  beheaded,  1549. 
Edward  Seymour,  Duke  of  Somerset,  beheaded,  1551. 
Sir  Ralph  Vane,  hanged,  1552. 
Sir  Thomas  Arundel,  beheaded,  1552. 
John  Dudley,  Duke  of  Northumberland,  beheaded,  1553. 
Lord  Guildford  Dudley,  beheaded,  1554. 
Lady  Jane  Grey,  beheaded,  1554. 
Henry  Grey,  Duke  of  Suffolk,  beheaded,  1554. 

Arthur  and  Edmund  Pole,  grandsons  of  the  Countess  of  Salisbury, 
died  in  the  Tower  between  1565  and  1578. 

Thomas  Howard,  Duke  of  Norfolk,  beheaded,  1572. 
Sir  John  Perrott,  died  in  the  Tower,  1592. 
Philip,  Earl  of  Arundel,  died  in  the  Tower,  1595. 


412  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Robert  Devereux,  Earl  of  Essex,  beheaded,  i6ot. 

Sii  Thomas  Overbury,  "Prisoner,  poysoned,"  is  the  entry  in  the 
register,  1613. 

Thomas,  Lord  Grey  of  Wilton,  died  in  the  Tower,  1614. 

Sir  John  Eliot,  died  in  the  Tower,  1632. 

William,  Viscount  Stafford,  beheaded,  1680. 

Arthur,  Earl  of  Essex,  "  cutt  his  own  throat  within  the  Tower,"  says 
the  register,  1683. 

James,  Duke  of  Monmouth,  beheaded,  1685. 

George,  Lord  Jeffreys,  died  in  the  Tower,  1689  (his  bones  were 
removed  in  1693). 

John  Rotier,  died  in  the  Tower,  1703. 

Edward,  Lord  Griffin,  died  in  the  Tower,  17 10. 

William,  Marquis  of  Tullibardine,  died  in  the  Tower,  1746, 

Arthur,  Lord  Balmerino,  beheaded,  1746. 

William,  Earl  of  Kilmarnock,  beheaded,  1746. 

Simon,  Earl  Frazer  of  Lovat,  beheaded,  1747.* 

Behind  St.  Peter's  Chapel,  at  the  north-west  angle  of  the 
wall,  is  the  Devereux  Tower,  called  in  the  survey  of 
Henry  VIII.  "  Robin  the  Devyll's  Tower,"  and  in  that  of 
1597  "the  Develin  Tower,"  but  which  changed  its  name 
after  the  Earl  of  Essex  was  confined  there  in  160 1. 

Passing  the  Flint  Tower  (rebuilt)  we  reach  the  Bowyer's 
Tower,  so  called  from  having  been  the  residence  of  the 
provider  of  the  king's  bows.  The  only  ancient  part  is  a 
vaulted  chamber  on  the  ground  floor,  in  which,  according  to 
tradition,  George,  Duke  of  Clarence,  brother  of  Edward  IV., 
was  drowned  in  a  butt  of  Malmsey  wine. 

Next,  behind  the  barracks,  is  the  Brick  Tower,  where  the 
Master  of  the  Ordnance  resided.  Here  Lady  Jane  Grey 
was  imprisoned.  Hence  she  wrote  her  last  touching  words 
to  her  father,  and  those  to  her  sister  Katherine,  Lady  Herbert, 
on  the  blank  leaves  of  her  Greek  Testament.     From  the 

*  For  further  particulars  consult  the  interesting  volume  on  the  Chapel  in  the 
Tower  by  Doyne  C.  Bell. 


THE  MARTIN  TOWER.  413 

window  of  this  tower  also,  before  she  was  herself  taken  to 

the  scaflold,  she  beheld  the  headless  body  of  her  husband 

pass  by   in  a  cart  from  Tower  Hill,  and  exclaimed,  "Oh, 

Guildford,  Guildford!  the  ante-past  is  not  so  bitter  that  thou 

hast  tasted,  and  which  I  shall  soon  taste,  as  to  make  my  flesh 

tremble  ;  it  is  nothing  compared  with  that  feast  of  which  we 

shall  partake  this  day  in  heaven." 

"  She  had  before  received  the  offer  of  a  crown  with  as  even  a  tempei 
as  if  it  had  been  a  garland  of  flowers,  and  now  she  lays  aside  the 
thought  thereof  with  as  much  contentedness  as  she  could  have  thrown 
away  that  garland  when  the  scent  was  gone.  The  time  of  her  glories 
was  so  short,  but  a  nine  days'  work,  that  it  seemed  nothing  but  a 
dream,  out  of  which  she  was  not  sorry  to  be  awakened." — Heylin. 

In  this  tower  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  underwent  his  first 
imprisonment  (by  Elizabeth)  for  having  seduced  Elizabeth 
Throckmorton,  one  of  the  maids  of  honour,  but  was  released 
on  his  marriage  with  her.  Hither  also,  after  his  expedition 
to  Guiana,  he  was  brought  for  his  third  and  last  imprison- 
ment. 

The  Martin  Tower,  at  the  north-east  angle,  was  the  prison 
for  sixteen  years  of  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  in  the  reign 
of  James  I.  He  was  allowed  to  walk  on  the  terrace  between 
this  and  the  Constable  Tower,  and  to  pursue  his  mathe- 
matical studies,  under  the  guidance  of  Hariot,  the  astronomer. 
A  sundial,  still  existing  on  the  south  face  of  the  tower,  was 
put  up  by  the  earl,  and  is  the  work  of  Hariot.  Northumber- 
land was  eventually  released  on  the  intercession  of  his 
beautiful  daughter,  Lucy  Hay,  Countess  of  Carlisle.  It 
was  here  also  that  the  Seven  Bishops  were  imprisoned.  As 
the  "  Jewel  Tower,"  this  was  the  scene  of  Blood's  con- 
spiracy. This  tower  also  was  the  scene  of  the  well-known 
but  disconnected  "'  Tower-Ghost-Story."    Mr.  Edward  Lent- 


414  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

hall  Swift,  Keeper  of  the  Crown  Jewels,  stated  that  on  a 
Saturday  night  in  October,  1817,  he  was  at  supper  with  his 
wife,  her  sister,  and  his  little  boy,  in  the  sitting-room  of  the 
jewel-house.  The  room  had  three  doors  and  two  windows  : 
between  the  windows  a  chimney-piece  projected  far  into 
the  room.  On  that  evening  the  doors  were  closed,  the 
windows  curtained,  and  the  only  light  was  given  by  the 
candles  on  the  table.  Mr.  Swift  sate  at  the  foot  of  the 
table,  with  his  boy  on  his  right,  his  wife  facing  the  chimney, 
and  her  sister  opposite.  Suddenly  the  lady  exclaimed, 
"  Good  God  !  what  is  that?"  Mr.  Swift  then  saw  a  cylin- 
drical figure,  like  a  glass  tube,  seemingly  about  the  thick- 
ness of  his  arm,  hovering  between  the  ceiling  and  the 
table.  Its  contents  appeared  to  be  a  dense  fluid,  white 
and  pale  azure,  incessantly  rolling  within  the  cylinder. 
This  lasted  two  minutes,  after  which  the  appearance  began 
to  move  round  the  table.  Mr.  Swift  saw  it  pass  behind 
his  wife,  who  shrieked  in  an  agony  of  terror,  "  Oh  Christ  ! 
it  has  seized  me  ! "  Neither  the  sister  nor  the  boy  saw 
anything.  Soon  afterwards  the  sentry  at  the  jewel-house 
was  terrified  by  "  a  figure  like  a  bear,"  fell  down  in  a  fit, 
and  died  two  or  three  days  after.* 

At  the  foot  of  this  tower  is  preserved  the  sculpture  of  the 
royal  arms,  by  Gibbons,  which  was  the  principal  ornament 
on  the  front  of  the  Great  Storehouse,  burnt  October  30th, 
1841. 

On  the  east  wall  (modernised)  are  the  Constable  Tower, 
and  the  Broad  Arrow  Tower,  which  was  used  as  a  prison 
for  Roman  Catholic  priests  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth. 

*  See  Timbs's  "  Romance  of  London,"  vol.  ii.  The  other  ghostly  appearance 
in  the  Tower,  the  axe,  which  appears  in  the  shadow  of  moonlight  on  the  walls  oi 
the  White  Tower,  has  had  many  advocates. 


THE  DUKE   OF  SUFFOLK'S  HEAD.  415 

At  the  south-east  angle  is  the  picturesque  Sat. '  yAssa-'ilt) 
Totver,  with  some  good  gothic  windows.  The  gw  Nu.*d  fl^o: 
is  a  vaulted  chamber,  with  deep  recesses.  The  'Ypcr  floor, 
used  as  a  prison,  has  some  curious  sculptures,  a  .sphere  with 
the  signs  of  the  zodiac,  the  work  of  a  man  imprisoned  on 
accusation  of  sorcery,  with  the  inscription,  "  Hew  Draper 
of  Brystow  made  thys  spheer  the  30  daye  of  Maye  anno 
1 56 1."  In  another  part  of  the  room  is  a  globe,  probably 
by  the  same  person.  The  name  "  Mychael  Moody,  May 
15.  1587,"  is  that  of  one  imprisoned  for  conspiring  against 
the  life  of  Elizabeth. 

The  Royal  Palace  of  the  Tower  occupied  the  ground 
between  the  Salt  Tower  and  the  Lanthorn  Tower,  one  of 
the  most  ancient  parts  of  the  fortress,  destroyed  in  1788. 
Its  site  is  now  occupied  by  the  hideous  Ordnance  Office. 
The  Tower  ceased  to  be  used  as  a  palace  after  the  acces- 
sion of  Elizabeth,  to  whom  it  recalled  the  personal  associa- 
tions of  a  prison. 

Returning  through  the  Outer  Ward,  by  the  remains  (left) 
of  the  Cradle  Tower,  we  have  one  of  the  most  charming 
views  in  the  fortress,  where  some  trees  overshadow  the 
archway,  which  crosess  the  ward  close  to  the  Wakefield 
Tower. 

A  visit  to  the  Tower  may  be  well  followed  by  one  to  the 
Church  of  Holy  Trinity,  in  the  Minories,  the  long  street 
which  runs  north  from  Tower  Hill  to  Aldgate,  for  here,  in  a 
tin  box,  is  preserved  the  most  ghastly  rehc  connected  with 
the  Tower.  It  is  the  still  perfect  Head  of  the  Duke  oj 
Suffolk,  father  of  Lady  Jane  Grey,  which  was  found  pre- 
served in  tannin  in  a  small  vault  on  the  south  of  the  altar, 
and   which,    in   its   aquiline   nose   and   arched    eyebrows, 


4i6  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

corresponds  with  the  portrait  engraved  by  Lodge  from  a 
portrait  at  Hatfield,  of  which  there  is  a  duplicate  in  the 
National  Portrait  Gallery.  The  features  are  perfect,  but 
the  hair  is  gone,  the  skin  has  become  a  bright  yellow,  the 
cheeks  and  eyelids  are  like  leather,  the  teeth  rattle  in  the 
jaws.  The  neck  shows  the  false  blow  of  the  executioner, 
which  failed  to  extinguish  life,  and  the  fatal  blow  which  cut 
through  veins  and  cartilage,  severing  the  head  from  the  body. 
The  church  contains  several  curious  monuments,  including 
that  of  William  Legge,  who  attended  Charles  I.  upon  the 
scaffold,  and  bore  thence  his  message  to  the  Prince  of 
Wales  "  to  remember  the  faithfullest  servant  ever  prince 
had."  In  the  same  grave  rests  his  son  George,  first 
Baron  Dartmouth,  Counsellor  to  Charles  II.  and  James 
II.,  and  Master  of  the  Horse  to  James  II.  He  was 
appointed  Admiral  of  the  fleet  intended  to  intercept  the 
landing  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  and,  failing,  was  sent,  after 
the  revolution,  to  the  Tower,  where  he  died  in  169 1.  His 
son,  William,  first  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  is  also  buried  here. 
The  monument  erected  by  Lady  Pelham,  daughter  of  a 
St.  John  of  Bletsoe,  to  her  husband  and  son  has  the 
epitaph — 

"  Deathe  first  did  strike  Sir  John,  here  tomb'd  in  claye, 

And  then  enforst  his  son  to  follow  faste ; 
Of  Pelham's  fine,  this  kniyghte  was  chiefe  and  stay, 

By  this,  behold  !  all  flesh  must  dye  at  laste. 
But  Bletsowe's  lord,  thy  sister  most  may  moane, 
Both  mate  and  sonne  hathe  left  her  here  alone. 

Sir  John  Pelham  dyed  October  13.  1580. 
Oliver  Pelham,  his  sonne,  dyed  January  19.  1584." 

Here  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  who  received  his  death  wound  at 
Zutphen,  lay  in  state  before  his  national  funeral  in  St.  Paul's. 


THE   TRINITY  HOUSE.  417 

"  Unto  the  Minories  his  body  was  conveyed, 
And  there,  under  a  martial  hearse,  three  months  or  more  was  laid ; 
But  when  the  day  was  come  he  to  his  grave  must  go, 
A  host  ot  heavy  men  repaired  to  see  the  solemn  show." 

This  dismal  little  church  is  the  only  memorial  of  the 
convent  founded  for  Minorites,  "Poor  Clares,"  who  gave 
a  name  to  the  street,  by  Blanche,  Queen  of  Navarre,  wife 
of  Edmond  Plantagenet,  Earl  of  Lancaster,  second  son  of 
Henry  III.  It  was  probably  on  account  of  this  foundation 
by  his  sister-in-law,  that  Edward  I.  deposited  here  the  heart 
of  his  mother,  the  unpopular  Eleanor  of  Provence,  who  died 
in  the  nunnery  of  Ambresbury  in  1291.  The  Minorite 
Convent  was  granted  to  the  Duke  of  Suffolk  by  Edward  VI., 
in  1552.  The  Convent-farm  was  leased  to  one  Goodman, 
from  whom  "  Goodman's  Fields,"  "  Goodman's  Stile,"  and 
"  Goodman's  Yard  "  take  their  names. 

"  At  the  which  farm  I  myself  in  my  youth  have  fetched  many  a  half- 
pennyworth of  milk,  and  never  had  less  than  three  ale-pints  for  a 
half-penny  in  the  summer,  nor  less  than  one  ale-quart  for  a  half-penny 
in  the  winter,  and  always  hot  from  the  kine,  as  the  same  was  milked 
and  obtained." — Stow. 

It  was  in  the  Minories  that  Lord  Cobham  died,  at  the 
house  of  his  laundress,  "  rather  of  hunger  than  any  natural 
disease."*  The  street  was  formerly  famous  for  its  gun- 
smiths— 

"  The  mulcibers  who  in  the  Minories  sweat, 
And  massive  bars  on  stubborn  anvils  beat, 
Deform  themselves,  yet  forge  those  stays  of  steel, 
Which  arm  Amelia  with  a  shape  to  kill." 

Congreve, 

On  Tower  Hill,  facing  a  garden  on  the  north  of  the  Tower, 
is  the  Trinity  House,  built  by  Samuel  Wyatt  for  the  company 

•  Works  of  Francis  Osborn,  ed.  1701,  p.  381. 
VOL.   I.  £  E 


418  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

founded  by  Sir  Thomas  Spert,  Comptroller  of  the  Navy  to 
Henry  VIII.,  for  the  encouragement  of  navigation,  the 
regulation  of  lighthouses,  the  providing  of  efficient  pilots, 
and  the  general  control  of  naval  matters  not  directly  under 
the  Admiralty. 

A  little  farther  east  is  the  Royal  Mint,  built  by  Johnson  and 
Sir  R.  Smirke.  Here  the  gold  and  silver  of  the  realm  are 
melted  and  coined.  Sir  Isaac  Newton  and  Sir  John  Herschel 
were  Masters  of  the  Mint,  an  office  abolished  in  1870. 

The  streets  east  of  the  Tower  are  the  Sailors'  Town.  The 
shops  are  devoted  to  the  sale  of  sailors'  clothing,  nautical 
instruments,  and  naval  stores  ;  the  population  is  made  up 
of  sailors,  shipbuilders,  and  fishermen. 

The  Docks  connected  with  the  Thames  occupy  a  space  of 
900  acres.  The  principal  Docks  are  St.  Katheriiie's  Docks, 
opened  1828  ;  the  London  Docks,  opened  1805  ;  the  West 
India  Docks,  opened  1802  ;  the  East  India  Docks,  opened 
1808 j  the  Commercial  Docks,  opened  1809;  and  the  Victoria 
Docks,  opened  1856. 

"  Lords  of  the  world's  great  waste,  the  ocean,  we 
Whole  forests  send  to  reign  upon  the  sea." — Waller. 

Near  St.  Katherine's,  a  place  which  latterly  bore  the 
strangely  corrupted  name  of  Hangman's  Gains,  long  marked 
the  street  which  was  the  asylum  of  the  refugees  from 
Hammes  et  Guynes,  near  Calais,  after  that  town  was 
recaptured  from  the  English  ! 

Below  the  London  Docks  is  Wapping,  where  Lord 
Chancellor  Jeffreys,  attempting  to  escape  after  the  abdica- 
tion of  James  II.,  was  taken  while  he  was  drinking  at  the 
Red  Cow,  in  Hope  and  Anchor  Alley,  King  Edward's 
Stairs ;  he  was  identified  by  a  scrivener  of  Wapping,  whom 


RATCLIFFE   HIGHWAY. 


419 


he  had  insulted  from  the  bench,  and  who  recognised  the 
terrible  face  as  he  was  lolling  out  of  a  window,  in  the  dress 
of  a  common  sailor,  and  in  fancied  security.  Execution 
Dock  is  the  place  where  pirates  were  hung  in  chains. 
Beyond  Wapping  are  the  miserable  thickly  inhabited 
districts  of  Shadwell  and  Limehouse. 

At  Wapping  is  the  entrance  of  the  Thames  Tunnel,  formed 
1825 — 1843,  by  Sir  Isambard  K.  Brunei,  at  an  expense  of 
,£6 14,000.  This  long  useless  passage  under  the  river, 
to  Rotherhithe,  was  sold  to  the  East  London  Railway 
Company  in  1865,  and  is  now  a  railway  tunnel. 

A  number  of  taverns  with  riverside  landing-places  retain 
their  quaint  original  names,  but  they  are  .little  worth 
visiting.  The  "  Waterman's  Arms "  in  Limehouse  has 
some  remains  (1877)  °f  an  °ld  brick  front  towards  the  street, 
and  the  view  from  its  river  balcony,  with  the  ancient  boat- 
building yards,  and  timbers  green  with  salt  weeds  in  the 
foreground,  has  often  been  painted. 

The  main  thoroughfare  of  this  part  of  London,  which 
will  always  be  known  by  its  old  name  of  Ratdijfe  Highway, 
though  it  has  been  foolishly  changed  to  St.  George's  Street, 
obtained  unpleasant  notoriety  from  the  murders  of  the 
Marr  family  and  the  Williamsons  in  181 1,  after  which,  as 
Macaulay  says,  "  Many  can  remember  the  terror  which 
was  on  every  face,  the  careful  barring  of  doors,  the  pro- 
viding of  blunderbusses  and  watchmen's  rattles."  But 
those  who  visit  it  now  will  find  Ratcliffe  Highway  a  cheerful 
airy  street,  without  any  especial  evidence  of  poverty  or 
crime.  No.  179  is  the  famous  "Wild  Beast  Shop,"  called 
Jamrach's,  an  extraordinary  place,  where  almost  any  animal 
may  be  purchased,  Irom  an  elephant  to  a  mouse. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THAMES     STREET. 

WE  may  return  from  the  Tower  by  the  long  thorough- 
fare of  Upper  and  Lower  Thames  Street,  which  follows 
the  line  of  the  river,  with  a  history  as  old  as  that  of  the 
City  itself.  Narrow  and  dark,  Industry  has  made  it  one 
of  the  most  important  streets  of  London.     Here — 

"  Commerce  brought  into  the  public  walk 
The  busy  merchant  ;  the  big  warehouse  built ; 
Rais'd  the  strong  crane  ;  choak'd  up  the  loaded  street 
With  foreign  plenty ;  and  thy  stream,  O  Thames, 
Large,  gentle,  deep,  majestic,  King  of  Floods  ! 
Chose  for  his  grand  resort." 

Thomson. 

Thames  Street  is  the  very  centre  of  turmoil.  From 
the  huge  warehouses  along  the  sides,  with  their  chasm- 
i  like  windows  and  the  enormous  cranes  which  are  so  great 
a  feature  of  this  part  of  the  City,  the  rattling  of  the  chains 
and  the  creaking  of  the  cords,  by  which  enormous  packages 
are  constantly  ascending  and  descending,  mingles  with 
uproar  from  the  roadway  beneath.  Here  the  hugest 
waggons,  drawn  by  Titanic  dray-horses,  and  attended  by 
waggoners  in  smockfrocks,  are  always  lading  or  discharging 
their  enormous  burthens  of  boxes,  barrels,  crates,  timber, 


THE   CUSTOM  HOUSE.  421 

iron,  or  cork.  Wine,  fish,  and  cheese  are  the  chief  articles 
of  street  traffic — 

"  Thames  Street  gives  cheeses,  Covent  Garden  fruits, 
Mooriields  old  books,  and  Monmouth  Street  old  suits." 

There  are  no  buildings  which  recall  the  days  of  Chaucer, 
who,  the  son  of  a  Thames  Street  vintner,  certainly  lived 
here  from  1379  to  1385,  but  now  and  then  an  old  brick 
church  breaks  the  line  of  warehouses,  with  the  round-headed 
windows  of  Charles  the  Second's  time  and  the  stiff  garlands 
of  Gibbons,  and  ever  and  anon,  through  a  narrow  slit  in  the 
houses,  we  have  a  glimpse  of  the  glistening  river  and  its 
shipping.  But  one  cannot  linger  in  Thames  Street — every 
one  is  in  a  hurry. 

On  the  left  is  The  Custom  House,  built  from  designs  of 
David  Laing,  1S14 — 17,  but  altered  by  Sir  Robert  Smirke. 
The  most  productive  duties  are  those  on  tea,  tobacco, 
wine,  and  brandy. 

"  There  is  no  Prin-.e  in  Christendom  but  is  directly  a  tradesman, 
though  in  another  way  than  an  ordinary  tradesman.  For  the  purpose, 
I  have  a  man ;  I  bid  him  lay  out  twenty  shillings  in  such  and  such 
commodities ;  but  I  tell  him  for  every  shilling  he  lays  out  I  will  have 
a  penny.  I  trade  as  well  as  he.  This  every  Prince  does  in  his 
Customs." — Selden. 

There  is  a  delightful  walk  on  the  quay  in  front  of  the 
Custom  House,  with  a  beautiful  view  up  the  river  to 
London  Bridge.  From  hence  the  peculiarly  picturesque 
boats  called  Dutch  Crawls  may  be  seen  to  the  greatest 
advantage :  they  do  not  go  higher  than  London  Bridge. 
Hither,  in  one  of  his  fits  of  despondency,  came  Cowper  the 
poet,  intending  to  drown  himself. 


422 


WALK'S  IN  LONDON. 


"  Not  knowing  where  to  poison  myself,  I  resolved  upon  drowning. 
For  that  purpose  I  took  a  coach,  and  ordered  the  man  to  drive  to 
Tower-wharf,  intending  to  throw  myself  into  the  river  from  the 
Custom-house  quay.  I  left  the  coach  upon  the  Tower-wharf,  intending 
never  to  return  to  it ;  but  upon  coming  to  the  quay,  I  found  the  water 
low,  and  a  porter  seated  upon  some  goods  there,  as  if  on  purpose  to 
prevent  me.  This  passage  to  the  bottomless  pit  being  mercifully  shut 
against  me,  I  returned  back  to  the  coach." — Southey's  Cowper,  i.  124. 

Close  to  the  Custom  House  is  the  famous  fish-market  of 
Billingsgate,  rebuilt  1876,  but  picturesque  and  worth  seeing, 


London  Bridge  from  Billingsgate. 


though  ladies  will  not  wish  to  linger  there,  the  language  of 
Billingsgate  having  long  been  notorious. 

"  There  stript,  fair  Rhetoric  languish'd  on  the  ground ; 
Her  blunted  arms  by  sophistry  are  borne, 
And  shameless  Billingsgate  her  robes  adorn." 

Pope.    The  Dunciad. 

"  One  may  term  Billingsgate  the  Esculine  gate  of  London." 

Fuller. 

Geoffry  of  Monmouth  says  that  the  name  Billingsgate  was 
derived  from  Belin,  king  of  the  Britons,  a.c.  400,  having 


ST.   DUNSTAN-IN-THE-EAST.  423 

built  a  water-gate  here,  and  that  when  he  was  dead  his 
ashes  were  placed  in  a  vessel  of  brass  upon  a  high  pinnacle 
of  stone  over  the  said  gate.  The  place  has  been  a  market 
for  fish  ever  since  1351  ;  all  fish  is  sold  by  the  tale,  except 
salmon,  which  is  sold  by  weight,  and  oysters  and  shell-fish, 
which  are  sold  by  measure.  A  fish  dinner  (price  2s.) 
may  be  obtained  at  the  Three  Tuns  Tavern  at  Billingsgate. 

Opposite  Billingsgate  is  The  Coal  Exchange,  by  J.  B. 
Bunning,  opened  1849.  Botolph  Lane  and  Wharf  com- 
memorate the  Church  of  St.  Botolph,  Billingsgate,  not 
rebuilt  after  the  Fire. 

On  St.  Dunstan's  Hill,  between  Tower  Street  and  Little 
Thames  Street,  is  the  Church  of  St.  Dunstan-in-the-East, 
one  of  Wren's  restorations.  The  spire  rests  on  four  flying 
buttresses,  in  feeble  caricature  of  the  grand  steeple  of  St. 
Nicholas  at  Newcastle.  It  was  Wren's  first  attempt  at 
placing  a  steeple  upon  quadrangular  columns,  and  was  at 
first  regarded  by  him  with  great  anxiety.  Afterwards  he 
was  very  proud  of  this  miserable  work,  and  when  told  that 
a  dreadful  hurricane  had  ruined  all  the  steeples  in  the  City, 
said,  "  Not  St.  Dunstan's,  I  am  sure."  On  the  south  of 
the  church  is  a  large  tomb,  with  an  effigy  of  Sir  William 
Russell,  1705,  a  benefactor  to  the  parish.  On  the  north 
wall  of  the  chancel  is  a  monument  to  Sir  John  Moore 
(1702),  whose  loyalty  as  Lord  Mayor  (1681-2)  is  com- 
memorated in  the  "  Ziloah "  of  Dryden's  "  Absalom  and 
Achitophel." 

Archbishop  Morton,  the  tutor  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  was 
rector  of  St.  Dunstan-in-the-East.  Rooks,  till  recently, 
built  their  nests  in  the  trees  in  the  churchyard.* 

*  See  '•'  Chronicles  ot  St.  Dunstan-in-the-K.ast,"  by  the  Rev.  T.  Boyles  Murray. 


424  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Mincing  Lane,  which  leads  northwards  from  hence,  was 
"Mincheon  Lane,"  so  called  from  tenements  in  it  which 
belonged  to  the  Mincheons,  or  nuns  of  St.  Helen's. 

The  Church  of  St.  Mary-at-Hill  was  partially  rebuilt  by 
Wren  after  the  Great  Fire,  but  only  the  east  end  remains 
from  his  work.  John  Brand,  author  of  "  The  Popular 
Antiquities,"  was  rector,  and  was  buried  in  the  church,  1806. 
Dr.  Young,  author  of  "  Night  Thoughts,"  was  married  here, 
May,  1 73 1. 

On  Fish  Street  Hill  the  Black  Prince  had  a  palace. 
Here,  and  as  we  emerge  into  King  William  Street,  the 
great  feature  on  the  right  is  the  Monument,  finished  1680, 
by  desire  of  Charles  II.,  from  designs  of  Wren,  to  com- 
memorate the  Great  Fire  of  1666.  It  is  a  fluted  Doric 
column  202  feet  in  height,  this  being  the  exact  number  of 
feet  by  which  it  is  distant  from  the  site  of  the  house  in 
Pudding  Lane,  where  the  Fire  began.  The  dragons  on  the 
pedestal  are  by  Edward  Pierce.  The  large  and  comical 
relief  by  Caius  Gabriel  Cibber  commemorates  the  destruc- 
tion and  restoration  of  the  City. 

"  The  last  figure  on  the  left  is  intended  to  express  London  lying 
disconsolately  upon  her  ruins,  with  the  insignia  of  her  civic  grandeur 
partly  buried  beneath  them.  Behind  her  is  Time  gradually  raising  her 
up  again,  by  whose  side  stands  a  female  figure,  typical  of  Providence, 
pointing  with  a  sceptre  formed  of  a  winged  hand  enclosing  an  eye  to 
the  angels  of  peace  and  plenty  seated  on  the  descending  clouds. 
Opposite  the  City,  on  an  elevated  pavement,  stands  the  effigy  of 
Charles  II.  in  a  Roman  habit,  advancing  to  her  aid  attended  by  the 
Sciences  holding  a  terminal  figure  of  Nature,  Liberty  waving  a  hat, 
and  Architecture  bearing  the  instruments  of  design  and  the  plan  of  the 
new  City.  Behind  the  king  stands  his  brother  the  Duke  of  York, 
attended  by  Fortitude  leading  a  lion,  and  Justice  bearing  a  laurel 
coronet.  Under  an  arch  beneath  the  raised  pavement  on  which  these 
figures  stand  appears  Envy  looking  upward,  emitting  pestiferous  flames, 


THE  MONUMENT. 


425 


and  gnawing  a  heart.     Eleven  of  the  preceding  figures  are  sculptured 
in   alto-relievo  ;    whilst  the  background  represents  in  basso-relievo  the 
Fire  of  London,  with  the  consternation  of  the  citizens  on  the  left-hand 
and  the  rebuilding  of  it  upon  the  right,  with  labourers  at  work  upon 
unfinished  houses." —  Wilkinson  s  Londina  lllustrata. 


Fish  Street  Hill. 


The  pillar  is  surmounted  by  a  metal  vase  of  flames.  The 
original  design  was  to  have  a  plain  column,  with  flames 
bursting  from  holes  all  the  way  up,  and  a  phoenix  at  the 
top. 


\2b  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

The  Fire  began  early  in  the  morning  of  Sunday  the  3rd 
of  September,  1666,  in  the  house  of  one  Farryner,  the 
King's  Baker,  in  Pudding  Lane.  This  man,  when  cross- 
examined  before  the  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
proved  that  he  had  left  his  house  perfectly  safe  at  twelve 
o'clock  on  Saturday  night,  and  was  convinced  that  it  had 
been  purposely  fired.  The  rapidity  with  which  the  flames 
spread,  chiefly  owing  to  the  number  of  houses  built  of 
timber,  defied  all  measures  for  arresting  them,  though  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  first  day  the  King  sent  Pepys  from 
Whitehall  to  the  Lord  Mayor,  commanding  him  to  "spare 
no  houses,  but  pull  down  before  the  fire  every  way."  By 
the  first  night  Pepys  could  "  endure  no  more  upon  the 
water,  and  from  Bankside  (Southwark)  saw  the  fire  grow, 
and  as  it  grew  darker,  appear  more  and  more,  and  in 
comers,  and  upon  steeples,  and  between  churches  and 
houses,  as  far  as  we  could  see  up  the  hill  of  the  City,  in  a 
most  horrid,  malicious,  bloody  flame,  not  like  the  flame  of 
an  ordinary  fire.  We  staid,"  he  says,  "till,  it  being  darkish, 
we  saw  the  fire  as  only  one  entire  arch  of  fire  from  this  to 
the  other  side  of  the  bridge,  and  in  a  bow  up  the  hill  for  an 
arch  of  above  a  mile  long."  Evelyn  describes  the  dreadful 
scene  of  the  same  night — 

"  I  saw  the  whole  south  part  of  the  City  burning,  from  Cheapside  to 
the  Thames,  and  all  along  Cornhill  (for  it  likewise  kindled  back  against 
the  wind  as  well  as  forward),  Tower  Street,  Fenchurch  Street,  Gracious 
Street,  and  so  along  to  Baynard's  Castle,  and  was  taking  hold  of  St. 
Paul's  Church,  to  which  the  scaffolds  contributed  exceedingly.  The 
conflagration  was  so  universal,  and  the  people  so  astonished,  that,  from 
the  beginning,  I  know  not  by  what  despondency  or  fate,  they  hardly 
stirred  to  quench  it ;  so  that  there  was  nothing  heard  or  seen  but  crying 
out  and  lamenU.ti:>n,  running  about  like  distracted  creatures,  without  at 
all  attempting  to  save  even  thn'r  goods ;  such  a  strange  consternation 


THE   GREAT  FIRE.  42; 

there  was  upon  them,  so  as  it  burned,  hoth  in  breadth  and  length,  the 
churches,  public  halls,  Exchange,  hospitals,  monuments,  and  ornnments, 
leaping  after  a  prodigious  manner  from  house  to  house  and  street  to 
street,  at  great  distances  from  one  to  the  other;  for  the  heat,  with  a 
long  set  of  fair  and  warm  weather,  had  even  ignited  the  air  and 
prepared  the  materials  to  receive  the  fire,  which  devoured  after  an 
incredible  manner  houses,  furniture,  and  everything.  Here  we  saw  the 
Thames  covered  with  goods  floating,  all  the  barges  and  boats  laden 
with  what  some  had  time  and  courage  to  save ;  as  on  the  other,  the 
carts,  &c,  carrying  out  to  the  fields,  which  for  many  miles  were  strewn 
with  moveables  of  all  sorts,  and  tents  erecting  to  shelter  both  people  and 
what  goods  they  could  get  away.  Oh,  the  miserable  and  calamitous 
spectacle !  such  as  haply  the  world  had  not  seen  the  like  since  the 
foundation  of  it,  nor  to  be  outdone  till  the  universal  conflagration  of  it. 
All  the  sky  was  of  a  fiery  aspect,  like  the  top  of  a  burning  oven,  and 
the  light  seen  for  above  forty  miles  round  about  for  many  nights :  God 
grant  mine  eyes  may  never  see  the  like !  who  now  saw  above  ten 
thousand  houses  all  in  one  flame ;  the  noise  and  cracking  and  thunder 
of  the  impetuous  flames,  the  shrieking  of  women  and  children,  the 
hurry  of  people,  the  fall  of  towers,  houses,  and  churches,  was  like  a 
hideous  storm,  and  the  air  all  about  so  hot  and  inflamed  that  at  last 
one  was  not  able  to  approach  it ;  so  that  they  were  forced  to  stand  still 
and  let  the  flames  burn  on,  which  they  did  for  near  two  miles  in  length 
and  one  in  breadth.  The  clouds  also  of  smoke  were  dismal,  and  reached, 
upon  computation,  near  fifty  miles  in  length." 

At  noon  on  Tuesday  the  5th  the  Fire  first  began  to  be 
checked,  at  the  Temple  Church  in  Fleet  Street,  and  Pie  Corner 
in  Smithfield,  gunpowder  being  then  used  in  destroying  the 
houses,  and  producing  gaps  too  wide  to  be  overleaped  by 
the  flames,  but  by  that  time  the  destruction  had  included 
eighty-nine  churches,  the  City  gates,  Guildhall,  many  public 
stiuctures,  hospitals,  schools,  libraries,  thirteen  thousand 
two  hundred  dwelling-houses,  four  hundred  streets ;  out  of 
twenty-six  wards  it  had  utterly  destroyed  fifteen,  and  left 
eight  others  shattered  and  half  burnt.  The  ruins  of  the 
City  covered  lour  hundred  and  thirty-six  acres,  the  part  left 
standing  occupied  seventy-five  acres :   the  loss  was  eleven 


428  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

millions,  but — London  has  never  since  suffered  from  the 
Plague. 

A  committee  was  immediately  formed  to  inquire  into  the 
causes  of  the  Fire,  before  which  one  Robert  Hubert,  a 
French  priest  of  Rouen,  25  years  of  age,  declared  that  he 
had  set  fire  intentionally  to  the  house  of  Farryner,  the 
baker  in  Pudding  Lane,  by  putting  a  lighted  fire-ball  in  at 
a  window  at  the  end  of  a  long  pole.  He  pointed  out  the 
exact  spot  where  this  occurred,  and  stated  that  he  had  been 
suborned  at  Paris  for  this  deed,  and  that  he  had  three 
accomplices.  No  one  believed  his  story,  yet  the  jury  who 
tried  him  found  him  guilty,  and  he  was  hung.  Afterwards 
it  was  shown  that  he  was  insane,  and  the  master  of  the  ship 
which  brought  him  over  from  France  proved  that  he  did  not 
land  till  two  days  after  the  Fire.  Still  the  confession  of 
Hubert,  in  those  times  of  bitter  religious  animosity,  when 
Titus  Oates  and  his  plot  had  excited  additional  horror  of 
Papists,  was  considered  sufficient  to  authorise  the  inscrip- 
tion on  the  pedestal  of  the  Monument. 

"  This  pillar  was  set  up  in  perpetual  remembrance  of  that  most 
dreadful  burning  of  this  Protestant  city,  begun  and  carried  on  by  ye 
treachery  and  milice  of  ye  popish  factiS,  in  ye  beginning  of  Septem,  in 
ye  year  of  our  Lord  1666,  in  order  to  ye  carrying  on  of  their  horrid 
plott  for  extirpating  the  Protestant  religion  and  old  English  liberty, 
and  the  introducing  popery  and  slavery. 

"  Sed  furor  papisticus  qui  tam  dira  patravit  nondum  restinguitur." 

This  inscription  was  obliterated  in  the  time  of  James  II., 

recut  deeper  than  before  under  William  III.,  and  finally 

effaced  Jan.  26,  1831.     It  is  this  inscription  which  makes 

Tope  say — 

"Where  London's  column,  pointing  at  the  skies, 
Like  a  tail  bully,  lifts  the  head  and  lies." 

Moral  Essavr,  Ep.  iii.  337. 


ST.   MAGNUS.  429 

The  house  on  the  site  in  Pudding  Lane  where  the  Fire 
Degan  (No.  25)  bore,  till  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
when  it  was  removed  because  the  crowds  who  stopped  to 
read  it  intercepted  the  traffic,  the  inscription — 

"  Here,  by  the  permission  of  Heaven,  Hell  brake  loose  upon  this 
Protestant  city,  from  the  malicious  hearts  of  barbarous  Papists,  by  the 
hand  of  their  agent  Hubert,  who  confessed,  and  on  the  ruins  of  this 
place  declared  the.  fact,  for  which  he  was  hanged — viz.,  that  here 
began  the  dreadful  Fire,  which  is  described  and  perpetuated  on  and  by 
the  neighbouring  pillar,  erected  Anno  1680,  in  the  mayoralty  of  Sir 
Patience  Ward,  Knight." 

The  Monument,  which  may  be  wearily  ascended  for  the 
sake  of  the  view,  which  is  very  fine,  when  visible,  is  caged 
at  the  top  in  consequence  of  the  mania  for  committing 
suicide  from  it. 

Close  by  is  the  Church  of  St.  Magnus,  a  Norwegian  jail, 
killed  in  the  12th  century  in  Orkney,  where  the  Cathedral 
of  Kirkwall  is  dedicated  to  him.  It  was  rebuilt  by  Wren 
after  the  Fire,  in  1676,  and  is  one  of  his  best  churches.  The 
tower  has  an  octagonal  lantern,  crowned  by  a  cupola  and 
short  spire,  picturesque  and  effective.  The  roadway  beneath 
it  was  made  in  1760,  when  it  was  found  necessary  to  widen 
the  approach  to  Old  London  Bridge.  This  possibility  had 
been  foreseen  by  Wren,  so  that  it  was  effected  without  diffi- 
culty, but  has  injured  the  solid  effect  of  an  otherwise  beautiful 
building.  The  carved  and  gilt  dial  on  the  tower,  erected  in 
1709,  at  a  cost  of  ^485,  was  given  in  fulfilment  of  a  vow 
by  Sir  Charles  Duncomb,  who  when  a  poor  boy,  waiting 
lor  his  master  on  London  Bridge,  lost  him  from  not  knowing 
the  hour,  and  promised  he  would  give  a  clock  to  St. 
Magnus,  if  he  evei  became  rich. 


130  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

On  the  destruction  of  the  Church  of  St.  Bartholomew 
by  the  Exchange,  the  remains  of  Miles  Coverdale,  Bishop 
of  Exeter,  were  removed  to  this  church,  of  which  he 
once  was  rector.  A  monument  has  been  raised  to  his 
memory,  and  records  how  "On  the  4th  of  October,  1535, 
the  first  complete  English  version  of  the  Bible  was  pub- 
lished under  his  direction." 

Passing  under  the  approach  to  London  Bridge  and  the 
Fishmongers'  Hall,  we  enter  Upper  Thames  Street.  On  the 
right  is  St.  Lawrence  Poultney  Hill,  so  called  from  Sir  John 
Poultney,  Lord  Mayor  in  1333  and  1336,  who  founded  a 
chapel  there  to  St.  Laurence  :  it  was  destroyed  in  the  Fire ; 
but  its  burial-ground  remains.  Poultney's  Inn,  the  "  right 
fair  and  stately  house"  of  Sir  Jo'mi  Poultney  in  Cold-Har- 
bour (Cole-Harbour)  on  the  other  side  of  Thames  Street, 
was  given  by  Henry  VIII.  to  Tunstal,  Bishop  of  Durham, 
in  exchange  for  Durham  House,  but,  on  his  deprivation, 
was  bestowed  by  Edward  VI.  on  the  fifth  Earl  of 
Shrewsbury.  It  was  afterwards  let  out  in  poor  tenements, 
inhabited  by  beggars,  and  as  such  is  mentioned  by  Ben 
Jonson,  and  by  Heywood  and  Rowley. 

On  the  right  is  Suffolk  Lane,  commemorating  the  house 
of  the  De  la  Poles,  Dukes  of  Suffolk,  and  afterwards  of 
Charles  Brandon,  Duke  of  Suffolk  (brother-in-law  of  Henry 
VIIL),  as  Duck's  Foot  Alley  is  Duke's  foot-lane — the  private 
road  from  his  garden  to  the  river.  Suffolk  House  was  built 
on  part  of  the  Manor  of  the  Rose,  originally  called  Poult- 
ney's Inn.  In  1447  it  was  the  scene  of  the  alleged  treason 
of  William  de  la  Pole,  Duke  of  Suffolk.  Being  afterwards 
in  the  hands  of  the  Dukes  of  Buckingham,  Charles  Knevet, 
a  surveyor  who  had  been  dismissed  by  Edward  Stafford, 


ALLHALLOWS   THE    GREAT.  431 

Duke  of  Buckingham,  in  consequence  of  his  tenants' 
complaints,  was  moved  by  revenge  and  the  hope  of 
reward  to  accuse  his  late  master  of  treason.  The  answer 
of  the  surveyor  when  questioned  by  the  King  as  to  the 
Duke's  design  upon  the  succession  is  given  by  Shakspeare 
almost  in  the  words  of  Holinshed — 

"  Not  long  before  your  highness  sped  to  France, 
The  duke  being  at  the  Rose,  within  the  parish 
Saint  Laurence  Poultney,  did  of  me  demand 
What  was  the  speech  amongst  the  Londoners 
Concerning  the  French  journey  :  I  replied, 
Men  fear'd  the  French  would  prove  perfidious, 
To  the  king's  danger." — Henry  VIII.,  Act  I.,  sc.  2, 

After  the  attainder  of  Buckingham,  the  Manor  of  the  Rose, 
being  forfeited,  was  granted  to  Henry  Courtenay,  Marquis 
of  Exeter.  He  was  beheaded  in  1539,  and  the  manor, 
being  again  forfeited  to  the  crown,  was  granted  to  Robert 
Radcliffe,  Earl  of  Sussex,  in  whose  family  it  continued  till 
it  was  sold  in  1651  to  Richard  Hill,  Master  of  the  Merchant 
Tailors'  Company,  who  founded  the  Merchant  Tailors' 
School,  which  stood  in  Suffolk  Lane  from  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth  till  it  was  removed  to  the  Charterhouse  in  1873. 
The  school  buildings,  of  1675,  were  pulled  down  when 
the  school  departed. 

On  the  right  is  the  Church  of  Allha/lows  the  Great,  also 
called  Allhallows  ad  foam m,  from  its  position  in  the  rope- 
making  district,  an  ugly  work  of  Wren,  finished  1683,  with 
a  very  handsome  chancel  screen,  probably  by  Gibbons. 
The  altar  screen  was  presented  by  the  Hanse  merchants  in 
the  last  century,  and  all  the  carving  in  the  church  executed 
at  their  expense,  as   a   recognition  of   the  connection  of 


43*  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

their  ancestors,  merchants  of  the  neighbouring  Steel  Yard, 
with  this  church  :  the  eagle  of  the  Hanse  merchants  sur- 
mounts the  pulpit.  This,  according  to  Pepys,  was  one  of 
the  first  churches  which  set  up  the  royal  arms  before  the 
Restoration.  It  contains  one  of  the  curious  metrical  monu- 
ments to  Elizabeth — 

"  Spain's  rod,  Rome's  ruin,  Netherlands  relief, 
Heaven's  gem,  Earth's  joy,  World's  wonder,  Nature's  chief, 
Britain's  blessing,  England's  splendour, 
Religion's  nurse,  and  Faith's  defender." 

Passing  under  the  Cannon  Street  Railway  Terminus, 
occupying  the  site  of  the  Stilliard,  where  the  Hanse  mer- 
chants settled  in  1250  and  remained  till  they  were  expelled 
in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  1597 — 8,  we  find  an  ancient 
water-gate — sometimes  believed  to  have  been  the  western  as 
Billingsgate  the  eastern  gate  of  Roman  London — commemo- 
rated in  Dowgate  or  Doivnegate  Hill,  where,  says  Strype, 
"  the  water  comes  down  from  other  streets  with  that 
swiftness  that  it  ofttimes  catiseth  a  flood  in  the  lower  part." 
Ben  Jonson  says — 

"Thy  canvass  giant  at  some  channel  aims, 
Or  Dowgate  torrents  falling  into  Thames." 

On  the  west  side  of  Dowgate  Hill  is  the  Hall  of  the 
Dyers'  Compavj,  and,  adjoining  it,  the  Hall  of  the  Skinners' 
Company,  incorporated  in  1327.  The  front  towards  the 
street  was  rebuilt  in  1790,  but  that  facing  the  Courtyard, 
of  red  and  black  bricks  alternately  with  a  characteristic 
wooden  porch,  was  built  immediately  after  the  Fire.  In 
the  Court  Room  is  an  admirable  portrait  of  Sir  Andrew 


DOWGATE  HILL. 


,\  ?  *» 


Judde  (a  skinner),  the  founder  of  Tunbridge  School,  whose 
tomb  is  in  Great  St.  Helen's.  A  fine  old  staircase,  adorned 
with  a  portrait  of  Sir  T.  Pilkington,  Lord  Mayor  1689, 
1690, and  1691  (satirised  in  "The  Triennial  Mayor  "),  leads 
to  the  Cedar  Drawing  Room,  one  of  the  noblest  old  rooms 


At  Skinners'  Hall. 


in  London,  entirely  panelled  with  cedar,  relieved  by  gild- 
ing, with  a  far-projecting  fireplace.. 

In  Cloak  Lane,  Dowgate  Hill,  is  the  Cutlers'  Hall,  re- 
built 1854.  An  old  house  near  it  bears  the  arms  of  the 
Company,  an  elephant  with  a  castle  on  its  back. 

On  College  Hill  (right)  was  the  College  of  St.  Spirit  and 

VOL.    I.  F  F 


434 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


St.  Mary,  founded  by  Dick  Whittington,  thrice  Lord  Mayor 
of  London.  Here  now  is  the  Mercers'  School,  founded  for 
70  children  by  the  Mercers'  Company.  The  Collegiate 
Church  of  St.  Michael,  Paternoster  Royal,  also  built  from 
funds  left  by  Whittington.    Stow  says — 

"  Richard  Whittington  was  in  this  church  three  times  buried  :  first 
by  his  executors  under  a  fair  monument ;  then,  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  VI.,  the  parson  of  that  church,  thinking  some  great  riches  (as 
he  said)  to  be  buried  with  him,  caused  his  monument  to  be  broken,  his 
body  to  be  spoiled  of  his  leaden  sheet,  and  again  the  second  time  to  be 
buried  ;  and,  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Mary,  the  parishioners  were  forced 
to  take  him  up,  to  lap  him  in  lead  as  before,  to  bury  him  the  third 
time,  and  to  place  his  monument,  or  the  like,  over  him  again,  and  so 
heresteth."— p.  91. 

He  did  not,  however,  even  "  so  rest,"  for  his  monument 
was  destroyed  in  the  Great  Fire,  and  the  present  church 
is  one  of  Wren's  rebuildings.  The  altar-piece  is  Hilton's 
picture  of  the  Magdalen  anointing  the  feet  of  Christ.  John 
Cleveland,  the  poetical  champion  of  Charles  I.,  whose  works 
had  such  an  enormous  sale  at  the  time,  was  buried  in  this 
church  in  1659. 

Three  Cranes  Lane,  on  the  left,  is  so  called  from  the 
machines  so  common  here,  used  by  the  merchants  of 
Bordeaux  in  landing  their  wines.  It  was  in  a  ware- 
house near  "the  Three  Cranes  in  the  Vintry"  that  the 
Protectress,  Oliver  Cromwell's  widow,  secreted  "  seventeen 
cart-loads  of  rich  stuff,"  which  she  had  taken  away  from 
Whitehall. 

Queen  Street  leads  to  Sonthwark  Bridge,  of  cast-iron  on 
stone  piers,  built  by  John  Rennie,  1815—19.  Just  beyond, 
on  the  left,  is  the  open  court-yard  of  the  Hall  of  the 
Vintners'1  Company,  incorporated,  under  the  name  of  "  the 


QUEENHITHE.  435 

Wine  Tonners,"  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  The  flat- 
roofed  hall  is  surrounded  by  good  oak  panelling,  and  has 
modern  stained  windows.  The  life-size  swans  at  the  end 
commemorate  the  right  which  this  Company,  with  the 
Queen,  and  the  Dyers'  Company,  alone  hold  to  all  the 
swans  on  the  Thames.  The  Company  annually  go 
"  swan-upping "  *  to  Henley-on-Thames,  and  mark  their 
cygnets  with  two  nicks,  whence  the  popular  sign  of  "  the 
Swan  with  two  necks."  The  patron  saint  of  the  Company 
is  St.  Martin, j-  who  is  commemorated  here  by  some  very 
curious  old  tapestry,  and  in  a  picture  by  Rubens.  The 
Court-Room  has  the  usual  royal  portraits.  The  old 
staircase,  with  garlands  on  the  bannisters,  is  admirable 
in  design. 

Behind  the  houses  on  the  right  of  Thames  Street  is 
another  wretched  work  of  Wren,  St.  James  Gariickhithe,  -o 
called  because  "  of  "old  time,  on  the  bank  of  the  river  of 
Thames,  near  to  this  church,  garlick  was  usually  sold."  It 
was  in  this  church  that  Steele  first  "  discovered  the  excel- 
lency of  the  Common  Prayer,"  when  he  "  heard  the  service 
read  so  distinctly,  so  emphatically,  and  so  fervently,  that  it 
was  next  to  an  impossibility  to  be  inattentive. "J 

In  Little  Trinity  Lane  (right)  is  the  Paiuter-stainers1  J7a//, 
rebuilt  after  the  Great  Fire  on  the  site  of  the  Hall  where 
the  Relief  Commission  met  during  the  Great  Plague  of 
1664.  The  Hall  contains  a  number  of  good  royal  portraits 
from  Charles  I.  downwards. 

We  now  reach    Queenhithe,   a  name   derived    from   the 

*  On  what  is  called  "  the  Swan- voyage" 

+  The  Church  of  St.  Martin  in  the  Vintry,  where  Sir  John  Gisors  of  Gisors  Hail 
was  buried  with  his  brother  and  son,  was  burnt  in  the  Fire  and  never  rebuilt 
t  Spectator,  No.  147. 


436 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


"  quern  "  or  mill  for  the  corn  landed  there  :  in  some  docu- 
ments of  the  twelfth  century  it  is  spelt  Corn-hithe.  The 
place,  however,  was  early  known  as  "  Ripa  Reginge,"  being 
given  by  John  to  his  mother  Eleanor  of  Aquitaine.  Tolls 
of  this  port,  paid  according  to  the  value  of  the  lading  of 
vessels,  were  afterwards  part  of  the  revenue  of  the  Queen's 
Consort.  It  was  the  attempt  of  Eleanor  of  Provence  to 
force  every  vessel  laden  with  corn,  wool,  or  other  cargo 
of  value  to  land  here  which  was  a  leading  cause  of 
her  unpopularity.  In  Peele's  "  Chronicle-play  of  King 
Edward  I."  (1593)  Eleanor,  being  accused  of  her  crimes, 
replies — 

"  If  that  upon  so  vile  a  thing 
Her  heart  did  ever  think 
She  wish'd  the  ground  might  open  wide, 
And  therein  she  might  sink  ! 

With  that  at  Charing-cross  she  sunk 

Into  the  ground  alive ; 
And  after  rose  with  life  again, 

In  London  at  Queenhithe." 

The  Church  of  St.  Michael,  Queenhithe,  lately  destroyed, 
one  of  Wren's  rebuildings,  had  a  vane  with  a  ship  made  to 
contain  a  bushel  of  grain,  the  great  article  of  Queenhithe 
traffic. 

At  Brokenwharf  (left)  on  the  river  was  the  stone  palace 
of  the  Bigods  and  Mowbrays,  Earls  and  Dukes  of  Nor- 
folk, after  their  removal  from  the  site  of  Norfolk  Row  in 
Lambeth. 

Passing  the  Tower  of  St.  Mary  Somerset,  which  belonged 
to  one  of  Wren's  churches,  and  which  groups  so  well  with 
later  buildings — the  only  tower  of  a  destroyed  Wren 
church  which  the  City  has  respected,  and,  what  an  orna- 


CASTLE  BAYNARD.  437 

ment  it  is  !  and  glancing  into  the  Churchyard  of  St.  Peter, 
Pauls  Wharf,  destroyed  in  the  Great  Fire,  and  never  re- 
built, we  reach  St.  Benet,  Pau.'i  Wharf  (on  the  right), 
another  of  Wren's  feeble  churches.  It  is  strange  that 
he  should  not  have  had  the  grace  to  restore  the  tomb  of 
Inigo  Jones,  who  was  buried  in  the  old  church,  June  26, 
1652,  aged  80,  having  been  much  persecuted  for  his  Roman 
Catholic  opinions.  Sir  William  Le  Neve,  John  Philpott, 
and  William  Oldys,  also  buried  here,  were  all  heralds  from 
the  college  close  by.  In  St.  Benet's  churchyard  was  the 
punning  epitaph — ■ 

"  Here  lies  one  More,  and  no  more  than  he. 
One  More  and  no  more  !  how  can  that  be  ? 
One  More  and  no  more  may  well  lie  here  alone  ; 
But  here  lies  one  More,  and  that's  more  than  one." 

Castle  Baynard  Dock  commemorates  the  feudal  house 
called  Baynard's  Castle,  destroyed  in  the  Great  Fire,  and 
"so  called  of  Baynard,  a  nobleman  that  came  in  with 
William  the  Conqueror."*  It  was  to  Maud  Fitzwalter, 
daughter  of  "the  Lord  of  Castle  Baynard,"  that  King 
John  paid  his  unwelcome  addresses.  The  palace  built  on 
this  site  by  Humphrey,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  was  the  place 
where  the  crown  was  offered  to  Richard  III.  Those  who 
have  seen  Shakspeare's  play  acted  will  remember  Richard's 
appearance  in  the  upper  gallery  here,  between  two  bishops, 
and  Catesby  and  Buckingham,  in  the  hall  beneath,  with 
the  mayor  and  aldermen,  endeavouring  to  overcome  his 
hypocritical  reluctance  to  accept  the  kingdom.  Lady  Jane 
Grey  was  proclaimed  here  in  1553.  Anne,  "Dorset, 
Pembroke,  and  Montgomery,"  afterwards  lived  here  while 

•  Stow,  p.  136. 


438  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

her  husband  was  residing  at  the  Cockpit  in  Whitehall. 
Baynard's  Castle  had  ten  narrow  gloomy  towers  towards 
the  river,  and,  in  the  centre,  an  arched  water-gate  and 
broad  staircase. 

Thames  Street  ends  at  Blackfriars  Bridge,  an  ugly  erec- 
tion of  Joseph  Cubitt  (1867)  supplanting  the  fine  work 
of  Robert  Mylne,  executed  in  1760 — 69.  The  older 
bridge  was  at  first  called  Pitt  Bridge,  in  honour  of  the 
great  minister,  who  is  still  commemorated  in  William 
Street,  Earl  Street,  and  Chatham  Place.  Mylne's  work 
was  so  appreciated  at  the  time  that  he  was  buried  in  state 
near  Sir  Christopher  Wren  in  St.  Paul's,  but  his  bridge 
was  demolished  within  a  hundred  years  of  its  erection,  and 
even  his  house  has  been  swept  away  by  the  erection  of  the 
Ludgate  Hill  Station  of  the  London,  Chatham,  and  Dover 
Railway. 

Near  this,  but  invisible,  is  the  point — 

"  Where  Fleet  Ditch,  with  disemboguing  streams, 
Rolls  its  large  tribute  of  dead  dogs  to  Thames." 

Pope.     Dunciad. 

Blackfriars  takes  its  name  from  the  Dominican  monks 
who  came  to  England  in  1221,  and  first  settled  in  Holborn 
on  land  now  occupied  by  Lincoln's  Inn.  In  1276  they 
moved  to  the  banks  of  the  Thames,  where  their  monastery 
and  church  rose  to  great  splendour  through  the  constant 
favour  of  Edward  I.,  who  deposited  the  heart  of  his 
beloved  Eleanor  at  Blackfriars,  when  her  body  was  taken 
to  Westminster.  The  belief  that  "  to  be  buried  in  the 
habit  of  the  Order  was  a  sure  preservative  against  the 
attacks  of  the  devil"  afterwards  led  to  the  interment  of 
many  great  and  wealthy  personages  in  the  monastic  church, 


BLACKFRIARS.  439 

including  Hubert  de  Burgh,  Earl  of  Kent,  and  his  wife 
Margaret  of  Scotland ;  Tiptoft,  Earl  of  Worcester,  be- 
headed in  the  Wars  of  the  Roses ;  and  Sir  Thomas  and 
Dame  Maude  Parr,  father  and  mother  of  Queen  Katherine 
Parr.  Several  Parliaments  met  in  the  monastery.  The 
"  Black  Parliament,"  which  took  its  name  from  hence,  with 
Sir  Thomas  More  as  its  Speaker,  here  received  the  exorbi- 
tant demands  of  Henry  VIII.  for  a  subsidy  for  his  French 
wars,  insolently  conveyed  through  Wolsey.  Charles  V. 
,  insisted  upon  lodging  at  the  Prior's  house  when  he  came  to 
London  in  1522,  though  Bridewell  Palace  was  proposed 
for  him.  But  Blackfriars  Monastery  will  always  be  best 
remembered  as  the  place,  made  familiar  by  Shakspeare 
(who  knew  it  well),  where  (June  21,  1529)  the  two  Car- 
dinals, Wolsey  and  Campeggio,  sate  in  judgment  upon 
the  divorce  of  Catherine  of  Anagon,  and  where  the 
queen,  as  "a  poor  weak  woman,  fallen  from  favour," 
flinging  herself  at  her  husband's  feet,  made  that  touching 
speech,  which  has  been  scarcely  altered  by  Shakspeare. 
On  the  same  spot,  only  a  few  months  later,  Parliament 
pronounced  its  sentence  of  prcemunire  against  Wolsey  him- 
self. 

Blackfriars  was  granted  by  Edward  VI.  to  Sir  Thomas 
Cawarden,  "  Master  of  the  King's  Revels,"  who  pulled 
down  its  church  of  many  associations  and  that  of  St.  Anne, 
which  adjoined  it.  Both,  however,  would  have  perished  in 
the  Fire.  Sir  William  More,  who  was  Cawarden's  executor, 
granted  part  of  the  monastic  buildings  to  James  Burbage, 
who,  in  1596,  converted  them  into  the  first  regular  Theatre 
erected  in  Blackfriars,  though  plays  had  already  been  acted 
within    the   precincts.      In   this   theatre   Shakspeare,  who 


440  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

bought  a  house  in  Blackfriars,  was  himself  an  actor  in  1 598 
in  Ben  Jonson's  Every  Man  in  his  Humour.  The  theatre 
was  pulled  down  in  1655. 

Blackfriars  has  many  other  associations.  Ben  Jonson 
dates  the  dedication  of  his  Voipone  from  "my  house  at 
Blackfriars  this  nth  day  of  February,  1607."  Nat  Field 
the  player  and  dramatist ;  Dick  Robinson  the  player ;  Van- 
dyke (whom  Charles  I.  came  by  water  to  visit  here),  Cor- 
nelius Jansen,  and  Isaac  Oliver  the  painters ;  and  Faithorne 
the  engraver,  resided  here.  The  wicked  Earl  and  Countess 
of  Somerset  were  also  inhabitants  of  Blackfriars,  and  were 
here  at  the  time  of  Sir  Thomas  Overbury's  murder.* 

In  order  to  visit  in  a  group  the  interesting  points  in 
Blackfriars,  we  may  turn  up  Water  Lane,  the  last  side  street 
on  the  right  before  reaching  New  Bridge  Street.  Here 
(right)  is  the  Apothecaries'  Hall,  belonging  to  one  of  the 
busiest  and  moat  useful  of  the  City  Companies,  which  was 
founded  in  the  reign  of  James  I.  Except  the  Stationers'  it 
is  the  only  Company  whose  members  are  strictly  what  its 
name  implies,  and  it  has  five  hundred  members.  The 
laboratories  connected  with  this  Hall  result  from  the  asso- 
ciation of  the  Apothecaries  and  Druggists.  For  till  1687 
apothecaries  were  only  what  druggists  are  now,  and  it  was 
their  presuming  to  prescribe  which  gave  such  offence  to 
the  College  of  Physicians  in  the  seventeenth  century  and 
led  to  the  verses  of  Garth — 

"  Nigh  where  Fleet  Ditch  descends  in  sable  streams, 
To  wash  his  sooty  Naiads  in  the  Thames, 
There  stands  a  structure  on  a  rising  hill. 
Where  tyros  take  their  freedom  out  to  kilL" 

•  See  The  Builder,  Aug.  12,  1670. 


APOTHECARIES'  HALL.  441 

But  in  1703  a.  decision  of  the  House  of  Lords  permitted 
apothecaries  to  advise  as  well  as  to  dispense  medicines, 
and  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  ten  examinations  are 
now  held  annually  at  the  Hall  for  students  seeking  a 
licence.  The  long  black  oak  Gallery  facing  the  court  is 
called  by  the  students  the  "  Funking  Room  "  because  there 
they  are  kept  waiting  before  being  ushered  into  the  presence 
of  their  examiners.  It  is  lined  with  immensely  deep  cup- 
boards (many  of  them  concealed)  used  as  bookcases.  Its 
curiosities  include  a  Catalogue  of  Plants  of  1662,  with  the 
Latin  MS,  notes  of  John  Ray  (1627 — 1704),  the  eminent 
botanist  and  "founder  of  modern  zoology,"*  written  during 
his  travels.  The  stained  windows  bear  the  mottoes — "Beare 
with  one  another ;  Love  as  Brethren  :  Et  bene  dum  vivis, 
post  mortem  vivere  si  vis."  The  Hall,  lined  with  black 
oak,  was  built  just  after  the  Fire.  A  contemporary  bust  of 
Gideon  de  Laune  here  commemorates  the  physician  of 
Anne  of  Denmark,  who  obtained  their  charter  for  the 
Apothecaries.  Beneath  it  is  a  magnificent  old  iron-bound 
chest,  with  a  lock  guarded  by  four  apes.  In  the  Court 
Room  is  a  picture  of  De  Laune  with  many  other  portraits, 
including  that  of  the  famous  Dr.  Richard  Mead,  17 17,  and 
a  sketch  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  for  his  portrait  of  Dr. 
Hunter  (1728 — 83)  now  in  the  College  of  Surgeons.  A 
slight  canopy  on  the  left  of  the  Court  Room  marks  the  spot 
where  the  Master  formerly  sate  upon  a  dais,  and  formally 
admitted  the  student  candidates,  who  bowed  before  him  on 
the  step. 

At  the  back  of  the  Hall  are  the   Chemical  Laboratories, 
established  1671,  from  which  the  Army  is  still  supplied  with 

*  Cuvier.     "  Biog.  Univ." 


442  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

medicines,  and  which  formerly  supplied  the  Navy  also.  We 
may  visit  the  "Mortar  Room,"  "Test  Room,"  and  "Magnesia 
Room."  Jalap,  Seidlitz  Powders,  Lozenges,  and  many  other 
medicines  are  here  in  a  constant  state  of  preparation  by 
machinery ;  and  there  are  vaults  for  the  formation  and  con- 
seiving  of  tinctures,  with  warehouses  and  dispensaries. 
The  preparation  of  some  of  the  drugs,  especially  those 
containing  mercury,  is  so  deleterious  to  the  workmen  that, 
though  they  work  in  helmets  with  glass  eyes,  they  are 
constantly  obliged  to  be  allowed  a  few  days'  leave  of 
absence. 

Turning  left  we  reach  Carter  Lane.  The  names  of  the 
side  arteries  of  this  Lane — Friar  Street,  Creed  Lane,  Holi- 
day Yard,  and  Pilgrim  Street — bear  record  of  the  great 
religious  house  in  their  neighbourhood,  and  of  the  ancient 
pilgrimages  to  the  shrine  of  St.  Erkenwald.  On  the  right 
is  the  entrance  of  Wardrobe  Place,  a  quiet  court,  with  dark- 
red  brick  houses  and  young  trees,  which  marks  the  site 
of  the  building  known  as  "  the  Kings'  Wardrobe,"  erected 
by  Sir  J.  Beauchamp  (whose  tomb,  in  the  centre  of  the 
nave  of  St.  Paul's,  was  mistaken  for  that  of  Duke  Hum- 
phrey), and  sold  to  Edward  III.  It  was  a  sort  of  Museum 
of  the  robes  worn  by  the  kings  on  different  state  occasions, 
and  became,  as  Fuller  describes,  "  a  library  for  antiquaries 
therein  to  read  the  mode  and  fashion  of  garments  of  all 
ages." 

Retracing  our  steps  a  little,  Church  Entry  (on  the  left  of 
Carter  Lane  as  we  return)  contains,  against  the  wall  of 
Blackfriars  School,  a  monument  to  Dr.  William  Gouge, 
who  was  minister  of  the  old  Church  of  St.  Anne  when 
Shakspeare  was  residing  here,  and  who,  being  of  like  prin- 


THE   TIMES  OFFICE.  443 

ciples,  was  probably  of  his  personal  acquairtance.  Church 
Entry  leads  into  Ireland  Yard,  which  takes  its  name  from 
the  William  Ireland  whose  name  appears  in  a  deed  of  con- 
veyance to  Shakspeare  of  a  house  on  that  site.  Hence, 
turning  to  the  right,  through  Glass  House  Yard  (of  which 
the  name  is  the  memorial  of  an  attempt  by  a  Venetian  in 
Elizabeth's  reign,  to  introduce  one  of  his  native  glass  manu- 
factories, to  the  great  disgust  of  London  glass-workers)  we 
come  to  Play  House  Yard,  commemorating  the  old  Theatre 
where  Shakspeare  acted.  The  yard  now  resounds  with  the 
roar  of  machinery  in  the  Times  Printing  Office,  which 
has  a  great  new  front  towards  Queen  Victoria  Street.  The 
principal  entrance,  however,  is  in  the  retired  court  called 
Printing  House  Square,  so  called  from  the  office  of  the 
King's  Printer  which  existed  here  1770,  in  the  old  building 
marked  by  the  royal  arms  over  its  entrance.  In  the  square 
are  two  rare  old  trees  of  much  interest  to  botanists. 

The  Times  Newspaper,  the  leading  journal  of  Europe, 
was  commenced  by  John  Walter,  its  first  number,  of  January 
1,  17S8,  being  a  continuation  of  the  Daily  Universal 
Rcgisiir.  The  Times  of  November  29,  1814,  was  the  first 
newspaper  printed  by  steam. 

"No  description  can  give  any  adequate  idea  of  one  of  the  Times 
machines  in  full  work, — the  maze  of  wheels  and  rollers,  the  intricate 
lines  of  swift-moving  tapes,  the  flight  of  sheets,  and  the  din  of 
machinery.  The  central  drum  moves  at  the  rate  of  six  feet  per 
second,  or  one  revolution  in  three  seconds ;  the  impression  cylinder 
makes  five  revolutions  in  the  same  time.  The  layer-on  delivers  two 
sheets  every  five  seconds,  consequently  fifteen  sheets  are  printed  in 
that  brief  space.  The  Times  employs  two  of  these  eight-cylinder 
machines,  each  or which  averages  12,000  impressions  per  hour;  and 
one  nine-cylinder,  wnich  prints  16,000"  (Fncy.  Brit.).  In  addition  to 
these,  Howe's  American  machine,  with  tea  horizontal  cylinders,  prints 
20,000  copies  in  an  hour. 


44*  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

A  charming  drive  along  the  new  Thames  Embankment 
leads  from  Blacktriars  Bridge  to  Westminster.  Its  great 
feature  is  Waterloo  Bridge,  the  noble  work  of  George 
Rennie,  built  1811 — 1817  and  opened  on  the  second  anni- 
versary of  the  Battle  of  Waterloo.  It  is  built  of  granite, 
and  has  nine  arches,  one  hundred  and  twenty  inches  span 
and  thirty-five  high.  Canova  considered  it  "  the  noblest 
bridge  in  the  world — worth  a  visit  from  the  remotest 
corners  of  the  earth  j "  and  Dupin  describes  it  as  "  a  colossal 
monument  worthy  of  Sesostris  and  the  Caesars." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

LONDON  BRIDGE  AND  SOUTHWARK. 

AT  the  entrance  of  London  Bridge,  upon  the  right,  is 
the  Fishmonger?  Hall,  rebuilt  by  H.  Roberts  in 
1 83 1,  in  the  place  of  a  Hall  of  which  Jarnan  was  the  archi- 
tect after  the  Great  Fire.  It  is  one  of  those  huge  palaces 
of  dignified  repose  which  are  such  a  feature  of  the  City. 
On  the  landing  of  the  stairs  is  a  statue  of  Sir  William  Wal- 
worth, 1698,  painted,  but  carved  in  wood  by  Edward  Peirce 
the  statuary,  who  died  in  1698.*  On  the  pedestal  is  in- 
scribed— 

"Brave  Walworth,  Knight,  Lord  Major  yt  slew 

Rebellious  Tyler  in  his  alarmes. 
The  King,  therefore,  did  give  in  hew 

The  Dagger  in  the  cityes  armes. 
In  the  4th  yeare  of  Richard  II.  Anno  Domini.  138 I." 

The  dagger  of  Walworth  is  preserved  in  the  Hal!,  in  a 
glass-case,  and  is  certainly  of  the  fourteenth  century,  but 
unfortunately  the  so-called  "  dagger  "  was  borne  in  the  city- 
arms  centuries  before  the  time  of  Wat  Tyler,  and  represents 
the  sword  of  St.  Paul,  the  patron  of  the  corporation. 

On  the  Staircase  are  portraits  of — 

*  Horace  Walpole. 


446  WALKS    W  LONDON. 

William  III.  and  Mary  II.     Murray. 

George  II.  and  Caroline  of  Anspach.     Shackleton. 

In  the  Court  Dining  Room  are — - 

Romney.  Frederick  Christian,  Margrave  of  Anspach,  nephew  of  Caro- 
line, Queen  of  George  II.,  who  sold  his  principalities  to  the  King  ol 
Prussia  and  came  to  live  in  England.     Ob.  1806. 

Elizabeth,  Margravine  of  Anspach,  1750 — 1820,  daughter  of  the 
fourth  Earl  of  Berkeley,  married  in  1 767  to  William,  sixth  Lord  Craven, 
and  in  1791  to  the  Margrave  of  Anspach.  Tie  existence  of  the  pictures 
here  commemorates  a  fete  she  gave  to  the  Fishmongers'  Company  at 
her  residence  of  Brandenburg  House  on  the  Thames. 

The  Great  Banqueting  Hall  contains  portraits  of 

Queen  Victoria,  1840.     Herbert  Smith. 
The  Duke  of  Kent.     Beechey. 
The  Duke  of  Sussex. 

In  the  Small  Meeting  Room  is  a  fine  portrait  of 

Earl  St.  Vincent,  by  Beechey.  The  flag  presented  to  him  by  the 
crew  of  the  Ville  de  Paris  is  preserved  here. 

In  the  Waiting  Room  are  some  curious  old  pictures, 
including  a  representation  of  the  Pageant  of  the  Fish- 
mongers' Company  on  October  29,  1616,  when  Sir  J.  Leman, 
Fishmonger,  became  Lord  Mayor.  The  relics  here  in- 
clude— 

The  magnificent  Pall,  worked  by  nuns,  used  at  the  funeral  of  Sir 
William  Walworth  in  1381.*  Its  principal  subject  is  our  Saviour 
giving  the  keys  to  St.  Peter,  at  the  ends  are  representations  of  the 
Deity  and  Angels. 

The  Master's  Chair,  made  of  oak  from  the  piles  of  Old  London 
Bridge,  with  the  seat  formed  from  the  foundation-stone  laid  in  1 1 76, 
and  fished  up  in  1 832. 

*  The  palls  preserved  in  many  of  the  old  City  Halls  are  relics  of  the  time 
when  the  Halls  were  let  out  for  ceremonies  of  lying  in  state. 


LONDON  BRIDGE.  447 

The  Fishmongers'  Company  were  formidable  neighbours 
to  Billingsgate,  as  they  had  power  "  to  enter  and  seize  bad 
fish,"  and  they  still  employ  inspectors,  who  bring  in  a 
report  of  the  quantity  of  unwholesome  fish  destroyed.  A 
member  of  the  company  named  Thomas  Dogget,  who  died 
in  1 82 1,  being  a  determined  Whig,  left  a  sum  for  an  orange 
coat  and  silver  Hanoverian  badge  to  be  contended  for  on 
the  Thames  every  1st  of  August  by  six  young  watermen. 

London  Bridge  was  built  1825 — 31  from  designs  of  John 
Rennie  (son  of  a  farmer  in  East  Lothian)  and  his  sons  John 
and  George,  at  a  cost  of  nearly  two  millions,  but  is  already 
found  insufficient,  and  will  soon  (1877)  be  widened,  and 
probably  spoilt. 

There  was  a  bridge  here  in  Saxon  times,  defended  by 
towers  and  bulwarks,  where,  in  1008,  was  fought  "  the  Battle 
of  London  Bridge,"  in  which  Olaf  *  the  king  and  saint  of 
Norway  assisted  Ethelred  the  Unready  in  defeating  the 
Danes.  In  11 76  the  first  stone  bridge  was  built  by  Peter, 
priest  of  St.  Mary  Colechurch,  in  which  Thomas  a  Becket 
had  been  baptized.  Hence,  on  the  central  pier,  Colechurch 
erected  a  chapel  in  honour  of  the  sainted  archbishop, 
where,  when  he  died  in  1205,  he  was  himself  buried.  This 
chapel  was  of  great  beauty,  having  a  crypt,  connected  by 
a  flight  of  stairs  with  the  river.  All  the  other  piers  were 
covered  with  houses,  and  towards  the  Southwark  side  from 
the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  stood  "  Nonsuch  House," 
a  fantastic  building  of  wood,  said  to  have  been  constructed 
in  Holland,  with  four  towers,  crowned  by  domes  with  gilded 
vanes.     The  last  building  on  the  Southwark  side  was  "  the 

•  Commemorated  in  the  singular  corrupted  name  of  Tooley  (Olaf)  Street.  M 
tb«  south  bank  of  the  river,  where  he  is  patron  of  the  parish. 


44?  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Traitors'  Gate."  The  heads  exposed  here  included  those  ol 
William  Wallace,  1305  ;  the  Earl  of  Northumberland,  1408  ; 
and  Bishop  Fisher  and  Sir  Thomas  More,  1535.  Hall  says 
that  at  the  end  of  a  fortnight  Fisher's  head  had  to  be 
thrown  into  the  Thames,  because  the  bridge  was  choked  up 
with  people  coming  to  see  it,  "  for  it  could  not  be  per- 
ceived to  waste  nor  consume  .  .  .  but  daily  grew  fresher 
and  fresher,  so  that  in  his  lifetime  he  never  looked  so  well ; 
for  his  cheeks  being  beautified  with  a  comely  red,  the  face 
looked  as  though  it  had  beholden  the  people  passing  by, 
and  would  have  spoken  to  them."  Sir  Thomas  More's 
head  was  removed  after  a  time  to  make  room  for  others, 
and  would  also  have  been  thrown  into  the  Thames,  but  this 
opportunity  had  been  watched  for  by  his  loving  daughter 
Margaret  Roper,  who  bought  it  and  conveyed  it  safely  away 
to  Canterbury.  After  the  Restoration  the  heads  of  some  of 
the  regicides  were  exposed  here. 

On  St.  George's  Day  in  1390  the  famous  passage  at  arms 
in  the  presence  of  Richard  II.  was  fought  on  London 
Bridge  between  Lord  Welles  and  the  chivalrous  Sir  David 
Lindsay  of  Gleneck,  in  which  the  Scottish  knight  was  com- 
pletely triumphant.* 

In  the  sixth  picture  ol  Hogarth's  "  Marriage  a  la  Mode  " 
the  appearance  of  the  houses  on  old  London  Bridge  may 
be  seen.  At  one  time  the  booksellers'  shops  on  London 
Bridge  had  the  reputation  which  those  of  Paternoster  Row 
have  now.  The  infant  daughter  of  Sir  William  Hewett,  a 
famous  clock-maker  on  the  bridge,  Lord  Mayor  of  London 
in  1559,  fell  from  one  of  the  overhanging  winders  and  was 
saved  from  drowning   by  the  gallantry   of  his   apprentice 

•  See  the  picturesque  account  in  "  The  Lives  of  the  Lindsays." 


LONDON  BRIDGE.  449 

Edward  Osborne,  who  was  eventually  rewarded  with  her 
hand  and  a  large  dowry.  Osborne  himself  was  Lord  Mayor 
in  15S2,  and  his  great-grandson  became  Duke  of  Leeds. 
Pennant  describes  the  street  on  London  Bridge  shortly 
before  its  fall — "  narrow,  darksome,  and  dangerous  to 
passengers  from  the  multitude  of  carriages  :  frequent  arches 
of  strong  timbers  crossing  the  street  from  the  tops  of  the 
houses,  to  keep  them  together  and  from  falling  into  the 
river.  Nothing  but  use  could  preserve  the  repose  of  the 
inmates,  who  soon  grew  deaf  to  the  noise  of  falling  waters, 
the  clamours  of  watermen,  or  the  frequent  shrieks  of  drown- 
ing wretches."  The  narrowness  of  the  arches  beneath  the 
bridge,  and  the  consequent  compression  of  the  river,  made 
"  shooting  the  bridge "  very  dangerous.  Ray's  proverb, 
"  London  Bridge  was  made  for  wise  men  to  go  over,  and 
fools  to  go  under,"  shows  the  popular  feeling  about  its 
rapids.     Cowley  describes  the  river  as — 

"  Stopp'd  by  the  houses  of  that  wondrous  street, 
Which  rides  o'er  the  broad  river  like  a  fleet." 

In  its  later  existence  most  of  the  houses  on  the  bridge 
were  inhabited  by  pin-makers,  and  it  was  a  fashionable 
amusement  with  west-end  ladies  to  drive  to  buy  their  pins 
there.  In  the  last  century  the  old  houses,  in  one  of  which 
Hans  Holbein  had  lived,  were  removed  one  after  the  other. 
Fuller  says  of  Old  London  Bridge — 

"  The  middle  thereof  is  properly  in  none,  the  two  ends  in  two  coun- 
ties, Middlesex  and  Surrey.  Such  who  only  see  it  beneath,  where  it  is 
a  bridge,  cannot  suspect  it  should  be  a  street ;  and  such  who  behold  it 
above,  where  it  is  a  street,  cannot  believe  it  is  a  bridge." 

Immediately  beyond  London  Bridge,  on  the  left,  now 
half-buried  amongst  raised  streets  and  railways,  is  the  fine 

VOL.    I.  G  G 


4£0  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

cruciform  Church  of  St.  Saviour's,  Souihwark.  It  has  been 
sadly  mutilated  in  the  present  century,  but  its  Lady  Chapel 
and  choir  are  still  amongst  our  best  specimens  of  Early 
English  architecture.  They  are  surrounded  by  a  flower  and 
vegetable  market,  and  a  churchyard,  in  which  the  great 
dramatic  poet  Massinger  was  originally  buried.  The 
entry  in  the  register  is  "  March  20,  1639 — 4°>  buried  Philip 
Massinger,  a  stranger."  This  was  formerly  the  church  be- 
longing to  the  priory  of  St,  Mary  Overy,  which  Stow  on  the 
authoiity  of  Linsted,  the  last  prior,  says  was  originally 
founded  by  Mary  Overy,  a  ferry  woman,  who,  long  before 
the  Conquest  or  the  existence  of  any  bridge  over  the  river, 
devoted  her  earnings  to  this  purpose.  She  was  buried 
within  the  walls  of  the  church,  and,  by  some,  its  dedication 
has  been  supposed  to  refer  to  her,  as  the  Virgin  Mother  is 
not  the  St.  Mary  referred  to,  having  her  own  chapel — the 
"  Lady  Chapel  " — annexed  to  the  building.  The  foundation 
of  Mary  Overy  was  for  a  House  of  Sisters,  but  this  was 
afterwards  turned  into  a  College  of  Priests  by  Swithin,  a 
noble  lady,  who  is  said  to  have  built  the  first  timber  bridge 
over  the  river;  and,  in  1106,  it  was  refounded  for  canons 
regular  by  William  Pont  de  l'Arche  and  William  Dauncy, 
two  Norman  knights.  At  the  dissolution  the  church  was 
made  parochial.  It  had  already  become  known  as  St. 
Saviour's,  for  in  1510  it  was  brought  as  a  charge  against 
one  Joane  Baker  that  she  said  she  was  "  sorry  she  had 
gone  on  so  many  pilgrimages,  as  to  St.  Saviour's,  and  divers 
other  pilgrimages." 

The  Choir,  of  the  most  exquisite  and  unspoilt  Early 
English  architecture,  retains  its  beautiful  altar-screen, 
erected  by  Fox,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  in  1528,  and  adorned 


ST.    SAVIOUR'S,   SOUTHWARD  451 

with  his  device,  the  pelican.  Here  Edmund  Holland,  last 
Earl  of  Kent,  grandson  of  the  Fair  Maid  of  Kent,  was 
married  in  1406  to  Lucia,  eldest  daughter  of  Bernabo 
Visconti,  tyrant  of  Milan,  Henry  IV.  giving  away  the  bride. 
In  the  pavement  an  inscription  marks  the  grave  to  which 
Philip  Massmger  has  been  removed  from  the  churchyard. 
Near  it  is  that  of  John  Fletcher  (Beaumont  and  Fletcher), 
1625,  of  whom  Aubrey  says  that,  during  the  great  Plague, 
he  was  invited  by  a  Knight  in  Suffolk  or  Norfolk  to  take 
refuge  with  him  till  the  danger  should  be  over,  but  lingered 
while  his  tailor  made  him  a  suit  of  new  clothes,  fell  sick, 
and  died. 

On  the  left  of  the  north  transept  is  the  beautiful  tomb  of 
John  Gower  the  Poet,  ob.  1402,  removed  from  the  Chantrey 
of  St.  John,  where  he  had  been  buried  in  accordance  with 
his  will.  He  had  contributed  largely  to  the  restoration  of 
the  church,  in  which,  in  1399,  he  had  been  married  to  Alice 
Groundolf  by  William  of  Wykeham,  Bishop  of  Winchester. 
Stow  accurately  describes  the  monument. 

"  He  lieth  under  a  tomb  of  stone,  with  his  image  also  of  stone  over 
him :  the  hair  of  his  head,  auburn,  long  to  his  shoulders  but  curling  up, 
and  a  small  forked  beard  ;  on  his  head  a  chaplet  like  a  coronet  of  four 
roses ;  a  habit  of  purple,  damasked  down  to  his  feet ;  *  a  collar  of 
esses  gold  about  his  neck  ;  under  his  head  the  likeness  of  three  books 
which  he  compiled." — P.  152. 

The  three  works  of  Gower  upon  which  his  head  reposes 
are — 1.  The  Speculum  Mediiantis,  a  work  upon  connubial 
chastity,  written  in  French  after  the  fashion  of  the  time, 
which  prescribed  either  French  or  Latin  as  the  language 
of  poetry,   a  rule  first  violated  by  Chaucer.     2.  The  Vox 

"Now  repainted. 


45^ 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


Clamantis,  written  in  Latin.  3.  The  Confessio  Amctmis, 
written  in  English,  after  Chaucer  had  published  his  other 
works,  but  before  the  Canterbury  Tales.  It  is  on  this 
poem,  which  represents  a  dialogue  between  a  lover  and  his 
confessor,  that  the  reputation  of  Gower  is  founded.  It  was 
finished  in  1393,  and  is  said  to  have  been  written  in  answer 


Gower's  Tomb. 


to  the  desire  of  Richard  II.,  who,  meeting  the  poet  one  day 
upon  the  Thames,  called  him  into  his  barge,  and  desired  him 
to  "  booke  some  new  thing."  The  first  edition  contained 
many  passages  flattering  to  King  Richard,  but  the  time- 
serving poet  afterwards  either  omitted  these  altogether  or 
converted  them  to  the  praise  of  his  rival   and   successor 


ST.   SAVIOUR'S,   SOUTHWARK. 


453 


Henry  IV.  Gower  was  educated  for  the  law  at  the  Middle 
Temple  and  is  believed  there  to  have  contracted  a  friend- 
ship with  Chaucer.  Their  tastes  were  the  same,  and  Gower 
was  especially  attached  to  the  patronage  of  Thomas  of 
Woodstock,  one  of  the  uncles  of  Richard  III.,  as  Chaucer 
was  to  that  of  another,  John  of  Gaunt.  It  is  believed,  how- 
ever, that  the  friendship  of  the  poets  was  turned  to  enmity 


Sleeping  Sifter,  St.  Mary  Overy. 


before  the  death  of  Chaucer.  Gower  became  blind  in  the 
first  year  of  Henry  IV.  and  died  in  1402.  A  tablet  used 
to  hang  by  his  tomb  inscribed,  "Whosoever  prayeth  for  the 
soul  of  John  Gower,  he  shall,  so  oft  as  he  doth,  have  an 
M  and  a  D  dayes  of  pardon." 

Against  the  pillar  on  the  left,  adjoining  the  tomb,  are  the 
arms  of  Cardinal  Henry  Beaufort,  son  of  John  of  Gaunt, 


454  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

who  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Winchester  and  came  to 
Winchester  House  close  to  this  church  in  the  year  of 
Gower's  death.  Against  the  same  pillar  is  a  curious  minia- 
ture tomb  to  William  Emerson,  1575,  "  who  lived  and  died 
an  honest  man."     He  is  represented  in  his  shroud. 

Opposite  that  of  Gower  is  the  tomb,  with  curious  coloured 
half-figures,  of  John  Bingham,  1625,  saddler  to  Queen  Eliza- 
beth and  King  James  I. 

In  the  south  transept  is  the  strange  allegorical  tomb  of 
William  Austen,  1626,  author  of  "  Certain  Devout,  Learned, 
and  Godly  Meditations."  There  is  much  grandeur  in  th» 
figures  of  the  sifters  sleeping  deeply  with  their  prongs 
over  their  shoulders,  while  waiting  for  the  great  final 
harvest. 

Next  is  the  tomb  of  Dr.  Lockyer  the  pill-inventor,  with 
his  figure  in  the  costume  of  Charles  II.'s  time,  reclining 
upon  it,  and  the  inscription — 

"  Here  Lockyer  lies  interr'd  ;  enough,  his  name 
Speakes,  which  hath  few  competitors  in  fame. 
A  name,  soe  great,  soe  generalle,  may  scorne 
Inscriptions  which  doe  vulgar  tombs  adorne. 
A  diminution  'tis,  to  write  in  verse 
His  eulogies,  which  most  men's  mouth's  rehearse. 
His  virtues  and  his  PILLS  are  soe  well  knowne, 
That  envy  can't  confine  them  under  stone, 
But  they'll  survive  his  dust,  and  not  expire, 
Till  all  things  else  at  th'  universal  fire. 
This  verse  is  lost,  his  PILL  embalm's  him  safe 
To  future  times,  without  an  epitaph." 

Alas,  however,  the  pills  have  not  survived  the  dust,  and 
Lockyer  is  unembahned. 

Passing  the  tomb  of  Richard  Blisse,  1703,  and  a  weird  name- 
less figure  in  a  shroud  ascribed  by  tradition  to  "  Audery," 


ST.   SAVIOUR'S,   SOUTH  WAR  IT.  455 

father  of  Mary  Overy,*  we  enter  the  south  aisle  of  the  choir, 
containing  the  tomb  of  John  Trehearne,  Gentleman  Porter 
to  James  I.,  and  his  wife,  with  coloured  half-figures,  and  the 
epitaph — 

"  In  the  Icing's  court-yard  place  to  thee  is  given, 
Whence  thou  shalt  go  to  the  king's  court  of  heaven." 

An  epitaph   surpassed  by  that  on   Miss   Barford,  which 

narrates  how — 

"  Such  grace  the  King  of  Kings  bcstow'd  upon  her, 
That  now  she  lives  with  Him  a  Maid  of  Honour." 

'  Close  by  are  two  niches,  supposed  to  be  the  tombs  of 
Pont  de  Arche  and  Dauncy,  the  second  founders  of  the 
church ;  in  one  of  them  is  a  cross-legged  effigy.  Opposite, 
between  the  pillars  of  the  choir,  is  the  alabaster  tomb  of 
Alderman  Richard  Humble  (16 16)  and  his  two  wives.  The 
inscription  is  attributed  to  Francis  Quarks — 

"  Like  to  the  damask  rose  you  see, 
Or  like  the  blossom  on  the  tree, 
Or  like  the  dainty  flower  of  May, 
Or  like  the  morning  of  the  day, 
Or  like  the  sun,  or  like  the  shade, 
Or  like  the  gourd  which  Jonas  had, 

*•  E'en  so  is  Man,  whose  thread  is  spun, 
Drawn  out,  and  cut,  and  so  is  done. 

*.*  The  rose  withers,  the  blossom  blasteth, 
The  flower  fades,  the  morning  hasteth ; 
The  sun  sets,  the  shadow  flies, 
The  gourd  consumes,  and  Man  he  dies." 

•  There  is  a  curious  tract  called  "The  true  History  of  the  Life  and  sudden 
Death  of  old  John  Overs,  the  rich  Ferryman  of  London,  showing  how  he  lost  his 
life  by  his  own  covetousness  ;  and  of  his  daughter  Mary,  who  caused  the  church 
of  S.  Mary  Overs  in  Southwark  to  be  built,  and  of  the  building  of  London  Bridge." 
It  narrates  how  John  Overs  counterfeited  death,  thinking  to  economise  by 
making  his  household  fast  for  a  day,  but  they  feasted  instead,  whereat  Uo  arose  in 
a  fury  aud  killed  an  apprentice,  for  which  he  was  executed. 


456 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


Other  persons  buried  here  without  a  monument  are  Sir 
Edward  Dyer,  the  Elizabethan  pastoral  poet,  1607,  who 
lived  and  died  in  Winchester  House  ;  and  Edmond  Shak- 
speare,  the  poet's  younger  brother;  the  register  merely 
says,  "  Edmond  Shakspeare,  a  player,  in  the  church." 

The  beautiful  Lady  Chapel  was  used  in  the  time  of 
Mary   I.  as  the  consistorial  court  of  Gardiner,  Bishop  of 


Lady  Chapel,  St.  Mary  Over}-. 


Winchester,  and  here  Bishop  Hooper  and  John  Rogers, 
Vicar  of  St.  Sepulchre's,  were  condemned  to  be  burnt — the 
popular  feeling  in  favour  of  the  latter  being  so  strong  at  the 
time  that  he  had  to  be  conveyed  from  hence  by  night  in 
secrecy  to  Newgate.* 

Here  is   the  black  and  white  marble  tomb  of  Bishop 

•  Milman's  "Annals  of  St.  Paul's." 


ST.   SAVIOURS,   SOUTHIVARK.  457 

Lancelot  Andrews,  1628,  with  the  inscription  "  September 
21.     Die    lunae    hora    matutina    fere    quarta    Lancelotus 
Andrewes,  episcopus  Wintonensis,  meritissimum  lumen  orbis 
Christiani  mortuus  est  (ephemeris  laudiana)  anno  Domini, 
1626,  aetatis  suae  71."     The  tomb  was  brought  hither  from  a 
chapel  called  the  Bishop's  Chapel,  which  formerly  existed 
to  the  east  of  the  Lady  Chapel,   where  it  had  a  canopy 
inscribed,  "  Reader,  if  thou  art  a  Christian,  stay ;  it  will  be 
worth  thy  tarrying  to  know  how  great  a  man  lies  here." 
Queen    Elizabeth,    who    delighted    in    the    preaching    of 
Andrews,  raised  him  from  the  Mastership  of  Pembroke  Hall 
to  the  Deanery  of  Westminster,  but  he  refused  to  accept 
any  bishopric  in  her  reign,  because  he  would  not  submit  to 
an   alienation   of    the    ecclesiastical    revenue.      James    I. 
preferred   him   to    any   other   divine   as   a   preacher,    and 
selected   him   to   answer   Cardinal    Bellarmine,    who    had 
attacked  his  "Defence  of  the  rights  of  Kings."     In  1605 
he  was  made  Bishop  of  Chichester,  in  1609  Bishop  of  Ely, 
in   16 18  Bishop  of  Winchester.     Endless  stories  are  pre- 
served of  the  kindness,  charity,  and  the  unfailing  humility 
of  Bishop  Andrews,  whom  all  honoured  but  himself.     He 
is   chiefly  remembered   now  by  his   "  Manual   of  Private 
Devotions,"  composed  in  his  latter  years,  and  of  which  the 
manuscript  was  constantly  wet  with  his  tears.     His  death 
was   received  as  a  public  calamity.     Archbishop   Laud  * 
lamented  him  as  "the  great  light  of  the  Christian  world  ;" 
and  Milton  wrote  a  Latin  elegy  upon  him,  which  has  been 
translated  by  Cowper. 

Near  the  tomb  are  kept  a  number  of  bosses,  from  the 
roof  of  the  nave,  preserved  when  it  was  pulled  down.     Their 

•  Diary. 


4S« 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


ornaments  comprise  the  arms  of  Southwark,  and  those  of 
Henry  de  Briton,  Prior,  1462 — 1486,  but  the  mos;  curious 
is  that  of  a  painted  head,  with  a  man  half-eaten.  The  pre- 
sent nave,  on  a  different  level  to  the  rest  of  the  church, 
is  wholly  uninteresting;  the  grand  nave  of  1469  was 
wantonly  destroyed  in  1831.  The  church  tower  contains 
twelve  bells,  of  which  nine  are  upwards  of  four  hundred 
years  old. 

Between  St.  Saviour's  and  the  river  stood  Winchester 
House,  the  old  palace  of  the  Bishops  of  Winchester,  built  in 
1 107 — being,  says  Stow,  "a  very  fair  house,  well  repaired, 
with  a  large  wharf,  and  a  landing-place,  called  the  Bishop 
of  Winchester's  stairs."  Here  Cardinal  Beaufort  (half- 
brother  of  Henry  IV.)  celebrated  the  marriage  of  his  niece, 
daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Somerset,  with  James  I.  of  Scotland, 
the  royal  poet,  who  had  first  seen  and  loved  her  from  his 
prison  window  at  Windsor,  and  doubted  whether  she  was 

— "  a  worldly  creature 
Or  heavenly  thing  in  likeness  of  nature." 

Bishop  Gardiner — "  politick  Gardiner,  who  spared  all  the 
weeds,  and  spoiled  all  the  good  flowers  and  herbs,"* — lived 
here  in  state,  with  a  number  of  pages  of  good  family,  whose 
education  he  superintended.  It  was  the  last  household  of 
the  kind,  for,  after  the  Reformation,  the  bishops'  houses  were 
filled  with  their  wives  and  children.  Here,  out  of  devotion 
to  his  patron  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  he  arranged  little 
banquets,  at  which  it  was  arranged  that  Henry  VIII. 
should  meet  the  Duke's  niece,  Katherine  Howard,  then  a 
lovely  girl  in  her  teens. 

"  Fuller. 


BANKSIDE.  4  so 

la  1642  Winchester  House  was  turned  into  a  prison  for 
Royalists  by  the  Presbyterians,  and  amongst  others  Sir 
Kenelm  .Digby  was  confined  there.     Selden  says* — 

"  Sir  Kenelm  Digby  was  several  times  taken  and  let  go  again  ;  at 
last  imprisoned  at  Winchester  House.  I  can  compare  him  to  nothing 
but  a  great  fish  that  we  catch  and  let  go  again,  but  still  he  will  come 
to  the  bait ;  at  last  therefore  we  put  him  into  some  great  pond  iz: 
store." 

The  old  Gothic  hall  was  standing  in  the  present  century, 
but  there  is  nothing  left  of  the  house  now.  It  was 
Peter  de  Rupibus,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  who,  in  12 15, 
founded  for  canons  regular  the  religious  house  which  at 
the  dissolution  became  St.  Thomas's  Hospital,  now  removed 
to  Lambeth. 

Adjoining  Winchester  House  was  Rochester  House,  a 
residence  of  the  Bishops  of  Rochester,  destroyed  in  1604. 

On  Bankside,  the  district  between  the  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester's park  and  the  spot  called  Paris  Garden,  were  several 
little  amphitheatres  for  bear-baiting  and  bull-baiting,  with 
other  popular  places  of  amusement.  Most  important  of 
these  was  the  Globe  Theatre,  built  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth, 
where  James  I.  granted  a  patent  to  Shakspeare  and  his 
associates  to  play  plays,  "as  within  theire  then  usuall  house, 
called  the  Globe,  in  the  countie  of  Surry,  as  elsewhere." 
The  theatre  was  burnt  during  a  performance  of  Henry  VIIF. 
in  16 1 3,  and  was  rebuilt  in  the  following  year.  Ben  Jonson 
calls  it  "  the  glory  of  the  Bank,  and  the  fort  of  the  whole 
parish."f  An  old  print  represents  it  as  like  a  high 
marteilo  tower  with  little  slits  for  windows,  and  a  turret  and 
flag  at  the  top. 

•  Table  1  alk.  +  >re  Wilkinson's  "  Londina  Illustrata." 


46o  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Paris  Garden  took  its  name  from  Robert  de  Paris,  who 
leased  a  house  and  garden  there  from  the  Abbot  of  Ber- 
mondsey,  in  the  reign  of  Richard  II.  It  had  always  an 
immoral  reputation,  and  in  the  time  of  Charles  I.  obtained 
the  name  of  "  Holland's  Leaguer,"  from  an  ill-working 
house  established  in  the  old  manor  by  a  woman  named 
Holland,  who  contrived  to  keep  the  constables  at  bay 
by  the  help  of  the  moat,  which  existed  till  1660.  The 
"  Paris  Garden  Theatre "  was  in  existence  in  the  time  of 
Henry  VIII.  Here  also  were  "  His  Majesty's  Bear  Garden 
and  Bull  Ring  "  of  "  The  Hope"  and  "  The  Swan." 

Guy's  Hospital,  on  the  left  of  the  Borough  High  Street, 
with  an  entrance  in  St.  Thomas's  Street,  was  built  by  Dance 
(cb.  1773).  It  owes  its  foundation  to  Thomas  Guy  (born 
1645),  son  of  a  coal-merchant  at  Horsleydown,  who  became 
a  Lombard  Street  bookseller.  The  hospital  had  a  narrow 
escape  of  losing  the  wealth  of  the  rich  tradesman.  He 
promised  to  marry  his  pretty  maid,  Sally,  and  had  ordered 
various  repairs  to  his  house  previous  to  his  nuptials.  Seeing 
that  these  were  incompletely  carried  out,  Sally,  in  her 
capacity  of  bride  elect,  ordered  them  to  be  properly 
finished ;  an  assumption  of  authority  which  gave  such 
offence  to  her  betrothed  that  he  broke  off  his  marriage, 
and  determining  to  remain  a  bachelor,  built  and  endowed 
the  hospital  at  a  cost  of  ^238,292.  There  is  a  blackened 
brass  statue  of  the  founder  in  the  courtyard,  and  another  in 
marble,  in  the  chapel. 

We  are  now  in  Sonthtuark,  the  town  on  the  south  side 
of  the  Thames,,  "  called  by  the  Saxons,"  says  Pennant, 
"  Southverke,  or  the  South  Work."  It  is  intersected  by  the 
great  street  called  the  Borough  High  Street,  which  was  the 


THE   OLD  INNS  OF  SOUTIIWARK.  461 

highway  between  the  metropolis  and  the  southern  counties, 
and  by  which  the  Canterbury  pilgrimages  passed  out  towards 
the  shrine  of  St.  Thomas  a  Becket.  A  memorial  of  these 
pilgrimages  may  be  seen  in  a  succession  of  ancient  taverns, 
retaining  their  picturesque  wooden  galleries  around  their 
courtyards,  with  the  chambers  opening  from  them,  like  the 
old  inns  in  the  French  towns.  Of  these,  The  White 
Hart,  on  the  left,  a  little  beyond  Guy's  Hospital,  has  a 
court  surrounded  by  old  balustraded  galleries.  It  is 
mentioned  by  Shakspeare  in  his  Henry  VI.,  when  Jack 
Cade  remonstrates  with  his  peasant  followeis,  who  are 
forsaking  him  and  accepting  the  pardon  ofiered  by  Bucking- 
ham and  Clifford,  sayjng — 

"  Will  ye  needs  be  hanged  with  your  pardons  about  your  necks  ? 
Hath  my  sword  therefore  broke  through  London  gates,  that  you  should 
leave  me  at  the  White  Hart  in  Southwark  ?  "— Pt.  II.  Act  IV.  Sc.  8. 

The  "  Grey  Friars  Chronicle,"  describing  Jack  Cade's  re- 
bellion, says,  "At  the  Whyte  Harte  in  Southwarke,  one 
Hawaydine,  of  Sent  Martins,  was  beheddyd."  A  servant  of 
Sir  John  Fastolf,  named  Payne,  was  only  saved  from  the 
same  fate  by  the  intercession  of  one  Robert  Poynings,  when 
he  was  sent  from  his  master's  house  at  Horsleydown  to 
obtain  the  articles  of  the  rebels'  demands.  The  inn  where 
Cade  staid  was  burnt  in  1669  and  again  in  1676,  but  was 
rebuilt  in  the  same  style,  with  the  wooden  balconies  used 
in  watching  the  open-air  theatrical  performances  in  the 
courts  below,  by  which  the  taverns  were  made  popular. 
Shakspeare's  plays  were  probably  acted  in  the  courtyards  of 
such  inns,  he  himself  being  an  actor.  The  White  Hart 
is  described  by  Charles  Dickens  in  the  "  Pickwick  Papers." 

The  next  inn,   The  George,  has  double  tiers  of  wooden 


462 


WALK'S  IN  LONDON 


galleries.  It  is  described  by  Stow  as  existing  in  his  time, 
and  is  mentioned  as  early  as  1554 — 35th  Henry  VIII., 
when  its  name  was  the  St.  George.  The  original  inn  was 
burnt  in  1676,  but  it  was  rebuilt  in  the  same  style. 

But   the    most   interesting    of    old    hostelries   was   the 
Tabard,  mentioned   even  in  1598  by  Stow  as  "the  most 


The  George  Inn,  Southwark. 


ancient  of  the  inns  of  Southwark,"  and  which  had  become 
for  ever  celebrated,  when 

"  Chaucer,  at  Woodstock,  with  the  nightingales, 
At  sixty,  wrote  the  Canterbury  tales."  * 

Up  to  a  few  years  before  its  destruction  it  was  marked  by 
an  inscription,  which  said,  "This  is  the  Inne  where  Sir 
Jeffrey  Chaucer  and  the  nine  and  twenty  pilgrims  lay  in 
their  journey  to  Canterbury,  anno    1383."      It  was  an  old 

*  Longfellow. 


THE    TABARD. 


463 


house  worthy  of  Nuremberg,  and  such  as  we  shall  never  see 
again  in  London,  with  high  roofs  and  balustraded  wooden 
galleries  supported  upon  stone  pillars.  A  worn  faded 
picture  of  the  Canterbury  Pilgrimage  hung  from  the 
gallery  in  front  of  "  the  Pilgrim's  Room."  The  front 
towards  the  street  was  comparatively  modern,  having 
perished  in  the  fire  of  1676,  after  which,  says  Aubrey,  "the 


In  the  Courtyard  of  the  Tabard,  Southwark. 


ignorant  landlord  or  tenant,  instead  of  the  ancient  sign  of 
the  Tabard,  put  up  the  Talbot  or  Dog."  The  ancient  sign 
of  the  Tabard,  says  Stow,  is  "  a  jacket  or  sleeveless  coat, 
whole  before,  open  on  both  sides,  with  a  square  collar, 
winged  at  the  shoulders ;  a  stately  garment  of  old  time, 
commonly  worn  by  noblemen  and  others,  both  at  home 
and  abroad  in  the  wars,  but  then  (to  wit,  in  the  wars)  their 


464 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


arms  embroidered,  or  otherwise  depict  upon  them,  that  every 
man  by  his  coat  of  arms  might  be  known  from  others." 

There  was  such  a  completely  old-world  character  in  the 
courtyard  of  the  Tabard  that,  though  Chaucer  certainly 
never  saw  the  inn  which  has  been  lately  destroyed,*  those 
who  visited  it  in  1873,  imbued  with  the  poem,  would  feel 
that  the  balustraded  galleries,  with  the  little  rooms  opening 


The  Tabard,  Southwark. 


out  of  them,  and  the  bustling  courtyard  filled  with  waggons 
and  wares,  represented  at  least  the  ghost  of  the  Gothic  inn, 
built  by  the  Abbot  of  Hyde  in  1300  on  the  same  site. 
They  would  share  the  sensation  of  Dryden,  who  wrote,  "I 
see  all  the  Pilgrims  in  the  Canterbury  Tales,  their  humours, 
their  features,  and   their  very  dress,  as  distinctly  as  if  I  had 

*  The  original  inn  was  standing  in  1602. 


THE  MARSHALSEA.  465 

supped  with  them  at  the  Tabard  in  Southwark,"  and  would 
picture  the  meeting  which  the  poet  describes — 

11  Befel,  that  in  that  season,  on  a  day 
In  Southwark  at  the  Tabard  as  I  lay, 
Ready  to  wenden  on  my  pilgrimage, 
To  Canterbury  with  devout  courage, 
At  night  was  come  into  that  hostelrv 
"Well  nine  and  twenty  in  a  company 
Of  sundry  folk,  by  adventure  yfall 
In  fellowship,  and  pilgrims  were  they  all, 
That  toward  Canterbury  woulden  ride." 

On  the  left,  between  King  Street  and  Mermaid  Court, 
was  the  prison  of  the  Marshalsea — used  for  persons  guilty 
of  offences  on  the  high  seas  or  within  the  precincts  of  the 
court.  The  Marshal  of  this  prison  was  seized  and  be- 
headed by  the  rebels  under  Wat  Tyler  in  1381.  Bonner, 
Bishop  of  London,  was  imprisoned  for  ten  years  in  the 
Marshalsea  for  refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
Elizabeth,  and  died  there  Sept.  5,  1569.  His  repartee  as 
he  was  being  led  to  prison  is  recorded  :  "  Good-morning, 
Bishop  quondam"  said  a  wag.  "  Farewell,  knave  semper? 
replied  Bonner.  At  the  instigation  (as  he  asserted)  of 
Home,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  the  mob  gathered  round  him 
as  he  went  and  returned  from  the  prison  to  the  court.  One 
said  to  him,  "The  Lord  confound  thee,  or  else  turn  thy 
heart."  "  The  Lord,"  he  replied,  "  send  thee  to  keep  thy 
breath  to  cook  thy  porridge."  To  another,  saying  "  The 
Lord  overthrow  thee,"  he  said,  "  The  Lord  make  thee  wise 
as  a  woodcock."  A  woman  kneeled  down  and  said,  "  The 
Lord  save  thy  life.  I  trust  to  see  thee  Bishop  of  London 
again."  To  which  he  said,  "  Gad  a  mercy,  good  wife,"  and 
so  passed  on  to  his  lodging.* 

See  Strype. 
VOL    I.  H  H 


466  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

George  Wither  the  poet,  who  had  been  a  general  in 
Cromwell's  army,  was  imprisoned  at  the  Restoration  in  the 
Marshalsea  for  having  written  the  satire  "  Abuses  stript  and 
whipt,"  and  while  here  wrote  his  best  poem,  "The  Shep- 
heard's  Hunting."  He  was  released  some  years  before  his 
death.  Dickens,  in  the  Preface  to  "Little  Dorrit,"  de- 
scribes his  search  for  relics  of  the  Marshalsea — 

"  I  found  the  outer  front  courtyard  metamorphosed  into  a  butler- 
shop  ;  and  then  I  almost  gave  up  every  brick  of  the  jail  lor  lost. 
Wandering,  however,  down  a  certain  Angel  Court,*  leading  to  Ber- 
mondsey,  I  came  to  Marshalsea  Place,  the  houses  in  which  I  recognised, 
not  only  as  the  great  block  of  the  former  prison,  but  as  preserving  the 
rooms  that  arose  to  my  mind's  eyes  when  I  became  Little  Dorrit's 
biographer.  .  .  .  Whoever  goes  into  Marshalsea  Place,  turning  out  of 
Angel  Court,  leading  to  Bermondsey,  will  find  his  feet  on  the  very 
paving-stones  of  the  extinct  Marshalsea  jail;  will  see  its  narrow  yard 
to  the  right  and  to  the  left,  very  little  altered  if  at  all,  except  that  the 
walls  were  lowered  when  the  place  got  free  ;  will  look  upon  the  rooms 
in  which  the  debtors  lived ;  and  will  stand  among  the  crowding  ghosts 
oi  many  miserable  years." 

Connected  with  the  prison  was  the  Marshalsea  Court — 
the  seat  (siege)  of  the  Marshal  of  the  King's  Household 
"  to  decide  differences  and  to  punish  criminals  within  the 
royal  palace,  or  on  the  verge  thereof,  which  extended  to 
twelve  miles  around  it."  This  court  was  united  with  that 
of  Queen's  Bench  in  1842. 

St.  Georges  Church,  Southtvark,  was  built  by  John  Price 
(* 733-36)  upon  the  site  of  an  old  church  where  General 
Monk  was  married  to  Anne  Clarges,  and  where  Bonner, 
the  bloody  bishop  of  London,  who  died  in  the  Marshalsea, 
and  Rushworth,  author  of  the  "  Collections,'  who  died  in 
the  King's  Bench  Prison,  were  buried.    Opposite  the  church 

Angel  Court  is  now  Angel  Place.     It  is  close  to  St.  George's  Church. 


SOUTIIWARK.  467 

was  a  palace  of  Charles  Brandon,  Duke  of  Suffolk,  who 
married  Mary,  daughter  of  Henry  VII.  A  Quakers'  Meet- 
ing House  in  St.  George's,  Southwark,  is  connected  with 
the  story  of  the  Quaker  persecution  in  the  reign  of 
Charles  II.  It  is  here  that  George  Fox,  the  Founder  of 
the  Society,  was  attacked  by  soldiers  with  their  muskets 
while  he  was  preaching;  and  here  that,  when  (1682)  a 
justice  of  the  peace  commanded  him  in  the  King's  name  to 
come  down,  he  replied,  "  I  proceed,  for  I  am  commanded 
by  a  higher,  the  King  of  Kings." 

Southwark  Town  Hall  stands  on  the  site  of  St.  Margaret's 
Church,  and  on  the  open  space  in  front — "  St.  Margaret's 
Hill  " — the  famous  fair  was  held  which  was  granted  by 
Edward  VI.,  and  was  annually  opened  on  Sept.  7  by  the 
Lord  Mayor  and  Sheriffs  riding  in  procession.  Southwark 
Fair,  which  was  suppressed  in  1763,  is  commemorated  by 
Hogarth. 

To  the  west  of  High  Street,  in  Park  Street,  Southwark, 
is  the  great  Brewery  of  Barclay,  Perkins  6**  Co.,  founded  by 
Henry  Thrale,  the  friend  of  Dr.  Johnson,  who  was  his 
executor  and  sold  the  business  to  Messrs.  Barclay  and 
Perkins  for  ,£135,000.  "  We  are  not  here,"  said  Johnson, 
on  the  day  of  the  sale,  "  to  sell  a  parcel  of  boilers  and  vats, 
but  the  potentiality  of  growing  rich  beyond  the  dreams 
of  avarice."  Thrale's  Brewery  was  built  on  the  site  of  the 
oldest  Independent  or  Congregational  church  in  England, 
founded  in  16 16  by  Henry  Jacob,  who  migrated  to 
Virginia  in  1624.  During  the  Long  Parliament  the  Meeting 
House  ventured  to  open  its  doors  (January  18,  1 640-1), 
the  congregation  having  hitherto  been  "  shifting  from  place 
to  place." 


468 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


The  streets  to  the  east  lead  into  Bermondsey  (Beor 
mond's-Eye— from  the  island  property  of  some  Saxor 
or  Danish  noble  in  the  marshes  of  the  Thames),  now  a 
poor  crowded  district  chiefly  inhabited  by  tanners.  There 
was  a  royal  country-palace  here,  where  Henry  II.  resided 
with  Eleanor  of  Aquitaine,  when  she  first  came  to  England, 
and  where  she  gave  birth  to  her  second  son.  But  no 
remains  exist  now  either  of  it  or  of  the  Cluniac  abbey 
founded  by  Aylwin  Child  in  1082,  which  became  celebrated 
from  its  connection  with  a  number  of  royal  ladies.  Of 
these,  the  first  was  Mary,  daughter  of  Malcolm  III.  of 
Scotland,  sister  of  Maud,  wife  of  Henry  I.,  and  wife  of 
Eustace,  Earl  of  Boulogne.  She  died  April  18,  11 15,  and 
was  buried  here  with  the  inscription — 

"  Nobilis  hie  tumulata  jacet  Comitissa  Maria. 
Actibus  haec  nituit ;  larga  benigna  fuit. 
Regum  sanguis  erat ;  morum  probitate  vigebat, 
Compatiens  inopi ;  vivit  in  arce  poli."  * 

The  body  of  Queen  Joanna,  widow  of  Henry  IV.,  who  died 
at  Havering-atte-Bower  in  1437,  rested  here  in  state,  on 
its  way  to  the  tomb  which  she  had  erected  for  her  husband 
in  Canterbury  Cathedral.  Katherine  de  Valois,  widow  of 
Henry  V.,  and  then  wife  of  Owen  Tudor,  died  here  in  her 
thirty-fifth  year;  and  here  Elizabeth  Woodville,  widow  of 
Edward  IV.,  was  imprisoned  by  her  son-in-law,  Henry  VII., 
in  i486,  and  languished  till  her  death  in  1492.!  By  her 
touching  will,  made  in  the  abbey,  she  says  that  she  leaves 

•  See  Wilkinson's  "  Londina  Illustrata." 

+  Katherine  was  buried  in  the  tomb  of  Henry  V.  in  Westminster  Abbey; 
Elizabeth  Woodville  in  that  of  Edward  IV.  at  Windsor,  in  a  stone  coffin,  in 
accordance  with  the  terms  of  her  will—"  I  bequeath  my  body  to  be  buried  with 
the  body  of  my  lord  at  Windsor,  according  to  the  will  of  my  said  lord  and  mine, 
Without  pomps  entering  or  costly  expenses  done  thereabout." 


BERMONDSEY.  4<»9 

her  blessing  to  Elizabeth,  of  York  and  her  other  children, 
"having  no  worldly  goods  to  do  the  queen's  grace,  my 
dearest  daughter,  a  pleasure  with,  neither  to  reward  any  of 
my  children  according  to  my  heart  and  mind."  The  abbey 
was  surrendered  in  1537  and  the  last  abbot  rewarded  with 
the  bishopric  of  St.  Asaph  in  commendam.  The  greater 
part  of  the  abbey  buildings  were  pulled  down  by  Sir 
Thomas  Pope,  founder  of  Trinity  College  at  Oxford,  and 
the  palace  of  the  Ratcliffes,  Earls  of  Sussex,  rose  upon 
their  ruins.  The  only  relics  still  remaining  of  the  abbey 
are  a  silver  alms-dish,  preserved  in  the  Church  of  St.  Mary 
Magdalen,  and  the  names  of  "  Long  Walk,"  "  Grange 
Walk,"  &c,  reminiscences  of  the  monastic  gardens  and 
farm,  now  applied  to  streets  of  leather-dressers,  leather 
dyers,  horse-hair  manufacturers,  &c. 

Battle  Bridge  Wharf,  on  the  river  between  Bermondsey 
and  London  Bridge,  commemorates  the  town-house  of  the 
Abbots  of  Battle,  and  the  intricacies  of  the  wretched  streets 
called  the  Maze  mark  the  labyrinth  in  their  gardens. 


INDEX. 


Academy,  Royal,  i.  42,  74 
Alderraanbury,  i.  231 
Aldgate,  i.  345 
Alley,  Change,  i.  362 

Cranborne,  ii.  7 

Duck's  Foot,  i.  430 

Great  Bell,  i.  247 

Gunpowder,  i.  113 

Half-Moon,  i.  301 

Hope  and  Anchor,  i.  418 

Panyer,  i.  158 
Almack's,  ii.  68 

Almonry,  The  Westminster,  ii.  371 
Almshouses,  Countess  of  Kent's,  i.  217 

Emery  Hill's,  ii.  400 

Lady  Dacre's,  ii.  437 

Palmer's,  ii.  396 

Sir  A.  Judde's,  i.  295 

Sir  J.  Milborne's,  i.  347 

Vandun's,  ii.  398 
Alsatia,  i.  114 
Arcade,  Turlington,  ii.  78 
Arch,  Green  Park,  ii.  113 

Marble,  ii.  100 
Artillery  Ground,  i.  303 
Astley's  Amphitheatre,  ii.  404 
Austin  Friars,  i.  277 

B. 

Bank,  Child's,  i.  102 

Coutts',  i.  18 

of  England,  i.  236 

Gosling's,  i.  102 

Hoare's,  i.  102 
Bankside,  i.  459 
Barbican,  i.  272 
Bath,  Cold  Bath,  i.  2it 

Lord  Essex's,  i.  37 

Queen  Anne's,  ii.  160 

Roman,  in  the  Strand,  i.  37 
Battersea,  ii.  448 
Bayswater,  ii.  104 
Bedfurdbury,  i.  19 
Belgravia,  ii   xo8 


Bermondsey,  i.  468 
Bethnal  Green,  1.  317 
Bevis  Marks,  i.  319 
Billingsgate,  i.  422 
Blackfriars,  i.  438 
Bloomsbury,  ii.  163 
Boltons,  the,  ii.  497 

Brewery,  Baiclay  and  Perkins's,  i.  467 
Truman,  Hanbury,  and  Buxton'i,  I 

„  .,    314 

Bridewell,  i.  116 

Bridge,  Albert,  the,  ii.  450 

Battersea,  ii.  448 

Blackfriars,  i.  438 

New  Chelsea,  ii.  450 

London,  i.  447 

Southwark,  i.  434 

Waterloo,  i.  474 

Westminster,  ii.  40a 
Broken  wharf,  i.  436 
Bucklersbury,  i.  250 
Buildings,  Beaufort,  i.  28 

Craven,  i.  93 

Cripplegate,  i.  273 

Pitt's,  ii.  462 

Southampton,  ii.  191 

Westmoreland,  i.  264 
Bunhill  lields,  i.  303 

c. 

Camden  Town,  i.  221 

Canonbury,  i.  217 

Castle  Baynard,  i.  437 

Cartoons,  the,  ii.  482 

Cathedral,  St.  George's,  Roman  Catholic, 
ii.  405 
St.  Paul's,  i.  128 

Cemetery,  Bunhill  Fields,  i.  303 
Friends',  i.  312 
Kensal  Green,  ii.  143 
St.  George,  Hanover  Square,  ii.  104 
St.  George  the  Martyr,  ii.  187 
St.  Giles  in  the  Fields,  ii.  147 

Chamber,  Jerusalem,  ii.  361 

Chambers,  Albany,  ii.  73 


INDEX.  <\1\ 


Chambers,  Crosby  Hall,  i.  2R7 

Chapel,  of  Chelsea  Hospital,  ii.  427 
Clement's  Inn,  i.  44 
Foundling-  Hospital,  ii.  187 
Fulham  Palace,  ii.  499 

Chapel,  Grosvenor,  ii.  96 
Lambe's,  i.  217 
of  Lambeth  Palace,  ii.  417 
Lincoln's  Inn,  i.  84 
Marlborough  Gardens,  ii.  53 
the  Mercers',  i.  243 
Moravian,  i.  107 
Orange  Street,  ii.  128 
of  the  Pyx,  ii.  353 
Rolls,  i.  79 

Royal  of  St.  James's,  ii.  59 
Royal  of  Whitehall,  ii.  217 
St.  Catherine's,  Regent's  Park,  ii.  T40 
St.  Catherine's,  Westminster,  ii.  358 
St.  Etheldreda,  ii.  200 
St.  Job1*  *•*  ***«  Tower,  i    "*o.2 
*(.  Fdinck,  Sono,  ...  »a» 
St.  Peter  ad  Vincula,  i.  490 
St.  Stephen,  Westminster,  ii.  374 
St.  Thomas  of  Aeon,  i.  244 
Sardinian,  i.  91 
Serjeants'  Inn,  i.  79 
Spa  Fields,  i.  212 

Chapter  House,  Westminster,  ii.  347 

Charterhouse,  the,  i.  194 

Cheapside,  i.  223 

Chelsea,  ii.  425 

Chichester  Rents,  i.  82 

Church,  Allhallows,  Barking,  i.  363 
Allhallows,  Bread  Street,  i.  324 
Allhallows  the  Great,  i.  431 
Allhallows,  Lombard  Street,  i.  335 
Allhallows  in  the  Wall,  i.  276 
All  Saints,  Fulham, ii.  497 
All  Saints,  Margaret  Street,  ii.  148 
All  Souls,  Langham  Place,  ii.  139 
Austin  Friars,  i.  277 
Chelsea  Old,  ii.  434 
Holy  Trinity,  Minories,  i.  415 
Irvingite,  ii.  184 
Martyrs'  Memorial,  i.  213 
St.  Alban,  Holborn,  ii.  193 
St.  Alban,  Wood  S'reet,  i.  229 
St.  Alphege,  London  Wall,  i.  275 
St.  Andrew,  Holborn,  ii.  193 
St.  Andrew,  Wells  Street,  ii.  149 
St.  Andrew  Undershaft,  i.  357 
St.  Anne,  Soho,  ii.  132 
St.  Anne  in  the  Willows,  i.  259 
St.  Antholin's,  i.  328 
St.  Augustine,  i.  326 
St.  Bartholomew  the  Great,  i.  182 
St.  Bartholomew  the  Less,  i.  189 
St.  Bartholomew,  by  the  Exchange, 

i.  429 
St.  Benet,  Paul's  Wharf,  i.  437 
St.  Botolph,  Aldersgate,  i.  260 
St.  Botolph,  Aldgate,  i.  347 
St.  Botolph,  Bishopsgate,  i.  298 
St.  Bride,  i.  118 


Church,  St.  Catherine  Coleman,  i.  340 
St.  Catherine  Cree,  i-  354 
St.  Clement  Danes,  i.  41 
St.  Clement,  Eastcheap,  i.  332 
St.  Dionis  Backchurch,  i.  336 
St.  Dunstan  in  the  I'  ast,  i.  423 
St.  Dunstan  in  the  West,  i.  J06 
St.  Dunstan,  Stepney,  i.  351 
St.  Edmund,  i.  335 
St.  Ethelburga,  i.  298 
St.  Faith,  i.  132 
St.  Gabriel,  i.  336 
St.  George,  Bloomsbury,  ii.  183 
St.  George,  Hanover  Square,  ii.  138 
St.  George,  Southwark,  i.  466 
St.  Giles,  Cripplegate,  i.  260 
St.  Giles  in  the  Fields,  ii.  155 
St.  Gregory,  i.  132 
St.  Helen's,  Great,  i.  288 
St.  Janus,  Clerkenwell,  i.  209 
St.  James,  Garlickhithe,  i.  435 
St.  James,  Piccadilly,  ii.  71 
St.  John,  Clerkenwell,  i.  203 
St.  John  the  Evangelist,  ii.  190 
St.  John,  Westminster,  ii.  399 
St.  Lawrence,  Jewry,  i.  234 
St.  Leonard,  Shoreditch,  i.  315 
St.  Magnus,  i.  429 
St.  Margaret,  Lothbury,  i.  257 
St.  Margaret  Pattens,  i.  336 
St.  Margaret,  Westminster,  ii.  391 
St.  Martin  in  the  Fields,  ii.  2 
St.  Martin,  Ludgate,  i.  125 
St.  Mary,  Abchurch,  i.  331 
St.  Mary,  Aldermanbury,  i.  231 
St.  Mary  Aldermary,  i.  326 
St.  Mary,  Battersea,  ii.  448 
St.  Mary  le  Bone,  ii.  1 12 
St.  Mary  le  Bow,  i.  232 
St.  Mary  at  Hill,  i.  424 
St.  Mary,  Islington,  i.  217 
St.  Mary,  Kennington,  ii.  46a 
St.  Mary,  Lambeth,  ii.  407 
St.  Mary  Overy,  i.  450 
St.  Mary,  Soho,  ii.  153 
St.  Mary  le  Strand,  i.  38 
St.  Marj',  Whitechapel,  i.  349 
St.  Mary  Woolnoth,  i.  331 
St.  Mary  Magdalen,  Old  Fish  Street, 

i-  323 
St.  Michael,  1.  434 
St.  Michael  Bassishaw,  i.  275 
St.  Michael,  Cornhill,  i.  361 
St.  Michael  le  Quern,  i.  157 
St.  Michael,  Queenhithe,  i.  436 
St.  Michael,  Wood  Street,  i.  228 
St.  Mildred,  Bread  Street,  i.  324 
St  Mildred,  Poultry,  i.  249 
St.  Nicholas  Cole  Abbey,  i.  323 
St.  Olave,  Hart  Street,  i.  311 
St.  Olave,  Old  Jewry,  i.  246 
St.  Pancras  in  the  Fields   ii.  143 
St.  Pancras,  New  Road,  ii.  143 
St.  Paul,  Covrnt  Garden,  i.  22 
St,  Peter,  Clerkenwell,  i.  213 


47  = 


INDEX. 


Church,  St.  Peter,  Cornhill,  i.  361 
St   Peter,  Paul's  Wharf,  i.  43/ 
St.  Saviour,  Southwaik,  i.  450 
St.  Sepulchre,  1.  iby 
St.  Stephen,  Coleman  Street,  1.  147 
St.  Stephen,  Walbrook,  i.  255 
St.  Stephen,  Westminstei,  ii.  400 
St.  Swithin,  1.  329 
St  Vedast,  i.  226 
Temple,  i.  63 
Churchyard,     Allhallows     Staining,     i 
,  337 

St.  Anne,  Sono,  ii.  132 
St.  Giles,  ii.  155 
St.  Giles,  Cripplegate,  i.  270 
St.  Martin's,  ii.  4 
St.  Margaret,  Westminster,  ii.  398 
St.  Matthew,  Friday  Street,  i   230 
St.  Pancras,  ii.  145 
St.  Pancras  in  Pancras  Lane,  i.  242 
St.  Paul's,  i.  156 
St.  Stephen's,  i.  246 
Circus,  Finsbury,  i.  301 

Piccadilly,  ii.  124 
Clerkenwell,  i.  206 
Cloisters,  Charterhouse,  i.  194 
Grey  Friars,  i.  164 
Westminster,  ii.  354 
Close,  Bartholomew,  i.  igi 
Club,  Army  and  Navy,  ii 
Arthur's,  ii.  67 
Athenaeum,  ii.  48 
Beefsteak,  i.  21 
Boodle's,  ii.  68 
Brooks',  ii.  68 
Carlton,  ii.  49 
Conservative,  ii.  6j 
Garrick,  i.  135 
Guards',  ii.  49 
Kit  Kat,  i.  104 
Literary,  ii.  51,  131 
Naval  and  Military,  ii.  82 
New  University,  ii.  68 
Oxford  and  Cambridge,  ii.  49 
Reform,  ii.  48 
Travellers',  ii.  48 
United  Service,  ii.  47 
White's,  ii;  69 
C>~kpit,  the,  ii.  223 
Coffee-house,  Button's,  i. 27 
Chapter,  i.  156 
Don  Saltero's,  ii.  431 
Garaway's,  i.  362 
Jonathan's,  i.  362 
Lloyd's,  i.  253 
Tom's,  i.  27 
Will's,  i.  26 

White's  Chocolate,  ii.  69 
Cold  Harbour,  i.  430 
College,  Gresham,  i.  296 
Heralds',  i.  155 
of  Physicians,  i.  158 
St.  Spirit  and  St.  Mary,  i.  434 
Sion,  i.  274 
of  Surgeons,  i.  95 


College,  University,  ii.  164 
Column,  Duke  ot  York's,  ii.  48 
Nelson,  ii.  1 

Westminster  Memorial,  ii.  40a 
Common,  Kensington,  ii.  400 
Conduit,  Bayswater,  i.  300 
Cornhill,  i.  300 
Great,  i.  224 
Little,  1.  224 
St.  James's,  ii.  49 
Convent,  Augustinian,  i.  277 
Black  Friars,  i.  438 
Carthusian,  i.  192 
Cluniac,  i.  468 
Crossed  Friars,  i.  344 
Grey  Friars,  i.  162 
Poor  Clares,  i.  417 
Whitetriars,  i.   114 
Corner,  Hyde  Park,  ii.  107 
Pie,  i.  172 
Poets',  ii.  235 
Cottage,  Craven,  ii.  499 
Court,  Brick,  Temple,  i.  7a 
Bolt,  i.  112 
Cecil,  ii.  7 
Crane,  i.  108 
Devereux,  i.  50 
Dorset,  ii.  227 
Drury,  i.  39 
Falcon,  i.  107 
Flower  de  Luce,  i.  108 
Founders',  i.  256 
Fountain,  Temple,  i.  73 
Fox,  ii.  191 
Green  Arbour,  i.  169 
Hare,  i.  266 
Hare,  Temple,  i.  70 
Ingram,  i.  336 
Johnson's,  i.  112 
Oxford,  i.  256 
Poppin's,  i.  114 
St.  Martin's,  i.  126;  ii.  128 
St.  Peter's,  ii.  6 
Salisbury,  i.  115 
Tanfield,  Temple,  i.  71 
Wine  Office,  i.  112 
White  Hart,  i.  333 
Court-room,  Barber- Surgeons',  i.roJ 
Covent  Garden,  i.  19 
Cripplegate,  i.  268 
Cross,  in  Beech  Lane,  i.  268 
Charing,  i.  1 
Cheapside,  i.  224 
St.  Paul's,  i.  151 
Crutched  Friars,  i.  344 
Crypt,  Bow  Church,  i.  232 
Gerard's  Hall,  i.  323 
Guildhall,  i.  240 
Lambeth  Chapel,  ii.  417 
St.  James  in  the  Wall,  i.  337 
St.  Michael,  Aldgate,  i.  343 
St.  Paul's,  i.  146 

St.  Stephen's,  Westminster,  ii.  383 
Wes'minster  Abbey,  ii.  346 
Custom  House,  the,  i.  421 


INDEX. 


473 


Deanery,  St.  Paul's,  i.  155 

Westminster,  ii.  360 
Dacks,  the,  i.  418 
Domesday  Book,  i.  108 
Drive,  the  Queen's,  ii.  107 


E. 

Entry,  Church,  i.  442 
E»change,  the  Coal,  i.  423 

New,  i.  16 

Royal,  i.  25? 

Stock,  i.  256 

Wool,  i.  246 
Exchequer,  the,  ii.  27' 
Exhibition,  Madame  Tussaud's,  ii.  98 


.Fair,  Bartholomew,  i.  173 

Cloth,  i.  igo 

Milk,  ii.  120 
Farm,  Chalk,  ii.  141 

Ebury,  ii.  108 
Fields,  Bonner's,  i.  317 

Finsbury,  i.  275 

The  Five,  ii.  109 

Spa,  i.  212 
Fire  Brigade,  Metropolitan,  1.  326 
Fountain,  the  Buxton,  ii.  401 

of  St.  Lawrence,  i.  334 

in  the  Temple,  i.  73 

Trafalgar  Square,  i.  x 
Friars,  Austin,  i.  277 
Fulham,  ii.  497 
Fulwood's  Rents,  ii.  497 

G. 

Gallery  of  British  ArtLts,  ii.  45 

Grosvenor,  ii.  79 

National,  ii.  7 

National  Portrait,  ii.  486 
Gate,  Aldgate,  i.  34s 

Aldersgate,  i.  258 

Bishopsgate,  i.  298 

Cripplegate,  i.  268 

Ludgate,  i.  123 

Nrwgate,  i.  166 

Queen  Anne's,  ii.  401 

Temple  Bar,  i.  51 

Storey's,  ii.  401 
Gate  House,  Westminster,  ii.  3C8 
Gateway  of  Essex  House,  i.  50 

King  Street,  ii.  204 

of  Lincoln's  Inn,  i.  82 

of  St.  James's  Palace,  ii.  53 

St.  John's,  i.  200 

Temple,  Inner,  i.  61 

Temple,  Middle,  i.  61 

Whitehall  (Holbein's),  ii.  204 

of  York  House,  i.  14 


Gardens,  Baldwin's,  ii.  193 

Botanic  (Chelsea),  ii.  429 

Brompton  Nursery,  ii.  ;97 

of  Buckingham  Paiace,  ii.  115 

of  Chelsea  Hospital,  ii.  428 

Cremorne,  ii.  448 

of  Gray's  Inn,  i.  100 

01  Holland  House,  ii.  472 

Horticultural,  ii.  496 

Kensington,  ii.  414 
\  Lambeth  Palace,  ii.  420 

ularylebone,  ii.  143 

Paris,  i.  460 

Privy,  ii.  220 

Ranelagh,  ii.  42P 

St.  James's  Palace,  ii.  61 

Spring,  ii.  121 

Temple,  i.  76 

Vauxhall,  ii.  422 

Westminster  College,  ii,  358 

Zoological,  ii.  141 
Great  St.  Helen's,  i.  287 
Green,  Kensington  Palace,  ii.  460 

Parson's,  ii.  499 
Grey  Friars,  i.  162 
Grove,  Lisson,  ii.  142 

Westbourne,  ii.  104 
Guildhall,  the,  i.  236 

H. 

Hackney,  i.  317 

Hall,  Agricultural,  i.  215 

Albeit,  ii.  453 

Copped,  ii.  422 

Crosby,  i.  282 

the  Egyptian,  Mansion  House,  i.  tJ4 

Exeter,  i.  28 

the  Flaxman,  ii.  164 

Gerard's,  i.  323 

Hicks',  i.  199 

Piccadilla,  ii.  70 

the  Welsh,  i   240 

Westminster,  ii.  380 
Halls  of  City  Companies- 
Apothecaries',  i.  140 

Armourers',  i.  247 

Barber-Surgeons',  i.  262 

Brewers',  i.  230 

Carpenters',  i.  276 

Clothworkers',  i.  337 

Coopers',  i.  276 

Curriers',  i.  273 

Cutlers',  i.  433 

Drapers',  i.  257 

Dyers',  i.  432 

Fishmongers',  i.  445 

Goldsmiths',  i.  226 

Haberdashers',  i.  230 

Ironmongers',  i.  339 

Leathersellers',  i.  295 

Mercers',  i.  244 

Merchant  Tailors',  i.  200 

Painter-Stainers',  i.  435 

Parish  Clerks',  i.  435 


474 


INDEX. 


Halls  of  City  Companl 
Pewterers',  i.  336 
Pinners',  i.  279 
Saddlers',  i.  242 
Skinners',  i.  45? 
Stationers',  i    120 
Vintners',  i.  43J 
Hangman's  Gains,  i.  418 
Haymarket,  the,  ii.  46 
Highbury  Barn,  i.  216 
Hill,  College,  i.  433 

Constitution,  ii.  113 
Dowgate,  i.  432 

Fish  Street,  i.  424 
Hill,  Hay,  ii.  84 

Primrose,  ii.  141 

Snow,  ii.  201 

St.  Lawrence  Poultry,  i.  430 
Hockley  in  the  Hole,  i.  212 
Holborn,  ii.  188 
Horse  Guards,  the,  ii.  221 
Hospital,  Bethlem,  ii.  404 

Bridewell,  i.  116 

Chelsea,  ii.  425 

Christ's,  i.  162 

Consumptive,  ii.  496 

Foundling,  the,  ii.  i3s 

Guy's,  i.  460 

King's  College,  i.  95 

St.  Bartholomew's,  i.  188 

St.  Giles',  ii.  154 

St.  Katherine's,  ii.  140 

St.  Thomas's,  ii.  406 
Houndsdktch,  i.  318 

House,  of  the  Abbots  of  Westminster,  ii. 
360 

of  Alderman  Beckford,  ii.  152 

of  Alderman  Boydell,  i.  242 

of  Alderman  Wood,  ii.  152 

Alford,  ii.  452 

Ancaster,  i.  91 

Apsley,  ii.  109 

Archbishop's,  ii.  424 

Arlington,  ii.  114 

Arklow,  ii.  102 

Ashburnham,  ii.  367 

Baci.n,  i.  265 

Bangor,  i.  114 

of  James  Barry,  ii.  148 

Bath,  ii.  82 

Beaufort,  ii.  431 

Berkeley,  ii.  79 

of  Miss  Berry,  ii.  82 

of  Bloomfield,  i.  247 

BoHrdon,  ii.  88 

Bridgewater,  ii.  61 

of  Edmund  Burke,  ii.  xji 

Burlington,  ii.  73 

Burnet,  i.  206 

of  Dr.  Buraey,  ii.  129 

ofBvron  (his 'birthplace),  ii.  99 

Cambridge,  ii.  82 

Camden,  ii.  460 

Canonbury,  i.  219 

Carlisle,  ii.  151 


House,  Carlton,  ii.  47 

of  Thomas  Carlvle.  ii.  4i? 

of  Lord  Casticiei.;ii,  "-  !ri 

of  Chantrty,  ii.  8? 

Chesterfield,  ii.  94 

of  Sir  R.  Clayton,  1.  246 

Cleveland,  ii.  50 

of  Lord  Clive,  ii.  87 

of  Commons,  ii.  387 

of  Cosway,  ii.  51 

of  Cowley,  i.  ic6 

of  Mrs.  Cromwell,  ii.  226 

of  the  De  la  Poles,  i.  4  ;o 

Devonshire,  ii.  79 

of  Earls  of  Devonshire,  i.  301 

Dorchester,  ii   106 

of  Drayton,  i.  106 

Drury,  i.  92 

of  LJryden,  ii.  130,  134 

Dudley,  ii.  106 

Durham,  i.  15 

East  India,  i.  360 

Falconberg,  ii.  152 

Fife,  ii.  219 

of  Flaxman,  ii.  149 

Foley,  ii.  139 

of  Sir  P.  Francis,  ii.  50 

of  Fuseli,  ii.  6 

of  Gainsborough,  ii.  51 

Gloucester,  ii.  82 

of  Goldsmith,  i.  169 

of  Gondomar,  i.  348 

Goring,  ii.  114 

Gresham,  L351,  273 

Grosvenor,  ii.  91 

of  Nell  Gwynne,  ii.  50 

of  Hans  Jacobsen,  i.  348 

Harcourt,  ii.  99 

Haunted,  in  Berkeley  Square,  ii.  87 

Hertford,  ii.  98 

of  Hogarth,  ii.  127 

Holland,  ii.  463 

of  John  Hunter,  ii.  127 

of  Lady  Huntingdon,  i.  2i» 

Kensington,  ii.  462 

Kent,  ii.  451 

of  Kosciusko,  ii.  127 

Lansdowne,  ii.  84 

Lauderdale,  i.  266 

of  the  Duke  of  Leeds,  ii.  49 

Leicester,  ii.  125 

of  Linacre,  i.  329 

Lindsey,  i.  91 

Lindsey  (Chelsea),  ii.  446 

London,  i.  266 

of  Lords,  ii.  388 

of  Lord  Macaulay,  ii.  463 

Marlborough,  ii.  52 

of  Sir  T.  ilayerne,  ii.  446 

Lord  Mayor's  Banqueting,  ii.  100 

of  Milton  in  St.  Bride's,  i.  119 

of  Milton  in  Petty  France,  ii.  402 

of  Lord  Mohun,  ii.  130 

Montagu,  ii.  07,  224 

of  Lady  MaryWortley  Montagu,  ii.  95 


INDEX. 


475 


House,  of  Sir  T.  More,  ii.  431 
of  Napoleon  III.,  ii.  68 
Newcastle,  i.  90 
of  Sir  I.  Newton,  ii.  129 
Norfolk,  ii.  50 
Northumberland,  i.  6 
Northumberland,  of  the  Earls  of,  1. 

of  Sir  R.  Peel,  11,  221 

Peterborough,  ii.  424 

of    Lord   Peterborough   at   Parson  s 
Green,  ii.  499 

of  Sir  P.  Pindar,  i.  299 

Portsmouth,  i.  94 

Powis,  ii.  88 

of  Princess  Amelia,  ii.  99 

of  the  Duke  of  Queensberry,  ii.  8a 

of  Sir  J.  Reynolds,  ii.  6, 127 

Rochester,  i.  J59 

of  G.  Romney,  ii.  99 

of  Roubiliac,  ii.  6 

of  the  first  Royal  Academy,  ii.  43 

of  the  Royal  Society,  i.  109 

Salisbury,  i.  19 

Schomberg,  ii.  51 

Shaftesbury,  i.  264 

Shakspeare's,  i.  266 

Somerset,  i.  33 

Southampton,  ii.  191 

Stafford,  ii.  65 

StrathedeD,  ii.  452 

Thanet,  i.  264 

of  Hr  J.  Thornhill,  ii.  6,  127 

of  Turner,  at  Chelsea,  ii.  427 

of  Vanbrugh,  ii.  220 

of  General  Wade,  ii.  78 

"Wallingford,  ii.  221 

of  Horace  Walpole,  ii.  87 

of  Sir  R.  "Walpole,  ii.  69 

of  Izaak  Walton,  i.  106 

White,  the,  ii.  151 

of  Sir  R.  Whittington,  i.  273,  341 

Winchester,  i.  278,  J58 

Winchester  (at  Chelsea),  ii.  431 

Worcester,  i.  28 

York,  i.  11 

of  Count  Zinzendorf,  i.  446 
Houses  of  Parliament,  ii.  385 
Hoxton,  i.  317 


I. 

Infirmary,  the,  of  Westminster,  ii.  357 
Inns  of  Court  and  Chancery — 

Barnard's,  i.  98 

Clifford's,  i.  79 

Furnival's,  i.  98 

Gray's,  i.  98 

Lincoln's,  i.  8a 

Lvon's,  i.  40 

Scroope's,  i.  98 

Serjeants',  i.  79 

Staple,  i    96 

Temple,  Inner,  i.  61 


Inns  of  Court  and  Chance 

Temple,  Middle,  i.  71 

Thavies',  i.  98 
Institution,  Royal,  ii.  79 

United  Service,  ii.  219 
Irvingite  Church,  ii.  184 
Island,  Duck,  ii.  119 

Thorney,  ii.  228 
Islington,  i.  215 


Kennington,  ii.  404 
Kensington  Gore,  ii.  453 
King's  Jewel  House,  ii.  37a 
Knightsbridge,  ii.  451 


Lambeth,  ii.  404 
Lane,  Basing,  i.  323 
Billiter,  i.  345 
Birchin,  i.  .135 
Botolph,  i.  423 
Canonbury,  i.  217 
Carter,  i.  442 
Chancery,  i.  78 
Clement's,  i.  335 
Cloak,  i.  433 
Cock,  i.  172 
Cree,  i.  356 
Distaff,  i.  323 
Drury,  i.  92 
Lldenesse,  i.  159 
Elms,  ii.  105 
Fetter,  i.  107 
Field,  i.  123 
Golden,  i.  272 
Gravel,  i.  348 
Gray's  Inn,  ii.  191 
Gutter,  i.  227 
Hog,  ii.  153 
Ivy  Bridge,  i.  18 
Kirion,  i.  327 
Lad,  i.  232 
LewknoPs,  ii.  160 
Maiden,  i.  27 
Mark,  i.  340 
Middle  Temple,  i.  61 
Milioid,  i.  48 
Mincing,  i.  337 
Nightingale,  i.  347 
Pancras,  i.  242 
Petticoat,  i.  348 
Philpot,  i.  336 
Pudding,  i.  429 
Rood,  i.  330 
St.  Anne's,  ii.  371 
St.  John's,  i.  199 
St.  Martin's,  ii.  6 
St.  Pancras,  i.  327 
Seacoal,  i.  336 
Seething,  i.  349 
Shire,  i.  104 


4?6 


INDEX. 


Lane,  Shoe,  i.  IIJ 

Soper,  i.  242 

Strand,  i.  37 

Suffolk,  i.  430 

Three  Cranes,  1.  434 

Tyburn,  ii.  83 

Warwick,  i.  158 

Water,  i.  440 
Library,  British  Museum,  ii.  182 

Charterhouse,  i.  196 

Christ's  Hospital,  i.  165 

Grenville,  ii.  182 

Guildhall,  i.  241 

King's,  ii.  181 

Lambeth,  ii.  412 

Lincoln's  Inn,  i.  85 

Middle  Temple,  i.  76 

Royal  Society,  ii.  76 

Society  of  Antiquaries,  ii.  78 

Westminster  Abbey,  ii.  356 

Westminster  School,  ii.  366 

Williams',  i.  272 
Lincoln's  Inn,  i.  82 
Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  i.  8$ 
Lions  of  Landseer,  ii.  2 
Little  Britain,  i.  260 
Lloyd's,  i.  253 
Lodge,  Airlie,  ii.  463 

Argyll,  ii.463 

Holly,  ii.  403 

Lowther,  ii.  452 
London  Stone,  i.  329 
London  Wall,  i.  273 
Long  Acre,  ii.  134 
Lord's  Cricket  Ground,  ii.  142 
Lothbury,  i  256 
Ludgate,  L.  123 

M. 

Mansion  House,  the,  i.  254 
Manufacture  of  Chelsea  China,  ii.  448 
Manufacture  of  Doulton  Faience,  ii.  4/2 
Market,  Billingsgate,  i.  422 

Clare,  i.  44 

Hungerford,  i.  11 

iames's,  ii.  47 
•eadenha!!,  i.  352 

Newgate,  i.  161 

Oxford,  ii.  148 

Shepherd's,  ii.  83 

Smithfield,  i.  172 
Marylebone,  ii.  142 
May  fair,  ii.  83 
Maypole,  the,  in  the  Strand,  i.  38 

Undershaft,  i.  154 
Meeting  House,  Quakers',  i.  333 
Memorial,  Albert,  ii.  454 

Westminster  Scholars',  ii.  400 
Mint,  the  Royal,  i.  418 
Monastery,  Blackfriars,  i.  438 
Monument,  the,  i.  424 
Moorfields,  i.  3or 
MuseuT).  the  British,  ii   165 

City,  i.  241 


Museum,  College  of  Surgeons,  i.  9l 
Don  Saltero's,  ii.  431 
The  India,  ii.  495 
London  Missionary,  i.  312 
Soane,  i.  86 

South  Kensington,  ii.  476 
United  Service,  ii.  219 


N. 

National  Gallery,  ii.  7 
New  Law  Courts,  the,  i.  78 


O. 

Old  Bailey,  i.  168 

Old  Chelsea  Bun  House,  ii.  429 

Old  Jewry,  i.  246 

Opera,  Italian,  ii.  46 

Office,  Admiralty,  ii.  221 

Colonial,  ii.  223 

East  India,  ii.  223 

Foreign,  ii.  223 

Home,  ii.  223 

Lost  Property,  ii.  220 

Police,  ii.  223 

Record,  i.  108 

War,  ii.  49 
Offices  of  Alessrs.  Cubitt,  ii.  191 


P. 

Paddington,  ii.  142 

Palace,  Bridewell,  i.  117 
Buckingham,  ii.  114 
Chelsea,  ii   430 
Fulham,  ii.  490 
Kennington,  ii.  404 
Kensington,  ii.  456 
Lambeth,  ii.  410 
St.  James's,  ii.  53 
Savoy,  i.  29 
of  the  Tower,  i.  415 
Westminster,  New,  ii.  377 
Westminster,  Old.  ii.  375 
Whitehall,  ii.  202 

Pall  Mall,  ii.  43 

Park,  Hattersea,  ii.  450 
Bellsize,  ii.  163 
Green,  ii.  113 
Hyde,  ii.  105 
Marylebone,  ii.  142 
Regent's,  ii.  139 
St.  James's,  ii.  115 
Westboume,  ii.  104 

Passage,  Jerusalem,  i.  208 
Lansdowne,  ii.  84 
Sweedon's,  ii.  273 

Pentonville,  i.  220 

Petty  France,  ii.  402 

Place,  Argyll,  ii.  137 
Bedford,  ii.  184 
Canonbury,  i.  Zio 


1XDEX. 


411 


Place,  Corniiught,  ii.  xos: 

Duke's,  1.  319 

Ely,  ii.  196 

Hamilton,  ii.  83 

Langham,  ii.  139 

Palsgrave,  i.  51 

Park,  ii.  69 

Portland,  ii.  139 

Rathbone,  ii.  149 

St.  James's,  ii.  69 

Stratford,  ii.  100 

Wardrobe,  i.  442 

Waterloo,  ii.  47 

Windsor,  i.  264 
Piccadilly,  ii.  70 
Post  Office,  the,  i.  220 
Priory,  Cbnstchurcb,  i.  356 

Holy  Trinity,  i.  356 

St.  Bartholomew's,  i.  180 

St.  John's,  i.  199 
Prison,  Llerkenwell,  i.  211 

Cold  Bath  Fields,  i.  212 

Fleet,  i.  120 

the  Lollards,  ii.  419 

Marshalsea,  i.  465 

Millbank,  ii.  424 

Newgate,  i.  166 

Pentonville,  i.  220 

Tothill  Fields,  ii.  400 
Poultry,  i.  249 

Q. 

Quadrant,  the,  ii.  124 
Queenbithe,  i.  435 

R. 

Ratcliffe  Highway,  i.  419 
Record  Office,  i.  108 
Restaurant,  Pontack's,  i.  i65 
Ring,  the,  ii.  108 
Row,  Bolton,  ii.  84 

Budge,  i.  328 

Butchers',  i.  41 

Canon,  ii.  227 

Cheyne,  ii.  447 

Church,  i.  340 

Cleveland,  ii   61 

Cooper's,  i.  3.14 

Paternoster,  i.  156 

Rochester,  ii.  400 

Rotten,  ii.  107 
Road,  Brompton,  ii.  476 

Campden  Hill,  ii.  463 

Commercial,  i.  350 

Edgeware,  ii.  102 

Goswell,  i.  266 

Horscferry,  ii.  400 

Theobald's,  ii.  189 

Tottenham  Court,  ii.  160 

Tyburn,  ii.  100 
Rolls  Chapel,  i.  79 
Rookery,  the,  ii.  158 
Rooms,  Willis's,  ii.  68 


s. 

St.  Giles's,  ii.  154 
St.  John's  Wood,  ii.  141 
St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  1.  12& 
Sanctuary  of  St.  Martin's    le  Grand,  L 
222 

of  Westminster,  ii.  369 

of  Whitefriars,  i.  114 
Savoy,  the,  i.  29 
School,  Archbishop  Tcnison's.  ii.  127 

Charterhouse,  i.  195 

City  of  London,  i.  231 

Grey  Coat,  ii.  400 

Mercers',  i.  434 

Radcliffe,  i.  351 

St.  Paul's,  i.  153 

Westminster,  ii.  364 
Seldam,  the,  i.  234 
Serpentine,  the,  ii.  108 
Sessions  House,  Old  Bailey,  i.  i6> 

Clerkenwell,  i.  208 
Seven  Dials,  the,  ii.  159 
Shadwell,  i.  419 
Shop-front,  the  oldest,  i.  253 
Shoreditch,  i.  314 
Smithfield,  i.  172 
Soane  Museum,  i.  86 
Society  of  Antiquaries,  ii.  77 

of  Arts,  i.  17 

Astronomical,  ii.  74 

Chemical,  ii.  74 

Charity  Organization,  i.  1$ 

Chemical,  ii.  74 

Geological,  ii.  74 

Linnaean,  ii.  74 

Royal,  ii.  74 
Soho,  ii.  150 
Somers  Town,  i.  zri 
Southwark,  i.  460 
Spitalfields,  i.  312 
Square,  Audley,  ii.  94 

Bedford,  ii.  164 

Belgrave,  ii.  109 

Berkeley,  ii.  87 

Blatidford,  ii.  97 

Bloomsbury,  ii.  i8j 

Bryanston,  ii.  97 

Cavendish,  ii.  98 

Charterhouse,  i    191 

Cold  Bath,  1.  212 

Crosby,  i.  287 

Dorset,  ii.  97 

Finsbury,  i.  301 

Golden,  ii.  137 

Gordon,  ii.  184 

Gough,  i.  112 

Grosveuor,  ii.  89 

Hanover,  ii.  138 

Leicester,  ii.  i?i 

Manchester,  ii.  o& 

Montagu,  ii.  98 

Myddelton,  i.  214 

Onslow,  ii.  496 

Porttuan,  ii.  96 


478 


INDEX. 


Square,  Prebend,  i.  217 

Printing  House,  i.  443 

Red  Lion,  ii.  189 

Russell,  ii.  184 

St.  James's,  ii.  49 

St.  John's,  i.  203 

Soho,  ii.  150 

Southampton,  ii.  183 

Spital,  i.  314 

Tavistock,  ii.  164 

Trafalgar,  ii.  I 

Trinity,  i.  367 

Vincent,  ii.  400 
Statue  of  Achilles,  ii.  107 

of  Queen  Anne,  i.  137;  ii.  402 

of  Lord  George  Bentinck,  ii.  99 

of  G.  Canning,  ii.  401 

of  Charles  I.,  1.  3 

of  Charles  II.,  Chelsea  Hospital,  ii. 

425 
of  Charles  II.  by  Gibbons,  i.  232 
of  Charles  II.  at  the  Mansion  House, 

'•255 
of  Sir  R.  Clayton,  ii.  407 
of  Lord  Clyde,  ii.  48 
of  the  Prince  Consort,  ii.  201,  454 
of  Captain  Coram,  ii.  185 
of  William,  Duke  of  Cumberland,  ii. 

99 
of  Edward  VI.,  i.  164 ;  ii.  407 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  i.  107 
of  Sir  John  Franklin,  ii.  48 
of  George  I.,  ii.  129 
of  George  III.,  ii.  46 
of  George  IV.,  ii.  2 
of  Sir  H.  Havelock,  ii.  2 
of  Lord  Herbert  of  Lea,  ii,  49 
of  James  II.,  ii.  219 
of  the  Duke  of  Kent,  ii.  139 
of  Melancholy  and  Madness,  ii.  405 
of  Sir  H.  Myddelton,  i.  217 
of  Sir  C.  Napier,  ii.  2 
of  Lord  Nelson,  ii.  i_ 
of  George  Peabody,  i.  279 
of  Sir  R.  Peel,  i.  223 
of  Henry  Peto,  i.  q8 
of  William  Pitt,  ii.  138 
of  Richard  I.,  ii.  391 
of  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  ii.  429 
of  Queen  Victoria,  i.  232 
of  Wellington,  Hyde  Park  Corner,  ii. 

of  Wellington,  Royal  Exchange,  i, 
250 

of  William  III.,  ii.  49 

of  William  IV.,  i.  332 

of  the  Duke  of  York,  ii.  48 
Stangate,  ii.  406 
Staple  Inn,  i.  96 
Stepney,  i.  350 
Strand,  the,  i.  5 
Street,  Addle,  i.  229 

Albemarle,  ii.  79 

Aldersgate,  i.  258 

Ailington,  ii.  69 


Street,  Ashby,  i.213 

Audley,  North,  ii.  96 

Audley,  South,  ii.  94 

Baker,  ii.  98 

Basinghall,  New,  i.  275 

Bath,  Great,  i.  213 

Bennet,  ii.  69 

Berkeley,  ii.  84 

Bishopsgate,  i.  282 

Bloomsbury,  ii.  162 

Bond,  ii.  78 

Borough,  High,  i.  460 

Bow,  Covent  Garden,  i.  26 

Bread,  i.  324 

Bridge,  Westminster,  ii.  402 

Broad,  i.  276 

Brook,  ii.  94 

Brooke,  ii.  192 

Brvdges,  i.  19 

Bull  and  Mouth,  i.  259 

Burleigh,  i.  27 

Bury,  ii.  68 

Cannon,  i.  323 

Carey,  i.  95 

Castle,  ii.  148 

Cato,  ii.  90 

Cecil,  i.  19 

Chenies,  ii.  164 

Chandos,  i.  19,  27 

Charles  (Berkeley  Square),  ii.  88 

Charles  (Drury  Lane),  ii.  160 

Charles  (Grosvenor  Square),  ii.  89 

Charles  (St.  James's),  ii.  49 

Church,  ii.  447 

Clarges,  ii.  82 

Cockspur,  ii.  45 

Coleman,  i.  246 

Compton,  ii.  150 

Cork,  ii.  78 

Cornhill,  i.  360 

Coventry,  ii.  124 

Cranbourno,  ii.  134 

Crown,  ii.  153 

Curzon,  ii.  82 

Cutler,  i.  318 

Dean,  ii.  150 

Delahay,  ii.  227 

Denzil,  i.  44 

Devonshire,  i.  301 

Dover,  ii.  79 

Downing,  ii.  223 

Dudley,  ii.  159 

Duke  (Aldgate),  i.  347 

J>'ke  (St.  James's),  ii.  68 

jfer  lell,  ii.  160 

Essex,  i.  48 

Exeter,  i.  27 

Falcon,  i.  261 

Farringdon,  i.  123 

Fenchurch,  i.  355 

Fish,  Old,  i.  323 

Fleet,  i.  101 

Fore,  i.  273 

Francis,  ii.  164 

Friday,  i.  230 


INDEX. 


479 


Street,  Garrick,  ii.  135 

Gerard,  ii.  130 

Grosvenor,  ii.  91 

Giltspur,  i-  172 

Gower,  ii.  164 

Gracechurch,  i.  m 

Great  George,  ii.  401 

Gresham,  i.  232 

Grub,  i.  273 

Half  Moon,  ii.  82 

Harley,  ii.  99 

Hart,  i.  341 

Hay  market,  ii.  46 

Holies,  i.  44 

Holies  (Cavendish  Square),  ii.  99 

Holywell,  i.  39 

Homer,  ii.  91 

Hosier,  i.  172 

Houghton,  i.  24 

goward,  i.  48 
owland,  ii.  162 
! Tames,  ii.  47 
jermyn,  ii.  70 
ewin,  i.  266 
ewry.  i.  347 
ohn  (Adelphi),  1.  17 
ling,  i.  235 
King  (Westminster),  11.  225 
Kingsgate,  ii.  189 
King  William,  i.  333 
Knightrider,  i.  324 
Leadenhall,  i.  354 
Lime,  i.  336 
Lombard,  i.  334 
Long,  ii.  67   ■_ 
Long  Acre,  ii.  134 
Macclesfield,  ii.  132 
Margaret,  ii.  148 
Market,  ii.  47 
Middlesex,  i.  348 
Milk,  i.  231 
Milton,  i.  273 
Monkwell,  i.  262 
Montague,  ii.  184 
Monmouth,  ii.  159 
Mount,  ii.  89 
Museum,  ii.  165 
Newgate,  i.  162 
Newport,  ii.  135 
Norfolk,  i.  47 
Old,  i.  260 
Orchard,  ii.  97 
Oxford,  ii.  100 
Panton,  ii.  47 
Portsmouth,  i.  95 
Portugal,  i.  95 
Queen,  i.  242  ;  ii  434 
Queen,  Great.  1.  90 
Redcross,  i.  268 
Regent,  ii.  124 
St.  Andrew's,  ii.  159 
St.  George's,  i.  419 
St.  James's,  ii.  67 
St.  Mary  Axe,  i.  35* 
Salisbury,  i.  19 


Street,  Seymour,  ii.  08 

Silver,  :.  261 

Skinner,  i.  312 

Southampton,  i.  19 

Stangate,  ii   406 

Streatham,  ii.  164 

Suffolk,  ii.  45 

Surrey,  i.  48 

Sutton,  ii.  151 

Tavistock,  i.  19 

Thames,  Lower,  i.  420 

Thames,  Upper,  i.  430 

Throgmorton,  i.  257 

'Ihreadneedle,  i.  280 

Tower,  Great,  i.  363 

Upper,  i.  217 

Villiers,  i.  13 

Vine,  ii.  399 

Wardour,  ii.  149 

Warwick,  ii.  45 

Watling,  i.  326 

Wells,  ii.  149 

Wentworth,  i.  349 

Wild,  Great,  i.  92 

Wigmorc,  ii.  08 

Wimpole,  ii.  98 

Winchester,  Great,  i.  297 

Windmill,  Great,  ii.  124 

Wood,  i.  227 

Wych,  i.  45 

York,  ii.  402 
Sundials,  of  the  Temple,  i.  76 

of  Lincoln's  Inn,  i.  81 


Tabernacle,  Whitefield's,  ii.  161 
Tattersall's,  ii.  451 
Tavern,  Angel,  i.  215 

Angel  (St.  Giles's),  ii.  157 

Bell,  i.  59 

Bell,  Old,  ii.  193 

Bible,  i.  104 

Black  Jack,  i.  95 

Blue  Boar?  ii.  190 

Blue  Pig,  ii.  190 

Bow,  ii.  1^7 

Cheshire  Cheese,  i.  it  2 

Cock,  i.  105 

Cock  (in  Hackney),  i.  317 

Cross  Keys,  i.  199 

Czar's  Head,  i.  367 

Devil,  i.  103 

Dolly's  Chop  House,  i.  158 

Klephant,  i.  337 

Four  Swans,  i.  295 

George,  i.  461 

Green  Dragon,  i.  295 

Hummums,  Old,  i.  21 

Mermaid,  i.  230 

Oxford  Arms,  i.  159 

Pillars  of  Hercules,  ii.  lit 

Queen's  Head,  i.  340 

Red  Cow,  i.  418 

Running  Footman,  ii.  88 


480 


INDEX. 


Tavern,  Sir  Hugh  Myddelton,  i.  2*4 

Star  and  Garter,  ii.  51 

Tabard,  i.  462 

Thatcbed  House,  ii.  67 

Three  Nuns,  i.  348 

Three  Tuns,  i.  423 

Waterman's  Arms,  i.  419 

White  Conduit  House,  i.  219 

White  Hart,  i.  461 
Temple,  the,  i.  61 
Temple  Bar,  i.  51 
Terrace,  Adelphi,  i.  16 

Richmond,  ii.  225 
Thames  Tunnel,  i.  419 
Theatre,  the,  i.  315 

Bankside,  i.  459 

The  Curtain,  i.  315 

Drury  Lane,  i.  94 

The  Duke's,  i.  115 

The  Globe,  i.  459 

Red  Bull,  i.  213 

Sadler's  Wells,  i.  214 

St.  James's,  ii.  68 

Salisbury  Court,  i.  ng 
Times  Printing  Office,  i.  443 
Tower,  Canonbury,  i.  218 

Hill,  i.  367  . 

of  London,  i.  368 

of  Montfiquet,  i.  117 

Royal,  i.  327 

of  St.  Mary  Somerset,  i.  436 

Victoria,  ii.  377 
Town,  Camden,  i.  221 

Kentish,  i.  221 

Somers,  i.  221 
Treasury,  the,  ii.  223 
Trinity  House,  the,  i.  417 
Tyburn,  ii.  101 
Tyburnia,  ii.  104 


u. 

University,  New  London,  ii.  78 


V. 

Vanxhall,  ii.  422 
Viaduct,  Holborn,  ii.  201 
Villa,  St.  Dunstan's,  ii.  14a 

W. 

Walbrook,  i.  255 
Walk,  Artillery,  i.  311 

Bird  Cage,  ii.  122 

Cheyne.  ii.  429 
Wall  ol  London,  i.  270,  275 
Wapping,  i.  418 
Ward,  Portsoken.  i.  347 
Wardrobe,  the  King's,  i.  432 

the  Queen's,  i.  327 
Watergate  of  York  House,  i.  13 
WdU.  Bagnigge,  i.  214 

the  Clerks',  i.  211 

Crowder's,  i.  271 

Sadler's,  i.  214 

St.  Bride's,  i.  108 

St.  Clement's,  i.  43 

Skinners',  i.  212 
Westminster  Abbey,  ii.  228 
Wharf,  Battle  Bridge,  i.  469. 

Botolph,  423 
Whetstone  Park,  ii.  190 
Whitectiapel,  i.  349 
Whitefriars,  i.  114 
Whitehall,  ii.  202 


Yard,  Belle  Sauvage,  i.  124 
Coal,  ii.  160 

Dean's  (Westminster),  ii.  363 
Glass  House,  i.  443 
Ireland,  i.  443 

Little  Dean's  (Westminster),  ii.  364 
Palace,  New,  ii.  378 
Palace,  Old,  ii.  390 
Playhouse,  i.  272,  443 
Red  Bull,  i.  213 
Scotland,  ii.  220 
Tilt,  ii.  122 
Tokenhouse,  i.  257 


END     OP     VOL.    I. 


WALKS   IN  LONDON 
vol.  n 


"  Out  of  monuments,  names,  wordes,  proverbs,  traditions,  private  recordes  and 
evidences,  fragments  of  stories,  passages  of  bookes,  and  the  like,  we  doe  save  and 
recover  somewhat  from  the  deluge  of  Time." 

Lord  Bacon.    Advance  of  Learning. 

"  They  who  make  researches  into  Antiquity,  may  be  said  to  passe  often  through 
many  dark  lobbies  and  dusky  places,  before  they  come  to  the  A  ula  lucis,  the  great 
hall  of  light  ;  they  must  repair  to  old  archives,  and  peruse  many  moulded  and 
moth-eaten  records,  and  so  bring  light  as  it  were  out  of  darkness,  to  inform  the 
present  world  what  the  former  did,  and  make  us  see  truth  through  our  ancestors' 
eyes. 

y.  Howel.     Londinopolis. 

"  I'll  see  these  things  ! — They're  rare  and  passing  curious — 
But  thus  'tis  ever ;  what's  within  our  ken, 
Owl-like,  we  blink  at,  and  direct  our  search 
To  farthest  Inde  in  quest  of  novelties; 
Whilst  here,  at  home,  upon  our  very  thresholds, 
Ten  thousand  objects  hurtle  into  view, 
Of  Int'rest  wonderful." 

Old  Play. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  II. 


CHAP.  PAGH 

I.  TRAFALGAR  SQUARE  AND  THE  NATIONAL  GALLERY  .         I 

II.  THE  WEST-END 43 

III.  REGENT  STREET  AND   REGENT'S  PARK         .          .          .           .  1 24 

IV.  BY  OXFORD  STREET  TO  THE  CITY I48 

V.   WHITEHALL 202 

VI.   WESTMINSTER   ABBEY — 1 228 

VII.    WESTMINSTER  ABBEY — II 32 1 

VIII.   WESTMINSTER 374 

IX.   LAMBETH 404 

X.   CHELSEA 424 

XI.   KENSINGTON  AND   HOLLAND  HOUSE   .  .  .  .  .   451 

XII.   SOUTH  KENSINGTON      .......  .  476 


CHAPTER  I. 

TRAFALGAR   SQUARE  AND  THE  NATIONAL 
GALLERY. 

LET  us  find  ourselves  again  at  Charing  Cross,  which 
forms  the  south-eastern  angle  of  Trafalgar  Square, 
a  dreary  expanse  of  granite  with  two  granite  fountains, 
intended  to  commemorate  the  last  victory  of  Nelson.  Its 
northern  side  is  occupied  by  the  miserable  buildings  of  the 
National  Gallery;  its  eastern  and  western  sides  by  a 
hideous  hotel  arid  a  frightful  club.  Where  the  noble 
Jacobian  screen  of  Northumberland  House  (which  was  so 
admirably  adapted  for  a  National  Portrait  Gallery)  once 
drew  the  eye  away  from  these  abominations  by  its  dignity 
and  beauty,  a  view  of  the  funnel-roof  of  Charing  Cross 
Railway  Station  forms  a  poor  substitute  for  the  time- 
honoured  palace  of  the  Percy's !  In  the  centre  of  the 
square  is  a  Corinthian  pillar  of  Devonshire  granite,  145 
feet  in  height,  by  W.  Railton,  erected  in  1843.  It  SUP" 
ports  a  statue  of  Nelson  by  E.  H.  Baily,  R.A.,  a  very 
poor  work,  which,  however,  does  not  much  signify,  as  it  can 
only  be  properly  seen  from  the  top  of  the  Duke  of  York's 
column,  which  no  one  ascends.  The  pedestal  of  the 
column  is  decorated  by  reliefs. 

VOL.  II.  B 


2  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

North.  The  Battle  of  Nile  by  Woodington. 

South.  The  Death  of  Nelson  by  Carew. 

West.  The  Battle  of  St.  Vincent  by  Watson  and  Woodington. 

East.  The  Bombardment  of  Copenhagen  by  Ternouth. 

The  noble  lions  at  the  foot  of  the  column  were  added  by 
Sir  E.  Landseer  in  1867.  Only  one  of  them  was  modelled  : 
a  slight  variation  in  the  treatment  adapted  the  others  to 
their  pedestals.  Their  chief  grandeur  lies  in  their  mighty 
simplicity. 

At  the  south-west  angle  of  the  square  is  a  statue  of  Sir 


One  of  Landseer's  Lions. 


C.  S.  Napier  by  Adams ;  at  the  south-east  angle  a  statue  of 
Sir  Henry  Havelock  by  Behnes.  On  a  pedestal  at  the 
north-west  coiner  is  an  equestrian  statue  of  George  IV.  by 
Chantrey,  intended  to  surmount  the  Marble  Arch  when  it 
stood  in  front  of  Buckingham  Palace.  The  corresponding 
pedestal  is  vacant,  and  likely  to  remain  so  :  there  has  never 
been  a  pendant  to  George  IV. 

On  the  east  side  of  Trafalgar  Square  is  its  one  ornament. 
Here,  on  a  noble  basement,  approached  by  a  broad  flight 
of  steps,  rises  the  beautiful  portico  of  the  Church  of  St. 


ST.  MARTIN  IN  THE  FIELDS.  % 

Martin  in  the  Fields.  It  is  the  masterpiece  of  Gibbs 
(172 1 — 26),  and  is  the  only  perfect  example  of  a  Grecian 
portico  in  London.  The  regular  rectangular  plan  on  which 
Trafalgar  Square  was  first  laid  out  was  abandoned  simply 
to  bring  it  into  view;  yet,  in  1877,  the  Metropolitan  Board 
of  Works,  for  the  sake  of  giving  uniformity  to  a  new  street, 
seriously  contemplated  the  destruction  of  the  well-graded 
basement  to  which  it  owes  all  its  beauty  of  proportion, 
and  which  is  one  of  the  chief  features  of  a  Greek  portico. 
However,  Parliament  happily  interfered,  and  the  portico 
survives. 

"  Beautiful  for  situation,  elegant  in  proportion,  and  perfect  in  con- 
struction, it  is  precisely  the  kind  of  building  that  the  angle  of  Trafalgar 
Square  requires.  It  is  thoroughly  in  its  place,  is  in  harmony  with  all  its 
surroundings,  and  lends  more  grace  than  it  receives  to  '  the  finest  site 
in  Europe.'  From  whatever  point  it  is  seen,  it  impresses  the  beholder 
as  a  work  of  art,  impelling  him  to  draw  nearer  and  examine  it  in  detail, 
and  unlike  many  other  architectural  structures  it  does  not  disappoint 
upon  examination." — Morning  Post,  Feb.,  1877. 

The  building  of  St.  Martin's  is  commemorated  in  the 
lines  of  Savage — 

'•  O  Gibbs  !  whose  art  the  solemn  fane  can  raise, 
Where  God  delights  to  dwell,  and  man  to  praise." 

But  its  portico  is  its  best  feature,  and  the  effect  even  of  this 
is  injured  by  the  tower,  which  seems  to  rise  out  of  it.  The 
sides  of  the  church  are  poor  j  "  in  all,"  as  Walpole  says, 
"is  wanting  that  harmonious  simplicity  which  bespeaks  a 
genius."  The  vane  on  the  handsome  steeple  bears  a  crown, 
to  show  that  this  is  the  royal  parish.  In  its  upper  story  is 
preserved  a  "  sanctus  bell "  from  the  earlier  church  on  this 


4  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

site  ;  it  was  rung  at  the  point  when  the  priest  said  "  Holy, 
Holy,  Holy,  Lord  God  of  Sabaoth,"  that  the  Catholic 
population  outside  might  share  in  the  feeling  of  the 
service. 

The  existence  of  a  church  here  is  mentioned  as  early  as 
1222.  Henry  VIII.  was  induced  to  rebuild  it  by  the 
annoyance  which  he  felt  at  the  funerals  constantly  passing 
his  windows  of  Whitehall  on  their  way  to  St.  Margaret's, 
and  his  church,  still  really  "  in  the  Fields,"  to  which  a 
chancel  was  added  by  Prince  Henry  in  1607,  became  a 
favourite  burial-place  in  the  time  of  the  Stuarts.  It  may 
be  called  the  artists'  church,  for  amongst  those  interred 
here  were  Nicholas  Hiliard,  miniature-painter  to  Elizabeth, 
1 6 19  ;  Paul  Vansomer,  painter  to  James  I.,  162 1 ;  Sir  John 
Davies  the  poet,  author  of  "  Nosce  teipsum,"  so  much  ex- 
tolled by  Hallam  and  Southey,  1626;  Nicholas  Laniere  the 
musician,  1646  ;  Dobson,  the  first  eminent  portrait-painter 
of  English  birth,  called  "the  English  Vandyke,"  1646; 
Nicholas  Stone  the  sculptor,  1647;  and  Louis  Laguerre, 
1721.  The  Hon.  Robert  Boyle  (1691),  the  religious  philo- 
sopher, author  of  many  theological  works,  was  buried  here, 
and  his  funeral  sermon  was  preached  by  Bishop  Burnet, 
who  was  his  intimate  friend.  Two  of  the  tombs  from  the 
ancient  church,  those  of  Sir  Thomas  Mayerne,  physician  to 
James  I.  and  Charles  L,  1655 — 5^»  an(^  °f  Secretary 
Coventry,  1686,  are  preserved  in  the  vaults  of  the  present 
edifice.  The  register  of  the  church  records  the  baptism 
of  the  great  Lord  Bacon,  born  hard  by  at  York  House, 
in  1 56 1.  It  has  been  said  that  Prince  Charles  Edward 
renounced  the  religion  of  his  forefathers  here.* 

•  AValpo'e's  Letters  to  Sir  Horace  Mann. 


ST.  MARTIN  IN  THE  FIELDS.  5 

Amonsrst  those  who  were  buried  in  the  churchvard  was 
(Nov.  15,  161 5)  the  beautiful  Mrs.  Anne  Turner,  who  was 
hanged  at  Tyburn  for  her  part  in  the  murder  of  Sir  Thomas 
Overbury,  and  who,  "  having  been  the  first  person  to  bring 
yellow  starched  ruffs  into  popularity,  was  condemned  by 
Coke  to   be  hang'd   in  her  yellow  Tifhny  ruff  and  cuffs," 
the  hangman  also  having  his  bands  and  cuffs  of  the  same, 
"  which  made  many  to  forbear  the  use  of  that  horrid  starch, 
till  it  at  last  grew  generally  to  be  detested  and  disused." 
After   he  had  lain   in    state,    the    murdered   body   of    Sir 
Edmund  Berry  Godfrey  *  was  buried  in  this  churchyard  in 
1679,  with  an  immense  public  funeral,  at  the  head  of  which 
walked  seventy-two  clergymen  of  the  Church  of  England, 
in  full  canonicals  ;  John  Lacy,  the  dramatist,  was  buried  here 
in    1 68 1  ;   Sir  Winston  Churchill,  father  of  the  great  Duke 
of  Marlborough,  in  1688;  George  Farquhar,  the  comedy- 
writer  and  friend  of  Wilkes,  in  1707  ;  and  Lord  Mohun, 
killed    in   duel   with    the    Duke    of  Hamilton,    in    17 n. 
In  1762  Hogarth  and  Reynolds  here  followed  Roubiliac  to 
his  grave,  which  was  near  that  of  Nell  Gwynne,  who  died 
of  an  apoplexy  in  her  house  in  Pall  Mall  in  16S7,  being 
only  in  her  thirty-eighth  year.     She  left  an  annual  sum  of 
money  to  the  bell-ringers  which   they   still   enjoy.     Arch- 
bishop Tenison,  who  had  attended  her  death-bed,  preached 
her  funeral  sermon  here  with  great  extolling  of  her  virtues, 

•  Macaulay  and  others  write  the  name  Edmundsbury.  Rut  in  the  cloisters  of 
Westminster  Abbey  there  is  a  monument  to  a  brother  of  Sir  Edmund,  where  he 
is  designated  as  Edmundus  Herry  Godfrey.  The  best  authority,  however,  is  Sir 
Edmund's  father.  The  Diary  of  Thomas  Godfrey  of  Lidd,  in  Kent,  says,  "  My 
wife  was  delivered  of  another  son  the  2;,rd  of  December,  1621,  who  was  christened 
the  13th  January,  being  Sunday.  His  godfather  was  my  cousin  John  Berrie, 
his  other  godfather  my  faithful  loving  friend  and  my  neighbour  sometime  in 
Greek  Street,  Mr.  Edmund  Harrison,  the  king's  embroiderer.  They  named  mj 
•en  Edmund  Berries  the  one's  name,  and  the  other's  Christian  name." 


6  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

a  fact  which,  repeated  to  Queen  Mary  II.  by  the  desire  of 
his  enemies  to  bring  him  into  discredit,  only  drew  from  her 
the  answer,  "  I  have  heard  as  much.  It  is  a  sign  that  the 
unfortunate  woman  died  penitent ;  for  if  I  can  read  a  man's 
heart  through  his  looks,  had  she  not  made  a  pious  and 
Christian  end,  the  doctor  would  never  have  been  induced 
to  speak  well  of  her." 

The  parish  of  St.  Martin's,  now  much  subdivided,  was 
formerly  the  largest  in  London.  Burnet  speaks  of  it  in 
1680  as  "the  greatest  cure  in  England,"  and  Baxter  tells 
how  its  population  consisted  of  40,000  persons  more  than 
could  find  room  in  the  church.  The  labyrinthine  alleys 
near  the  church,  destroyed  in  the  formation  of  Trafalgar 
Square,  were  known  as  "  the  Bermudas; "  hence  the  reference 
in  Ben  Jonson — 

"  Pirates  here  at  land 
Have  their  Bermudas  and  their  Streights  in  the  Strand." 

£j>.  to  E.  of  Dorset. 

In  the  time  of  the  Commonwealth  St.  Martin's  Lane  was 
a  shady  lane  with  a  hedge  on  either  side.  It  was  open 
country  as  far  as  the  village  of  St.  Giles's.  In  a  proclama- 
tion of  1546,  Henry  VIII.  desires  to  have  "the  games  of 
Hare,  Partridge,  Pheasant  and  Heron,"  preserved  from  the 
Palace  of  Westminster  to  St.  Giles's  in  the  Fields.  In 
Faithorne's  Map  of  London,  1658,  St.  Martin's  Lane  is  the 
western  boundary  of  the  town.  At  one  time  the  Lane  was 
the  especial  resort  of  artists,  and  in  one  of  its  entries,  St. 
Peter's  Court,  was  the  -first  house  of  the  Royal  Academy. 
Sir  James  Thornhill  lived  in  the  Lane,  at  No.  104 ;  Sir 
J.  Reynolds  lived  opposite  May's  Buildings,  before  he 
moved    to    Leicester   Square ;     Roubiliac    live!   in   Peter's 


THE  NATION Al    GALLERY.  J 

Court  in  1756;  Fuseli  at  No.  100  in  17S4;  and  the 
interior  of  a  room  in  No.  96  is  introduced  by  Hogarth 
in  the  "  Rake's  Progress."  *  Cecil  Court,  on  the  left  of 
St.  Martin's  Lane,  commemorates  the  old  house  of  the 
Cecils,  created  Earls  of  Salisbury  in  1605,  and  Cranboume 
Alley  took  its  name  from  their  second  title. 

The  ambition  of  London  tradesmen  might  justly  feel 
encouraged  by  the  almost  European  reputation  which  was 
obtained  in  his  own  day  by  Thomas  Chippendale,  a  cabinet- 
maker of  St.  Martin's  Lane,  and  which  has  not  diminished, 
but  increased,  since  his  death.  He  published  here,  in  1752, 
that  exceedingly  rare  work,  the  "  Gentleman  and  Cabinet 
Makers'  Director." 

The  north  of  what  is  now  Trafalgar  Square  is  the  place 
where  the  king's  hawks  were  kept  in  the  time  of  Richard  II. 
Sir  Simon  Burley  is  mentioned  as  keeper  of  the  fal- 
cons "at  the  meuset  near  Charing  Cross."  The  site  was 
occupied  by  the  Royal  Stables  from  the  time  of  Henry 
VIII.  to  that  of  George  IV.,  when  they  gave  place  to  the 
National  Gallery,  built  1832 — 38  from  designs  of  IV.  Wilkins, 
R.A.  The  handsome  portico  of  the  Prince  Regent's  palace 
of  Carlton  House  has  been  removed  hither,  and  in  spite 
of  the  wretched  dome  above  it,  if  it  were  approached  by 
steps  like  those  of  St.  Martin's,  it  would  be  effective :  as 
it  is,  it  is  miserable.}     The,  till  lately,  fine  view  from  the 

•  See  Rev.  W.  G.  Humphry's  "  History  of  the  Parish  of  St.  Martin's  in  the 
Fields." 

t  The  word  mezv  was  applied  by  falconers  to  the  moulting  of  birds :  it  is  the 
French  word  mtie,  derived  from  the  Latin  mu/are,  to  change. 

X  lhe  ational  Oallery  is  open  to  the  public  on  Mondays,  Tuesdays,  Wednes- 
days, and  Saturdays  :  on  Thursdays  and  Fridays  it  is  open  to  students  only.  The 
hours  of  admission  are  from  10  to  5  from  November  to  April,  and  from  10  to  6  in 
May,  June,  July,  August,  and  the  first  iortnight  in  eptember.  During  the  last 
two  weeks  of  September  and  the  whole  of  October  the  Gallery  is  closed. 


8  WALKS  IN  LONDON, 

portico    has   been   utterly    ruined    by   the   destruction    of 
Northumberland  House. 

"  This  unhappy  structure  may  be  said  to  have  everything  it  ought 
not  to  have,  and  nothing  which  it  ought  to  have.  It  possesses  windows 
without  glass,  a  cupola  without  size,  a  portico  without  "height,  pepper- 
boxes without  pepper,  and  the  finest  site  in  Euiope  without  anything 
to  show  upon  it." — All  the  Year  Round.     1862. 


or** 


Northumberland  House— from  the  National  Gallery. 


The  National  Collection  of  pictures  originated  in  the 
purchase  of  Mr.  Angerstein's  Gallery  on  the  urgent 
advice  of  Sir  George  Beaumont,  who  added  to  it  his  own 
collection  of  pictures,  in  1824.  It  has  since  then  been 
enormously  increased  by  donations  and  purchases.  A 
sum  of  ^10,000  is  annually  allotted  to  the  purchase 
of  pictures.     The  contents  of  the  gallery  were  rehung  in 


THE  NATIONAL    GALLERY.  g 

1S76,  when  many  new  rooms  were  opened,  which  allow  an 
advantageous  arrangement  of  the  pictures,  but  are  full  of 
meretricious  taste  in  their  upper  decorations,  and  of  tawdry 
colour  injurious  to  the  effect  of  the  precious  works  of  art 
they  contain.  The  collection  (according  to  the  numbers 
attached  to  the  Rooms)  begins  with  the  specimens  of  the 
British  school ;  but  alas  !  the  curators  are  only  beginning  to 
realise  the  truth  of  Ruskin's  advice  that — 

"  It  is  of  the  highest  importance  that  the  works  of  each  master 
should  be  kept  together  ;  no  great  master  can  be  thoroughly  enjoyed  but 
by  getting  into  his  humour,  and  remaining  long  enough  under  his  influ- 
ence to  understand  his  whole  mode  and  cast  of  thought." 

It  is  impossible  to  notice  all  the  pictures  here :  they  will 
be  iound  described  in  the  admirable  catalogues  of  Mr. 
Wornum  which  are  sold  at  the  door.  But  "  in  a  picture 
gallery,"  as  Shelley  says,  "  you  see  three  hundred  pictures 
you  forget  for  one  you  remember,"  and  the  object  of  the 
following  catalogue  is  to  notice  only  the  best  specimens  of 
each  master  deserving  attention,  or  pictures  which  are  im- 
portant as  portraits,  as  constant  popular  favourites,  or  for 
some  story  with  which  they  are  connected.  Such  works  as 
may  be  considered  chefs-d'oeuvre,  even  when  compared  with 
foreign  collections,  are  marked  with  an  asterisk.  When  the 
painters  are  first  mentioned  the  dates  of  their  birth  and 
death  are  given. 

"  A  fine  gallery  of  pictures  is  like  a  palace  of  thought." — Hazlitt. 

"The  duration  and  stability  of  the  fame  of  the  old  masters  of  paint- 
ing is  sufficient  to  evince  that  it  has  not  been  suspended  upon  the 
slender  thread  of  fashion  and  caprice,  but  bound  to  the  human  heart  by 
every  chord  of  sympathetic  approbation." — Sir  J.  Reynolds. 

"Painting  is  an  intermediate  somewhat  between  a  thought  and  a 
thing." — Coleridge. 


10  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

At  the  foot  of  the  Staircase  on  the  left  are — 

Statue  of  Sir  David  Wilkie,  1785 — 1841,  by  S.  Joseph— his  pallet  is 
inserted  in  the  pedestal. 

Bust  ofThomas  Stothard,  1755—1834,  Weekes. 

Bust  of  W.  Mulready,  1796 — 1863,  Weekes. 

Relief  of  Thetis  issuing  from  the  sea  to  console  Achilles  for  the  loss 
of  Patroclus — T.  Banks. 

Troilus  and  Cressida,  painted  in  1806  by  John  Opie,  1761— 1807. 

Manto  and  Tiresias,  painted  by  Henry  Singleton,  1766 — 1839. 

The  Collection  is  supposed  to  begin  in  the  room  farthest 
from  the  head  of  the  Staircase.  We  may  notice  (beginning 
on  the  left)  in — 

Room  I. 

430.  E.  M.  Ward.  Dr.  Johnson  waiting  neglected  for  an  audience 
in  the  ante-room  of  Lord  Chesterfield. 

*  604.  Sir  E.  Landseet,  1802— 1873.  "  Dignity  and  Impudence  " — 
a  bloodhound  and  a  Scotch  terrier  looking  out  of  the  same  kennel. 

449.  Alexander  Johnston.  Tillotson  administering  the  sacrament  to 
Lord  and  Lady  William  Russell  at  the  Tower  on  the  day  before  his 
execution. 

432.  E.  M.  Ward.  The  South  Sea  Bubble,  a  Scene  in  Change 
Alley  in  1 720 — a  picture  full  of  excitement  and  movement. 

*  621.  Rosa  Bonheur.  The  Horse  Fair — a  repetition  from  a  larger 
picture. 

810.  Charles  Poassin  (Modern  French  School).  Pardon  Day  on  the 
fete  of  Notre  Dame  de  Bon  Secours  at  Guingamp  in  Brittany — a  multi- 
tude of  peasants  in  costume,  in  a  sunlit  wood. 

616.  E.  M.  Ward.  James  II.  receiving  the  news  of  the  landing  of 
William  of  Orange  in  the  palace  of  Whitehall,  1688. 

425.  J.  R.  Herbert.  Sir  Thomas  More  with  Margaret  Roper 
watching  the  monks  of  the  Charterhouse  led  to  execution  from  his 
prison  window. 

620.  Frederick  R.  Lee.  A  River  with  low-lying  banks  :  the  cattle 
by  T.  S.  Cooper. 

427.   Thomas  Webster.    A  Dame's  School— full  of  nature  and  charm. 

410.  Sir  E.  Landseer.  "  Low  Life  "  and  "  High  Life  "—two  dogs. 
/  615.  W.  P.  Frith.  The  Derby  Day,  1856— a  gaudy  and  ugly,  but 
popular  picture. 


THE  ENGLISH  SCHOOL.  n 

411.  Sir  E.  Landseer.  "Highland  Music"— an  old  piper  inter- 
mpting  five  dogs  at  their  supper  with  his  bagpipes. 

609.  Sir  E.  Landseer.     "  The  Maid  and  the  Magpie  "—the  story  1/ 
which  was  made  the  subject  of  Rossini's  Opera,  the  "  Gazza  Ladra." 

447.  E.  W.  Cooke.     Dutch  Boats  in  a  Calm. 

422.  Daniel  Maclise,  1811— 1870.     The  Play-Scene  in  Hamlet. 

*  608.  Sir  E.  Landseer.  "Alexander  and  Diogenes" — a  group  of 
dogs. 

*  606.  Sir  E.  Landseer.     "  Shoeing.",/ 

Room  II.  (turning  left). 

369.  Joseph  Mallord  William  Turner,  1 775— 1 85 1.  The  Prince  of 
Orange  landing  at  Torbay,  1688. 

407.  Clarkson  Stanfield,  1793 — 1867.    Canal  of  the  Giudecca,  Venice. 

397.  Sir  Charles  Eastlake,    1793— 1865.      Christ  lamenting    over  </ 
Jerusalem. 

688.  James  Ward,  1769—1859.  A  Landscape  with  Cattle— painted 
in  emulation  of  the  Bull  of  Paul  Potter  at  the  Hague,  at  the  suggestion 
of  Benjamin  West. 

374.  R.  P.  Bonington,  1801— 1828.  The  Piazzetta  of  St.  Mark's  at 
Venice. 

394.  William  Mulready,  1786 — 1863.  Tipsy  Men  returning  from  a 
Fair. 

452.  John  Frederick  Herring,  1794— 1865.  "The  Frugal  Meal  "— 
an  admirable  specimen  of  this  great  horse-painter. 

898.  Sir  Charles  Eastlake.  Lord  Byron's  Dream — a  beautiful  Greek 
landscape. 

388.  Thomas  Unvins,  1782— 1857.  "LeChapeau  de  Brigand  "—a 
little  girl  who  has  dressed  herself  up  in  a  costume  found  in  a  painter's 
studio  during  his  absence. 

*  600.  Joseph  Laurens  Dyckmans  (Flemish  Schcol).  The  Blind 
Beggar— bequeathed  by  Miss  Jane  Clarke,  a  milliner  in  Regent  Street. 

404.   C.  Stanfield.     Entrance  to  the  Zuyder  Zee,  Texel  Island. 
412.  Sir  E.  Landseer.     The  Hunted  Stag. 

Room  III. 

340.  Sir  Augustus  Callcott,  1779— 1844.  Dutch  Peasants  returning 
from  Market. 

689.  John  Crome,  "Old  Crome,"  the  Norwich  Painter,  1769—1821. 
Mousehold  Heath,  near  Norwich. 

338.  William  Hilton,  1786— 1839.  The  meeting  of  Eleazai  and 
Rebekah  -  beautiful  in  colour,  but  without  expression. 


T2  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

897.  J.  Crome.     The  Chapel  Fields  at  Norwich. 
327.  John  Constable,  1776 — 1837.     The  Valley  Farm. 

121.  Benjami?i  West,  1738 — 1820.  Cleombrotus  banished  by  his 
father-in-law,  Leonidas  II.  of  Sparta. 

"  How  do  you  like  West  ?  "  said  I  to  Canova.  "  Comme  qa."  "  Au 
moms,"  said  I,  "  il  compose  Men.''''  "  Non,  monsieur,"  said  Canova, 
"  il  met  des  modeles  en  groupes." — Haydon's  Autobiography. 

130.  J.  Constable.     The  Corn  Field. 

300.  John  Hoppner,    1759 — 1810.      Portrait  of  William   Pitt    the 
Prime  Minister. 
,x     894.  Sir  David    Wilkie,    1785 — 1841.      The    Preaching    of    John 
Knox  before  the  Lords  of  the  Congregation,  June  10,  1559. 

345.  Sir  A.  Callcott.     The  Old  Pier  at  Littlehampton. 

813.   Turner.     Fishing  Boats  in  a  stiff  breeze,  off  the  coast. 

*  99.  D.  Wilkie.  The  Blind  Fiddler — a  charmingly  dramatic  pic- 
ture, painted  for  Sir  G.  Beaumont. 

126.  Benjamin  West.  Pylades  and  Orestes  brought  as  victims 
before  Iphigenia — one  of  the  earliest  and  best  pictures  of  the  master. 

122.  D.  Wilkie.     The  Village  Festival. 

922.  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  1769—  1 830.     A  Child  with  a  Kid. 

241.  Sir  D.  Wilkie.     The  Parish  Beadle. 
^785.  Sir  T.  Lawrence.     Portrait  of  Mrs.   Siddons,  bequeathed  by 
her  daughter. 

119.  Sir  George  Beaumont,  1753 — 1827.  A  Landscape  in  the 
Ardennes,  with  Jacques  and  the  Wounded  Stag,  from  "  As  You 
Like  It." 

120.  Sir  William  Beechey,  1 753— 1839.  Portrait  of  Joseph  Nolle- 
kens  the  Sculptor. 

317.   Thomas  Stothard,  1755 — 1834.     A  Greek  Vintage. 

171.  John  Jackson,  1778— 1831.  Portrait  of  Sir  John  Soane,  the 
architect  of  the  Bank  of  England.  Jackson  was  the  son  of  a  tailor, 
whose  genius  for  art  was  awakened  by  seeing  the  pictures  at  Castle 
Howard. 

370.  Turner.    Venice,  from  the  sea. 

371.  Turner.     "  Lake  Avernus  " — quite  imaginary. 

372.  Turner.     The  Canal  of  the  Giudecca,  Venice. 

183.  TJiomas  Phillips,  1770— 1845.  Portrait  of  Sir  David  Wilkie 
in  his  44th  year. 

Room  IV. 

Is  entirely  devoted  to  Sketches  by  Turner.     Here  are  all  the  sketches 
in  brown  for  the  "  Liber  Studiorum,"  executed  in  1807  in  imitation  of 


THE  ENGLISH  SCHOOL. 


'3 


the  "  Libei  Veritatis  "  of  Claude.  Norham  Castle,  and  the  Devil's 
Bridge,  near  Andermatt,  are  perhaps  the  best.  The  other  sketches  are 
often  mere  indications  of  form,  or  splashes  of  colour,  but  in  both  the 
most  salient  points  are  given.  Those  of  Venice  will  bring  its  sun- 
illumined  towers  and  glistening  water  most  vividly  to  the  mind : 
those  of  Rome  are  heavier,  and  less  characteristic. 

*  41.  The  Battle  of  Fort  Rock,  in  the  Val  d'Aosta,  painted  in  1815 
— a  tremendous  struggle  of  the  elements  above  harmonizes  with  the 
battle  below. 

*  35.  Edinburgh  from  the  Calton  Hill — a  noble  drawing  ;  the  castle 
and  town  are  seen  in  the  golden  haze  of  a  summer  sunset. 

560.  Chichester  Canal — a  very  powerful  though  unfinished  sketch 
in  oils. 

Room  V. 

682.  Benjamin  Robert  Haydon,  1786 — 1846.  Punch  and  Judy,  01 
Life  in  London.  The  scene  is  in  the  New  Road,  near  Marylebone 
Church. 

229.   Gilbert  Stuart,  1755 — 1828.     Portrait  of  Benjamin  West. 

792.  Thomas  Barker,  the  Bath  painter,  1769 — 1847.  A  Woodman 
and  his  Dog  in  a  storm. 

131.  Benjamin   West.     Christ    healing   the    sick    in    the   Temple.  , 
Greatly  admired  when  first  exhibited. 

188.  Sir  T.  Lawrence.  Portrait  of  Mrs.  Siddons — presented  by  her 
friend  Mrs.  Fitzhugh. 

217.   Gilbert  Stuart.     Portrait  of  William  Woollett  the  engraver. 

793.  John  Martin,  1 789 — 1854.  The  Destruction  of  Herculaneum 
and  Pompeii. 

Passing,  in  the  entrance,  a  group  of  "  Hylas  and  the 
Water  Nymphs,"  by  John  Gibson,  we  reach — 

Room  VI.,  entirely  devoted  to  the  great  works  of  Turner, 
which  he  bequeathed  to  the  nation.  Amongst  so  many, 
attention  may  be  especially  directed  to — 

*  524.  The  Fighting  Temeraire  tugged  to  her  Last  Berth.  She 
was  an  old  98,  captured  at  the  battle  of  the  Nile,  and,  commanded  by 
Captain  Harvey,  was  the  second  ship  in  Lord  Nelson's  division  at  the 
battle  of  Trafalgar,  1805.     She  was  broken  up  at  Deptford  in  1838. 

516.  "  Childe  Harold's  Pilgrimage,"  an  imaginary  Italian  Land- 
scape— the  bridge  is  that  of  Narni;  second  period  of  the  master. 


t^ 


14  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

505.  The  Bay  of  Baiae. 

511.  The  Distant  View  of  Orvieto,  1830. 

508.  Ulysses  deriding  Polyphemus  (1829)— a  gorgeous  golden  and 
crimson  sunrise.  The  sky  is  perhaps  the  finest  Turner  ever  painted  : 
the  picture  is  a  grand  specimen  of  his  second  manner. 

*  492.  Sunrise  on  a  Frosty  Morning. 
483.  London  from  Greenwich. 

*  497.  Crossing  the  Brook— the  valley  of  the  Tamar  looking  towards 
Mount  Edgecumbe. 

496.  Bligh  Sand,  near  Sheerness. 
458.  Portrait  of  Himself,  c.  1802. 

*  472.  Calais  Pier,  1803.  In  point  of  date  this  is  the  earliest 
masterpiece  of  the  artist.  It  is  a  grand  picture,  but  the  shadows  are 
exaggerated  in  order  to  render  the  lights  more  powerful. 

501.  The  Meuse,  an  Orange-Merchantman  going  to  pieces  on  the  bar. 
480.  The  Death  of  Nelson  at  the  Battle  of  Trafalgar,  Oct.  21,  1805. 
476.  The  Shipwreck — fishing  boats  coming  to  the  rescue.     1805. 
470.  The  Tenth  Plague  of  Egypt. 

495.  Apuleia  in  search  of  Apuleius— a  beautiful  hilly  landscape. 
528.  The  Burial  ofWilkie.     Sir  David  Wilkie  died  June  1,  1841, 
on  board  the  Oriental  Steamer  off  Gibraltar,  and  was  buried  at  sea. 

Room  VII. 

£/*H2.   William  Hogarth,  1697 — 1764.     His  own  portrait. 

The  feigned  oval  canvas  which  contains  this  characteristic  portrait 
rests  on  volumes  of  Shakspeare,  Milton,  and  Swift,  the  favourite 
authors  of  the  artist :  by  the  side  is  his  dog  Trump.  The  picture, 
executed  in  1749,  remained  in  the  hands  of  Hogarth's  widow  till  her 
death  in  1789,  when  it  was  bought  by  Mr.  Angerstein. 

*  307.  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  1723 — 1 792.     The  Age  of  Innocence. 
.129.  Sir  T.  Lawrence.      Portrait   of  John  Julius  Angerstein    the 

Banker,  and  the  collector  of  the  Angerstein  Gallery,  which  was  the 
foundation  of  the  National  Gallery. 

162.  Sir  J.  Reynolds.  The  Infant  Samuel — a  picture  frequently 
repeated  by  the  artist. 

79.  Sir  J.  Reynolds.  The  Graces  decorating  a  terminal  figure  of 
Hymen.  The  "  Graces  "  are  Lady  Townshend,  Mrs.  Gardener,  and 
Mrs.  Beresford,  daughters  of  Sir  William  Montgomery. 

754.  Sir  J .  Reynolds .  Portraits  of  the  Rev.  George  Huddesford  and 
Mr.  John  Codrington  Warwick  Bampfylde  :  the  latter  holds  a  violin. 

684.  Thomas  Gainsborough,  1727  —  1788.  Portrait  of  Ralph 
Schomberg,  Esq. 


THE   ENGLISH  SCHOOL.  15 

»  113 — 118.  W.  Hogarth.  The  "  Marriage  a  la  Mode,"  or  Profligacy  \y^ 
in  High  Life. 

Hogarth  was  "  a  writer  of  comedy  with  a  pencil,  rather  than  a 
painter.  If  catching  the  manners  and  follies  of  an  age  living  as  they 
ri".  if  general  satire  on  vices  and  ridicules,  familiarised  by  strokes  of 
nature,  and  heightened  by  wit,  and  the  whole  animated  by  proper  and 
just  expiessions  of  the  passions,  be  comedy,  Hogarth  composed  come- 
dies as  much  as  Moliere  ;  in  his  Marriage  a  la  Mode  there  is  even  an 
intrigue  carried  on  throughout  the  piece.  .  .  .  Hogarth  had  no  model 
to  follow  and  improve  upon.  He  created  his  art ;  and  used  colours 
instead  of  language.  He  resembles  Butler,  but  his  subjects  are  more 
universal,  and  amidst  all  his  pleasantry,  he  observes  the  true  end  ot 
comedy,  reformation ;  there  is  always  a  moral  to  his  pictures.  Some- 
times he  rose  to  tragedy,  not  in  the  catastrophe  of  kings  and  heroes, 
but  in  marking  how  vice  conducts  insensibly  and  incidentally  to  misery 
and  shame.  He  warns  against  encouraging  cruelty  and  idleness  in 
young  minds,  and  discerns  how  the  different  vices  of  the  great  and 
the  vulgar  lead  by  various  paths  to  the  same  unhappiness." —  Walpole, 
Anecdotes  of  Painting. 

No.  113.  "The  Marriage  Contract."  The  gouty  father  of  the 
noble  bridegroom  points  to  his  pedigree,  as  his  share  of  the  dowry, 
while  the  rich  merchant  who  is  father  of  the  bride  is  engrossed  by  the 
money  part.  The  betrothed  couple  sit  side  by  side  on  a  sofa,  utterly 
indifferent  to  one  another,  and  two  pointers  chained  together  against 
their  will  are  emblematic  of  the  ceremony  they  have  been  engaged  in. 
The  attentions  which  young  Counsellor  Silvertongue  is  bestowing  upon 
the  bride  already  indicate  the  catastrophe. 

114.  "Shortly  after  Marriage."  The  young  wife,  who  has  spent 
the  night  in  playing  cards,  is  seated  at  the  breakfast  table.  Beyond 
is  seen  the  card-room  with  neglected  candles  still  burning.  The 
husband  comes  in,  and  flings  himself  down  listlessly  after  a  night's 
debauch  :  a  little  dog  sniffs  at  a  lady's  cap  in  his  pocket.  The  old 
steward  leaves  the  room  disconsolate,  with  a  packet  of  bills. 

"The  Visit  to  the  Quack  Doctor."  The  young  libertine  quarrels 
with  a  quack  and  a  procuress  for  having  deceived  him.  The  girl,  who 
is  the  cause  of  the  dispute,  stands  by  with  indifference. 

116.  "  The  Countess's  Dressing-Room."  By  the  death  of  her  father- 
in-law  the  wife  has  become  a  countess,  and  the  child's  coral  on  the  back 
of  her  chair  shows  that  she  is  a  mother.  But  she  is  still  plunged  in 
the  most  frivolous  dissipation.  Her  morning  reception  is  crowded,  and 
amongst  those  present  we  recognise  Silvertongue,  the  young  lawyer, 
lounging  on  a  sofa.  He  presents  her  with  a  ticket  for  a  masquerade, 
where  the  assignation  is  made  which  leads  to  the  last  two  scenes. 


16  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

117.  "The  Duel  and  Death  of  the  Earl."  The  Earl  discovers  the 
infidelity  of  his  wife,  and,  attempting  to  avenge  it,  is  mortally  wounded 
by  her  lover.  The  Countess  implores  forgiveness  from  her  dying  hus- 
band ;  while  the  lover  tries  to  escape  by  the  window,  but  is  arrested  by 
the  watch.     The  scene,  a  bedroom,  is  illuminated  from  a  wood-fiie. 

118.  "The  Death  of  the  Countess."  The  guilty  wife  takes  poison 
in  the  house  of  her  father,  the  London  Alderman,  upon  learning  that 
her  lover  has  been  executed  by  "  Counsellor  Silvertongue's  last  dying 
speech,"  which  lies  upon  the  floor  by  the  empty  bottle  of  laudanum. 
The  old  nurse  holds  up  the  child  to  its  dying  mother.  The  apothecary 
scolds  the  servant  who  has  procured  the  poison  ;  the  doctor  retires,  as 
the  case  is  hopeless.  The  father,  with  a  mixture  of  comedy  and 
tragedy,  draws  off  the  rings  of  the  dying  lady.  A  half-starved  hound 
takes  advantage  of  the  contusion  to  steal  a  "  brawn's  head"  from  the 
table. 

,  78.  Sir  J.  Reynolds.  The  Holy  Family — a  graceful  but  most 
earthly  group.  Charles  Lamb  says,  "  For  a  Madonna  Sir  Joshua  has 
here  substituted  a  sleepy,  insensible,  unmotherly  girl." 

789.  T.  Gainsborough.  Mr.  J.  Baillie  of  Ealing  Grove,  with  his 
wife  and  four  children. 

80.   Gainsborough.     The  Market  Cart. 

681.  Sir  y.  Reynolds.  Portrait  of  Captain  Orme,  standing  leaning 
on  his  horse. 

311.  Gainsborough.     Rustic  Children. 

*  760.  Gainsborough.  Portrait  of  Edward  Orpin,  the  parish  clerk  of 
Bradford  in  Wiltshire. 

182.  Sir  J.  Rejmolds.  Heads  of  Angels — being  studies  from  the 
head  of  Frances  Isabella  Ker  Gordon,  daughter  of  Lord  and  Lady 
William  Gordon. 

107.     Sir  y.  Reynolds.     The  Banished  Lord— a  head. 

312.  George  Romney,  1734 — 1802.  Lady  Hamilton  as  a  Bacchante. 
"The  male  heads  of  Romney  were  decided  and  grand,  the  female 
lovely  ;  his  figures  resembled  the  antique  ;  the  limbs  were  elegant  and 
finely  formed ;  the  drapery  was  well  understood.  Few  artists  since 
the  fifteenth  century  have  been  able  to  do  so  much  in  so  many  different 
branches." — Flaxman. 

*  1 1 1 .  Sir  y.  Reynolds.  Portrait  of  Lord  Heathfield,  ob.  1 790. 
One  of  the  noblest  portraits  of  the  master.  The  gallant  defender  of 
Gibraltar  stands  before  the  rock,  which  is  shrouded  in  the  smoke  of  the 
siege.  He  is  represented  grasping  the  key  of  the  fortress,  "  than  which 
imagination  cannot  conceive  anything  more  ingenious  and  heroically 
characteristic."  * 

•  Barry. 


THE  ENGLISH  SCHOOL.  17 

This  portrait  carries  out  to  the  full  the  theory  of  the  master — "  A 
single  figure  must  be  single,  and  not  look  like  a  part  of  a  composition 
with  other  figures,  but  must  be  a  composition  of  itself." 

"We  cannot  look  at  this  picture  without  thinking  of  the  Hues  given 
by  Burns  to  his  heroic  beggar — • 

'  Yet  let  my  country  need  me,  with  Elliott  to  lead  me, 
I'd  clatter  on  my  stumps  at  the  sound  of  a  drum  ' — 

lines  that  may  have  been  written  while  Reynolds  was  painting  the 
picture." — Leslie  and  Taylor's  Life  of  Sir  J.  Reynolds. 

188.  Richard  Wilson,  1713— 1782.     The  Villa  of  Maecenas  at  Tivoli. 

128.  Sir  J.  Reynolds.  Portrait  of  the  Rt.  Hon.  W.  Wyndham, 
Secretary  at  War  during  Fox's  administration. 

Room  VIII. 

725.  Joseph  Wright  of  Derby,  1734 — 179".  An  Experiment  with 
an  Air  Pump — upon  a  Parrot. 

306.  Sir  J.  Reynolds.     Portrait  of  Himself. 

133.  John  Hoppner,  1759 — 1810.  Portrait  of  "  Gentleman  Smith  " 
the  actor. 

325.  Sir  T.  Lawrence.     Portrait  of  John  Fawcett  the  Comedian. 

144.  Sir  T.  Lawrence.  Portrait  of  Benjamin  West  the  Painter,  in 
his  71st  year — executed  for  George  IV. 

O75.   W.Hogarth.     Portrait  of  his  sister,  Mary  Hogarth,  1 746. 

302,  303.  R.  Wilson.     Scenes  in  Italy. 

*  723.  J.  S.  Copley,  1737 — 1815.*  The  Death  of  Major  Peirson, 
killed  in  an  engagement  with  the  French  at  St.  Helier,  Jersey,  Jan.  6, 
1 7 8 1 .  The  figures  introduced  in  the  picture,  which  represents  the 
carrying  the  body  of  Major  Peirson  out  of  the  fight,  are  all  portraits. 

143.  Sir  J.  Reynolds.  Equestrian  portrait  of  Field  Marshal  Lord 
Ligonier,  who  fought  at  the  Battle  of  Dettingen,  and  is  buried  in 
Westminster  Abbey.     Sir  Joshua  could  not  paint  a  horse. 

100.  J.  S.  Copley.  The  Fatal  Seizure  of  the  great  Lord  Chatham  in 
the  House  of  Lords,  April  7,  1778.  The  fifty-five  peers  represented 
are  all  portraits. 

Outside,  on  the  stairs. 

786.  B.  R.  Haydon,  1786 — 1846.  The  Raising  of  Lazarus.  Most 
spectators  will  feel  this,  intended  to  rival  the  Lazarus  of  Sebastian  del 
Piombo,  to  be  a  hideous  picture  ;  yet  who  that  has  read  in  "  Haydon 'c 
Autobiography"  the  story  of  the  hopes,  and  struggles,  and  faith  in  which 

•  The  father  of  the  Chancellor  Lord  Lyndhurst. 
VOL.  II.  C 


18 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


it  was  painted,  can  look  on  it  without  the  deepest  interest  ?  After  it 
was  finished  he  wrote,  "  If  God  in  his  mercy  spare  that  picture,  my 
posthumous  reputation  is  secured." 

795.  G.  Cruikshank.  "  The  Worship  of  Bacchus,"  or  the  Results  of 
Drunkenness. 

We  now  turn  to  the  Foreign  School  of  Painting. 

Room  IX.  (beginning  on  the  left),  chiefly  devoted  to  the 
works  of  Claude  and  Poussin. 

62.  Nicolas  Poussin,  1594 — 1665.     A  Bacchanalian  Dance. 

N.  Poussin  was  a  native  of  Normandy,  Court  Painter  to  Louis  XrV. 
"No  works  of  any  modem  have  so  much  the  air  of  antique  painting  as 
those  of  Poussin.  Like  Polidoro,  he  studied  the  ancients  so  much  that 
he  acquired  a  habit  of  thinking  in  their  way,  and  seemed  to  know 
perfectly  the  actions  and  gestures  they  would  use  on  every  occasion." 
— Sir.  jf.  Reynolds. 

*3I.  Gaspar Poussin,  1613 — 1675.  A  Landscape — from  the  Colonna 
Palace  at  Rome.  The  (entirely  subservient)  figures  introduced  represent 
Abraham  and  Isaac  going  to  the  sacrifice.  One  of  the  best  works  of 
the  artist. 

164.  Nicolas  Poussin.     The  Plague  at  Ashdod. 

42.  N.  Poussin.  A  Bacchanalian  Festival — painted  for  the  Due  de 
Montmorenci. 

"  The  forms  and  characters  of  the  figures  introduced  are  purely  ideal, 
borrowed  from  the  finest  Greek  sculptures,  more  particularly  from  the 
antique  vases  and  sarcophagi ;  the  costumes  and  quality  of  the  draperies 
are  of  an  equally  remote  period  ;  the  very  hues  and  swarthy  com- 
plexions of  these  fabled  beings,  together  with  the  instruments  of  sacri- 
fice and  music — even  the  surrounding  scenery — are  altogether  so  unlike 
what  any  modern  eye  ever  beheld,  that  in  contemplating  them  the  mind 
is  thrown  back  at  once,  and  wholly,  into  the  remotest  antiquity." — Sir 
y.  Reynolds. 

*  61.  Claude  GeUe  de  Lorraine,  1600 — 1682.  A  Landscape  of 
exquisite  finish.  This  little  picture  belonged  to  Sir  George  Beaumont, 
and  was  so  much  valued  by  him  that,  after  his  magnificent  gift  of  his 
pictures  to  the  nation,  he  requested  to  be  allowed  to  keep  it  for  life, 
and  always  carried  it  about  with  him. 

161.  G.  Poussin.     An  Italian  Landscape — from  the  Colonna  Palace. 

6.  Claude.  Landscape  with  figures,  supposed  to  represent  David 
and  his  companions  at  the  Cave  of  Adullam.  One  of  the  soldiers  has 
just  brought  the  water  from  the  well  of  Bethlehem.     The  figures  are 


THE  FOREIGN  SCHOOLS.  19 

stiff,  the  quiet  landscape  glorious.     This  picture,  painted  for  Agostino 
Chigi  in  1658,  is  called  the  "  Chigi  Claude." 

12.  Claude.  Landscape  with  figures — shown,  by  the  inscription  on 
the  picture,  to  be  intended  to  represent  the  marriage  festival  of  Isaac 
and  Rebekah,  painted  1648.  It  is  an  inferior  repetition,  with  some 
differences,- from  "Claude's  Mill"  in  the  Palazzo  Doria  at  Rome. 

*  479-  J'M.  W.  Turner,  1775 — 1851.     The  Sun  rising  in  a  Mist. 
The  position  of  this  beautiful  picture  results  from  a  conceit  in  the  will  " 
of  the  artist,  who  bequeathed  it,  with  its  companion,  to  the  Nation,  on 
condition  of   their  being  permitted   to  occupy  their  present  position 
between  the  two  great  Claudes. 

478.  Turner.  Dido  building  Carthage — painted  in  the  style  of,  and 
in  rivalry  with,  the  Claude  by  its  side. 

*  14.  Claude.  The  Embarkation  of  the  Queen  of  Sheba — a  glorious 
effect  of  morning  sunlight  on  quivering  sea-waves.  This  picture, 
painted  for  the  Due  de  Bouillon  in  1648,  is  known  as  <;  the  Bouillon 
Claude."  No  one  can  compare  it  with  the  picture  by  its  side  without 
feeling  that  the  English  painter  has  failed  in  his  rivalry. 

198.  Philippe  de  Champagne,  1602 — 1674.  Three  portraits  of 
Cardinal  Richelieu,  painted  for  the  sculptor  Mochi  to  make  a  bust 
from.  Over  the  profile  on  the  right  are  the  words — De  ces  deux 
profiler  ce  cy  est  le  meillenr. 

36.  Gaspar  Poussin.     The  Land-Storm. 

2.  Claude.  Pastoral  Landscape.  The  figures  represent  the  recon- 
ciliation of  Cephalus  and  Procris— painted  in  1645. 

30.  Claude.  A  Seaport,  with  the  Embarkation  of  St.  Ursula — 
painted  for  Cardinal  Barberini  in  1646 — a  lifeless  specimen  of  the  master. 

903.  Hyacinthe  Rigaud,  1657— 1743.     Portrait  of  Cardinal  Fleury. 

206.  Jean  Baptisie  Greuze,  1725 — 1 805.     Head  of  a  Girl. 

Room  X. 

200.  Giovanni  Battista  Salvi,  called,  from  his  birthplace,  Sasso*- 
ferrato,  1605 — 1685.     The  Madonna  in  Prayer. 

93,  94.  Annibale  Carracci.  Silenus  gathering  Grapes,  and  Pan 
teaching  Bacchus  to  play  on  the  Pipes.  These  pictures  are  thoroughly 
Greek  in  character.  Lanzi  speaks  of  the  Pan  and  Bacchus  as  rivalling 
the  designs  of  Herculaneum. 

22.  Giovanni  Francesco  Barbiere,  called,  from  his  squint,  Guercino, 
1592— 1666.  Angels  bewailing  the  dead  Christ— from  the  Borghese 
Gallery. 

127,  163.—  Antonio  Canal,  called  Canaletto,  1697— 1768.  Views  in 
Venice. 


V 


20  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

174.  Carlo  Maratti,  1625— 1713.     Portrait  of  Cardinal  Cerri. 

271.   Guido  Reni,  1575 — 1642.     "EcceHomo." 

88.  Annibale  Carracci.  Erminia  taking  refuge  with  the  Shepherds 
■ — from  the.  story  in  Tasso. 

21.  Crisloforo  Allori,  commonly  called  Bronzino,  1577 — 1621. 
Portrait  of  a  Lady. 

246.  Jacopo  Pacchiarotto,  b.  1474.     Madonna  and  Child. 

84.  Salvator  Rosa,  1615 — 1673.  Landscape,  with  Alercury  and  the 
Dishonest  Woodman. 

"  Salvator  delights  in  ideas  of  desolation,  solitude,  and  danger ;  im- 
penetrable forests,  rocky  or  storm-lashed  shores ;  in  lonely  dells 
leading  to  dens  and  caverns  of  banditti,  alpine  ridges,  trees  blasted  by 
lightning  or  sapped  by  time,  or  stretching  their  extravagant  arms 
athwart  a  murky  sky,  lowering  or  thundering  clouds,  and  suns  shorn 
of  their  beams.  His  figures  are  wandering  shepherds,  forlorn  travellers, 
wrecked  mariners,  banditti  lurking  for  their  prey,  or  dividing  the 
spoils." — Ftiseli. 

214.  Guido  Reni.  The  Coronation  of  the  Virgin — the  hard  outlines 
indicate  an  early  period  of  the  master. 

645.  Mariotto  Albertinelli,  1471 — 1515.     Madonna  and  Child. 

177.  Guido  Reni.     The  Magdalen — often  repeated  by  the  master. 

704.  Bronzino.     Portrait  of  Cosimo  I.,  Duke  of  Tuscany. 

193.  Guido  Reni.     Lot  and  his  Daughters  leaving  Sodom. 

29.  Federigo  Barocci,  1528 — 1612.  A  Holy  Family  called  "La 
Madonna  del  Gatto,"  from  the  cat  which  is  introduced  in  the  picture. 

268.  Paul  Veronese.  The  Adoration  of  the  Magi — painted  in  1573 
foi  the  Church  of  San  Silvestro  at  Venice,  where  it  remained  till  1855. 

740.  Sasso/errato.  Madonna  and  Child — a  picture  interesting  as 
having  been  presented  by  Pope  Gregory  XVI.  to  the  town  of  Sasso- 
ferrato,  at  once  his  own  native  place  and  that  of  the  artist,  G.  B. 
Salvi. 

196.  Guido  Reni.  Susannah  and  the  Elders — from  the  Palazzo 
Lancellotti  at  Rome. 

228.  Jacopo  da  Ponte,  commonly  called  Bassano  from  his  native 
place,  1510 — 1592.     Christ  expelling  the  Money-Changers. 

Room  XI.  (the  Wynn  Ellis  Gift). 

978.  Vandevelde.  Sea  Piece — artists  will  observe  the  invariable 
lowness  of  the  horizon  in  the  works  ol  this  admirable  master. 

974.  Quintin  Matsys,  the  "Smith  of  Antwerp,"  1466— 1530. 
The  Misers— a  theme  often  repeated  by  the  master;  this  edition  ia 
unpleasant,  but  full  ol  power. 


THE  FOREIGN  SCHOOLS.  21 

970.   Metsu,  b.  1615.     The  Drowsy  Landlady. 
930    School  of  Giorgione.     The  Garden  of  Love. 
966.    Vander  Cappelle,  c.  1650.     Shipping. 
990.  Ruysdael.     A  Wooded  Landscape,  very  fine. 
937.  Canaletto  and  Tiepolo.     The  Scuola  di  San  Rocco  at  Venice, 
with  the  procession  on  Maundy  Thursday. 

1005.  Paul  Potter,  1625—1654.     An  ola  Grey  Hunter. 
952.  David  Tenters,  1610  — 1694.     A  Village  Fete. 

950.  Tenters  the  Elder,  1582— 1649.     Conversation. 

1019.  Greuze.     Head  of  a  Girl. 

1010.  Dirk  Van  Deelen,  c.  1670.  An  "  Apotheosis  of  Renaissance 
Architecture." 

1020.  Greuze.     Head  of  a  Girl. 
959-  Jan  Both.     Landscape. 

951.  Teniers  the  Elder.     Playing  at  Bowls. 
940.  Canaletto.    Ducal  Palace,  Venice. 

986.   Vandevelde.     A  Calm  at  Sea,  with  a  vessel  saluting. 

957.  Jan  Both,  1610— 1656.     Landscape  and  Cattle. 

♦961.  Albert  Cuyp,  1605 — 1691.  Milking-time  at  Dort — a  most 
beautiful  work  of  the  master.  The  contrasts  between  Cuyp  and 
Hobbema  prove  with  what  different  eyes  artists  can  behold  the  same 
type  of  scenery. 

965.    Vander  Cappelle.     River  Scene  with  a  State  Barge. 

IOOI.    Van  Huysum.     Flowers. 

"  Tan  Van  Huysum's  bright  and  sunny  treatment  entitles  him  to  the 
name  of  the  Correggio  of  flowers  and  fruits." — Kugler. 

928.  A.  Pollajuolo.  Apollo  and  Daphne— a  small  picture,  full  of 
quaint  conceit  and  richness  of  colour. 

929.  Rajfaelle  {?)     Madonna  and  Child. 

943.  Mending,  c.  1439 — 1495.     His  own  Portrait. 

Room  XII.     The  Dutch  School. 

"It  was  the  subjects  of  common  life  around  him,  and  the  widely- 
spread  demand  for  such  pictures  which  arose  from  all  classes,  which 
furnished  the  chief  occupation  of  the  Dutch  painter,  and  that  to  such 
an  extent  that,  considering  the  limited  dimensions  of  the  land  itself, 
and  the  comparatively  short  time  in  which  those  works  were  produced, 
we  are  equally  astonished  with  their  number  as  with  their  surpassing 
excellence.  ...  In  all  these  pictures,  whatever  their  class  of  subjects, 
two  qualities  invariably  prevail ;  the  most  refined  perception  of  the 
picturesque,  and  the  utmost  mastery  of  technical  skill.  Animated, 
also,  by  the  instinctively  right  feeling  which  told  the  painter  that  a 


22  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

small  scale  of  size  was  best  adapted  to  the  subordinate  moral  interest 
of  such  subjects,  we  find  them  almost  exclusively  of  limited  dimensions. 
These,  again,  were  best  suited  to  the  limited  accommodation  which 
the  houses  of  amateurs  afforded,  and  thus  we  trace  the  two  principal 
causes  which  created  in  Holland  what  may  be  called  the  Cabinet 
School  of  painting." — Kugler. 

805.  D.  Teniers.     An  old  Woman  in  her  cottage  peeling  a  pear. 

*  896.  Gerard  Terbitrg,  1608 — 1681.  The  Congress  of  Miinster, 
assembled  May  15,  1648,  in  the  Rathhaus  of  Miinster,  to  ratify  the 
treaty  of  peace  between  the  Spaniards  and  the  Dutch,  after  the  war 
which  had  lasted  80  years.     The  chef-d'oeuvre  of  the  master. 

797.   Cuyp.     A  Male  Portrait,  1649. 

175.  Vanderplaas,  1647 — 1704.  Portrait  called,  without  foundation, 
"John  Milton." 

155.  D.  Teniers.     The  Money-Changers. 

207.  Nicholas  Maas,  1632 — 1693.  The  Idle  Servant,  painted  in 
1655 — a  cat  is  going  to  steal  a  duck  ready  for  the  spit,  while  the  cook 
is  asleep. 

50.  Antony  Vandyck,  1599 — 1641.  The  Emperor  Theodosius  refused 
admission  by  St.  Ambrose  to  the  Church  of  San  Vittore  at  Milan — a 
copy  of  the  picture  by  Rubens  at  Vienna. 

242.  D.  Teniers.     Players  at  Tric-trac — a  Dutch  interior. 
291.  Lucas  Cranach,  1472 — 1552.     Portrait  of  a  Young  Lady  in  a 
red  dress — from  the  Alton  Towers  Collection. 

51.  Rembrandt.     Portrait  of  a  Jew  Merchant. 

71.  Jan  Both.     Landscape,  with  mules  and  muleteers. 

140.    Vander  Heist,  16 1 3 — 1670.     Portrait  of  a  Lady. 

59.  Rubens.  The  Brazen  Serpent — a  frightful  picture,  from  the 
Marana  Palace  at  Genoa ;  a  duplicate  exists  at  Madrid. 

46.  Rubens.  Peace  and  War.  This  picture  is  interesting  as  having 
been  presented  to  Charles  I.  by  the  painter  as  typical  of  the  pacific 
measures  he  recommended  when  he  was  sent  to  England  as  accredited 
ambassador  in  1630.  In  the  king's  catalogue  it  is  called  "  Peace  and 
Plenty." 

53.  A.  Cuyp.     Cattle  in  the  sunset. 

757.  Rembrandt  (.?).  Christ  blessing  Little  Children— the  children 
of  Dutch  peasants. 

209.  J.  Both.  A  Landscape,  with  figures,  representing  the  Judgment 
of  Paris,  by  Cornelius  Poelenburg. 

166.  Rembrandt.     Portrait  of  a  Capuchin  Friar. 

737.  Jacob  Ruysdael,  1625 — 1681.     A  Waterfa 

264.  Gerard  Vander  Meire,  14IO— 1480.  A  Count  of  Hanegau. 
with  St.  Ambrose,  his  patron  saint. 


THE    FOREIGN  SCHOOLS.  23 

654.  Roger  Vander  Weyden  the Younger,  1 450 — 1529.  The  Magdalen. 
747.  Memling.     St.  John  Baptist  and  St.  Lawrence. 
716.  Joachim  cLe  Patinir,  c.  1480 — 1524.      St.  Christopher  carrying 
the  Inlant  Christ. 

*  664.  Roger  Vander  Weyden  the  Elder,  c.  1390  —  1464.  The 
Entombment — a  wonderful  picture,  with  all  tiie  spirit  and  feeling  ot 
the  best  Italian  art. 

774.  Hugo  Vander  Goes,  c.  1440 — 1482.  Madonna  and  Child, 
enthroned. 

686.  Memling.     Madonna  and  Child  enthroned  in  a  garden. 

709.  Memling.     Madonna,  with  the  Child  on  a  white  cushion. 

653.  Roger  Vander  Weyden  the  Younger.  Portraits  of  the  Painter 
and  his  Wife. 

783.  Dietick  Bouts,  c.  1391 — 1475.  The  Exhumation  of  St.  Hubert, 
Bishop  of  Liege — from  the  Fonthill  Collection.  A  picture  of  wonderful 
expression  and  exquisite  finish. 

295.  Quintin  Matsys.     Salvator  Mundi  and  the  Virgin. 

710.  H.  Vander  Goes.     Portrait  of  a  Dominican  Monk. 

656.  Jan  Gossaert,  called,  from  his  birthplace,  Mabuse,  c.  I470 — 
1532.     Portrait  of  a  man  dressed  in  black. 

245.  A.  Durer  (?),  1471 — 1528.     Portrait  of  a  Senator. 

278.  Rubens.     The  Triumph  of  Julius  Caesar. 

49.  Vandyck.  Portrait  of  Rubens— irom  the  collection  of  Sir  J. 
Reynolds. 

*  243.  Rembrandt.     Male  Portrait. 

45.  Rembrandt.  The  Woman  taken  in  Adultery — one  of  the  finest 
of  Rembrandt's  cabinet  pictures.  The  sorrow  and  repentance  of  the 
woman  are  vividly  expressed,  though  she  is  a  great  lady  repenting  in  a 
train.     Painted  for  Jan  Six,  Heer  van  Vromade,  in  1644. 

*  52.  Vandyke.  Portrait  of  Cornelius  Vander  Geest — a  vigorous 
decided  portrait  with  tender  eyes,  the  outlines  drawn  in  red,  from  the 
Angerstein  Collection. 

66.  Rubens.  The  Chateau  of  Stein,  near  Malines — from  the  Palazzo 
Balbi,  at  Genoa — the  residence  of  the  painter  in  the  rich  wooded 
scenery  of  Brabant. 

"  Seldom  as  he  practised  it,  Rubens  was  never  greater  than  in  land- 
scape. The  tumble  of  his  rocks  and  trees,  the  deep  shadows  in  his 
shades  and  glooms,  the  watery  sunshine  and  the  dewy  verdure,  show  a 
variety  of  genius  which  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  inimitable  but 
uniform  productions  of  Claude." — Horace  Walpole. 

194.  Rubens.  The  Judgment  of  Paris — a  picture  greatly  studied  by 
artists.  In  allusion  to  the  evils  which  resulted  from  the  Judgment,  tho 
figure  of  Discord  appears  in  the  air. 


24  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

*  672.  Rembrandt.     Portrait  of  the  Artist  at  the  age  of  thirty-two. 

158.  D.  Tenters.     Boors  merry-making. 

192.   Gerard  Dow,  1613 — 1675.     His  own  Portrait. 
154.  D.  Tenters.     A  Music-Party. 

*  190.  Rembrandt.  A  Jewish  Rabbi — remarkable  for  its  golden 
tones  of  light.     The  anatomy  of  the  head  may  be  easily  traced. 

221.  Rembrandt.  Portrait  of  the  Artist  as  an  old  man — painted  in 
a  full  light,  very  unu=ual  with  the  master. 

817.  D.  Tenters.     Chateau  of  the  Artist  at  Perck. 

775.  Rembrandt.  Portrait  of  a  Lady  of  eighty-three— painted  in 
1634. 

47.  Rembrandt.  The  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds— the  light,  as 
in  the  "Notte"  of  Correggio,  proceeds  from  the  infant  Saviour:  the 
lantern  of  the  shepherds  fades  before  the  Divine  light. 

239.  A.  Vander  Noer,  1613— 1691.    Moonlight  scene,  with  shipping. 

159.  Nicholas  Maas.     The  Dutch  Housewife,  1655. 

212.  Theodore  de  Keyser,  1595 — c.  1660.  A  Merchant  with  his 
Clerk. 

794.  Peter  de  Hooghe,  seventeenth  century.  Courtyard  of  a  Dutch 
House. 

685.   Vandyke.     Sketch  for  the  Miraculous  Draught  of  Fishes. 

Room  XIII.     Italian  School. 

*  908.  Pietro  della  Francesca  of  Borgo  San  Sepolcro,  1415—0. 1495- 
The  Nativity.  Five  angels  are  singing  and  playing  vigorously  on 
guitars  in  honour  of  the  Holy  Child,  who  is  lying  on  the  Virgin's 
mantle  in  the  front  of  the  picture.  The  angels  have  no  shadows.  In 
the  ruined  shed  behind  are  an  ox  and  an  ass.  Joseph  is  seated  on  the 
ass's  saddle,  with  two  shepherds  near  him.  The  picture  is  unfinished, 
but  exceedingly  characteristic  of  the  all-powerful  artist,  who  was  the 
master  of  Perugino  and  Luca  Signorelli.  It  belonged  to  the  family  of 
Marini-Franceschi  at  Borgo  San  Sepolcro,  the  native  town  of  the  artist. 

668.  Carlo  Crivelli  of  Venice,  c.  1440— 1493.  The  Beato  Ferretti 
(an  ancestor  of  Pope  Pius  DX.— Mastai  Ferretti)  at  prayer  beholds 
the  Virgin  and  Child  in  a  vision.  The  rustic  details  are  given  with 
wonderful  care. 

275.  Sandro  Botticelli  of  Florence,  1447—1510.  The  Virgin  and 
Child,  with  St.  John  Baptist  and  an  angel.  A  circular  picture  which 
once  belonged  to  the  famous  architect,  Giuliano  di  San  Gallo. 

286.  Francesco  Tacconi  of  Cremona.  The  Virgin  Enthroned,  1489 
—a  very  simple  and  beautiful  picture  in  the  style  of  G..  Bellini. 

*  667.  Fra  Filippo  Lippi  of  Florence,  ob.  1469.     St.  John  the  Bap- 


THE  FOREIGN  SCHOOLS.  25 

tist  seated  on  a  marble  bench,  between  SS.  Cosmo  and  Dainian — 
beyond  these,  en  the  right,  are  SS.  Francis  and  Lawrence ;  on  the 
left  SS.  Anthony  and  Peter  Martyr. 

911.  Bernardino  di  Bctto  of  Perugia,  commonly  called  Pinturicchio, 
1454 — 15 13.  The  Return  of  Ulysses  to  Penelope.  She  is  seated  at 
her  loom,  with  a  maid  winding  thread  on  shuttles  ;  a  cat  is  playing  with 
it,  and  four  suitors  are  in  attendance.  To  her  enters  Ulysses  from  the 
ship  which  is  seen  in  the  distance.  This  picture,  so  curious  in  costume 
and  movement,  came  from  the  Palazzo  Pandolfo-Petrucci  at  Siena. 

589.  Era  Angelica  da  Fiesole  [Giovanni  Guido),  1387 — 1447. 

703.  Pinturicchio.     Madonna  and  Child. 

598.  Filippino  Lippi  of  Florence  (son  of  Fra  Filippo),  1460 — 1505. 
St.  Francis  in  Glory. 

771.  Bono  da  Ferrara,  fifteenth  century.     St.  Jerome  in  the  Desert. 

904.  Gregorio  Schiavone,  fifteenth  century  (School  of  Padua). 
Mad<jnna  and  Child  enthroned,  with  saints.  One  of  the  best  picture.' 
of  the  master. 

736.  Francesco  Bonsignori  of  Verona,  1455 — 15 19.  Portrait  of  a 
Venetian  Senator,  1487. 

916.  Sandro  .Botticelli.  Venus  Reclining — Cupids  sport  around 
with  fruit  and  flowers. 

776.  Vitiore  Pisano  of  Verona,  early  fifteenth  century.  St. 
Anthony— marvellous  for  expression — with  his  staff  and  bell  and  his 
attendant  pig,  and  St.  George  in  silver  armour,  with  a  large  Tuscan  hat 
upon  his  head.  The  wood  of  bays  behind  is  thoroughly  Veronese. 
This  curious  picture,  from  the  Conestabili  Collection  at  Ferrara, 
was  presented  in  memory  of  Sir  Charles  Eastlake,  Director  of  the 
National  Gallery  (ob.  1865)  by  his  widow.  Inserted  in  the  frame  are 
casts  from  the  medals  by  Pisano. 

770.  Giovanni  Oriolo  of  Ferrara,  fifteenth  centuiy.  Portrait  of 
I.eonello  d'Este,  Marquis  of  Ferrara — signed. 

673.  Antonello  da  Messina,  c.  1414 — c.  1495 — who  first  introduced  the 
Flemish  system  of  oil-painting  into  Italy.  Salvator  Mundi — signed  in 
a  carte/lino. 

591.  Benozzo  Gozzoli  of  Florence,  1420 — 1478.  The  Rape  of  Helen 
—  from  the  Palazzo  Albergotti  at  Arezzo. 

*  666.  Fra  Filippo  Lippi.  The  Annunciation.  An  angel  with 
glorious  peacock  wings  ("  They  were  full  of  eyes  within  ")  kneels  to  a 
Virgin  of  exquisite  humility,  and  follows  with  his  eyes  the  Holy  Dove 
which  is  floating  towards  her:  the  lights  are  heightened  with  gold. 
Painted  for  Cosimo  de'  Medici,  and  long  in  the  Medici  Palace.  An 
exquisitely  beautiful  lily  between  the  Virgin  and  the  angel  springs 
from  a  vase  strangely  out  of  drawing. 


26  W A  LA'S  IN  LONDON. 

91c.  Luca  Signorelli  of  Cortona,  fifteenth  century.  The  Triumph 
oi  Chastity  (maidens  cutting  the  wings  and  breaking  the  bow  of  Cupid) 
— a  fresco,  from  the  Palazzo  Fetrucci  at  Siena,  not  a  worthy  representa- 
tion of  this  glorious  master. 

*  663.  Fra  Angelica.  Christ  adored  by  the  Heavenly  Host.  This 
is  that  predella  of  the  altar-piece  in  St.  Domenico  at  Fiesole,  of  winch 
Vasari*  wrote  that  "its  numberless  figures  truly  breathed  of  Paradise, 
and  that  one  could  never  he  satisfied  with  gazing  upon  it." 

727.  Francesco  Pesellinoot  Florence,  1422 — 1457.  A  "Trinita"  from 
the  Church  of  the  Santissima  Trinita  at  Pistoja. 

737.  Carlo  Crivelli.  The  Annunciation — from  the  Church  of  the 
SS.  Annunziata  at  Ascoli.  St.  Emidius,  the  patron  of  Ascoli,  attends 
the  angel. 

292.  Antonio  Pollajuolo  of  Florence,  more  celebrated  as  a  sculptor 
than  a  painter — c.  1429  —  1498.  The  Martydom  of  St.  Sebastian. 
This  picture,  considered  by  Vasari  as  the  masterpiece  of  the  art^t,  was 
painted  in  1475  as  an  altar-piece  for  the  Pucci  Chapel  in  the  Church  ol 
the  SS.  Annunziata  at  Florence  :  Gino  di  Ludovico  Capponi  is  immor- 
talised as  the  saint. 

*  902.  Andrea  Mantegna  (School  of  Mantua),  1431 — 1506.  The 
Triumph  ot  Publius  Cornelius  Scipio — i.e.  his  being  chosen,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  Delphic  Oracle  as  the  worthiest  Roman  citizen,  to 
receive  the  image  of  the  Phrygian  Mother  of  the  Gods  when  brought 
to  Rome  c.  B.C.  204.  Painted  in  monochrome  for  the  Venetian, 
Francesco  Cornaro,  who  claimed  descent  from  the  Gens  Cornelia 
— from  the  Palazzo  Cornaro  at  Venice.  The  drapery  is  nobly  painted, 
and  the  figures  full  of  varied  expression. 

807.  Carlo  Crivelli.  The  Virgin  and  Chilld  enthroned,  with  St. 
Francis  and  St.  Sebastian  :  the  donor,  a  Dominican  Nun,  kneels  by 
St.  Francis — signed,  1491.  Observe,  in  this  and  all  subsequent  pictures 
of  Carlo,  the  apples  and  pears  constantly  introduced  by  this  fruit-loving 
master. 

909.  Benvenuto  da  Siena,  1436 — c.  1510.  Madonna  and  Child 
enthroned,  with  two  angels. 

766.  Domenico  Veneziano,  fifteenth  century,  Florentine  School. 
Head  of  a  Monk — fresco. 

631.  Francesco  Bissolo  of  Venice,  early  sixteenth  century.  Portrait 
of  a  Lady — a  poor  specimen  of  this  delightful  artist. 

781.  Pollajuolo.    The  Archangel  Raphael  and  Tobias. 

692.  Lodovico  da  Parma,  early  sixteenth  century.  Head  of  St. 
Hugh  of  Grenoble. 

762.  Domenico  Veneziano.     Head  of  a  Saint. 
*  Yite  dei  Pittori,  iv.  29. 


THE  FOREIGN  SCHOOLS.  27 

•698.  Piero  di  Cosimo,  1462 — c.  1521.  The  Death  of  Procris.  A 
Satyr  has  discovered  the  maiden  lying  dead  naar  the  shore  of  an 
estuary  like  the  upper  part  of  the  Bristol  Channel.  The  hound  Lelaps, 
the  gift  of  Diana,  sits  near  her.  An  admirable  example  of  this  great 
master  of  mythological  subjects. 

*726.  Giovanni  Bellini  (?)  of  Venice,  1427 — 1516.  The  Agony  in  the 
Garden.  An  angel  bearing  the  cup  of  the  Passion  appears  to  our 
Lord ;  in  the  foreground  are  the  disciples  deeply  sleeping  (St.  John's  is 
the  sleep  of  suffering) ;  in  the  background  Judas  is  guiding  the  Jews  to 
the  garden.     The  sunset  sky  is  glorious. 

597.  Marco  Zoppo,  fifteenth  century,  School  of  Padua.  St. 
Dominic,  Institutor  of  the  Rosary. 

181.  Pietro  Vanucci,  called,  from  his  city,  II  Perugino,  c.  1446 — 
1524.  The  Virgin  and  Child,  with  St.  John — signed  on  the  hem  of 
the  Virgin's  mantle. 

906.  Carlo  Crivelli.  The  Madonna  in  Ecstasy— from  the  Malatesta 
Chapel  at  Rimini. 

*  788.  C.  Crivelli.  An  altar-piece,  which  belonged  to  the  Church  of 
St.  Domenico  at  Ascoli.  In  the  lowest  stage  are  the  Virgin,  St. 
Peter,  St.  John  Baptist,  St.  Catherine,  and  St.  Dominic.  In  the 
second  stage  are  St.  Francis,  St.  Andrew,  St.  Stephen,  and  St. 
Thomas  Aquinas.  In  the  third  stage  are  St.  Michael  and  St.  Lucy, 
with  St.  Jerome  on  the  right,  and  St.  Peter  Martyr  on  the  left — a 
rich  specimen  of  the  master :  the  ornaments  are  raised  and  studded 
with  jewels. 

758.  Pietro  della  Francesco..  Portrait  of  a  Lady,  supposed  to  be  a 
Contessa  Palma  of  Urbino. 

592.  Filippino  Lippi.     The  Adoration  of  the  Magi. 

724.  Carlo  Crivelli.  Madonna  and  Child  enthroned,  with  St. 
Jerome  and  St.  Sebastian.  The  swallow  which  is  introduced  has 
given  this  picture  the  name  of  "  La  Madonna  della  Rondine  " — from 
the  Franciscan  Church  of  Matelica. 

773.  Cosimo  Tura  of  Ferrara,  fifteenth  century.  St.  Jerome  in 
the  Wilderness  beating  his  breast  with  a  stone. 

802.  Bartolommeo  Montagna  of  Vicenza,  c.  1480 — 1523.  Madonna 
and  Child— an  unworthy  example  of  a  most  interesting  master. 

*8i2.  Giovanni  Bellini.  The  Death  of  St.  Peter  Martyr,  1252,  in 
a  wood  of  bay-trees  (at  which  the  woodmen,  disregarding  the  murder, 
continue  to  cut) — such  as  one  still  sees  in  some  of  the  old  Italian  villas. 
Peter,  regarded  as  a  martyr  by  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  was 
really  murdered,  to  avenge  his  fiendish  cruelties  through  the  Inquisition 
as  General  of  the  Dominicans,  and  to  prevent  their  continuance. 

915.  Sandro  Botticelli.     Mars  and  Venus.     Mars  is  sleeping  deeply, 


28  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

one  little  satyr  is  shouting  through  a  shell  to  wake  him,  others  ax« 
playing  with  his  armour. 

247.  Niccolo  Alunno  of  Foligno,  late  fifteenth  century.  Ecce  Homo. 

585.  Pietro  della  Francesco..  Portrait  believed  to  represent  the 
famous  Isotta  da  Rimini,  wife  of  Sigismondo  Malatesta.  Her  costume 
is  very  curious,  especially  the  jewelled  head-dress  and  jewel-edged  veil. 

602.   Carlo  Crivelli.     Pieta. 

665.  Pietro  della  Francesca.  The  Baptism  of  Christ.  The  dreary 
character  of  his  native  limestone  Apennines  is  portrayed  by  the  artist — 
«rom  St.  Giovanni  Evangelista  at  Borgo  San  Sepolcro. 

Room  XIV. 

779,  780.  Anibrogio  Borgognone,  sometimes  called  Ambrogio  da 
Fossaiu  from  his  birthplace,  late  fifteenth  century.  Family  groups, 
kneeling  (their  faces  much  alike),  probably  at  a  tomb — fragments  of  a 
standard  in  the  Certosa  at  Pavia. 

751.  Giovanni  Santi,  the  poet  painter  of  Urbino,  father  of  Raffaelle, 
late  fifteenth  century.  Madonna  and  Child — the  view  from  Lrbino 
forms  the  background. 

*  298.  Borgognone.  The  Virgin  and  Child  enthroned.  The  Child 
presents  a  ring  to  St.  Catherine  of  Alexandria,  whose  wheel  lies  at  her 
feet :  St.  Catherine  of  Siena— a  noble  figure  — stands  on  the  other  side 
with  her  lily— from  the  Chapel  of  Rebecchino  near  Pavia. 

*  179.  Francesco  Raibolini  of  Bologna,  commonly  called  Francia, 
1450 — 15 1 7.  The  Virgin  and  St.  Anne  are  enthroned.  The  Child,  on 
its  mother's  knee,  stretches  to  take  an  apple  from  St.  Anne,  the  very 
type  of  a  grandmother,  whose  aged  face — the  noblest  in  the  picture — is 
full  of  playful  affection :  on  the  left  are  St.  Sebastian  and  St.  Paul,  on 
the  right  St.  Lawrence  and  St.  Romualdo.  Beneath  the  pedestal  is 
inscribed  "Francia  Aurifex  Bononensis  P."  A  lovely  little  St.  John  is 
bounding  with  the  scroll  of  "  Ecce  Agnus  Dei." 

*  180.  F.  Francia.  A  Pieta.  The  Madonna,  of  most  touching; 
expression,  holds  the  dead  body  of  Christ  upon  her  knees.  At  the 
sides  are  two  (greatly  inferior)  angels.  This  was  the  lunette  of  the 
preceding  picture,  which  was  painted  for  the  Cappella  Buonvisi  in  the 
Church  of  St.  Frediano  at  Lucca. 

623.  Girolamo  Pennachi,  commonly  called,  from  his  birthplace, 
Girolamo  da  Treviso,  1497 — 1544.  The  Virgin  and  Child  enthroned. 
The  donor  is  presented  by  St.  Paul :  St.  Joseph  and  St.  James  stand 
by.     Painted  for  the  Cappella  Boccaferri  in  St.  Domenico  at  Bologna. 

*  288.  Pietro  Perugino.  An  altar-piece  in  three  parts.  The  Virgin, 
full  of  reverential  awe,  kneels  as  if  in  thanksgiving  for  the  Holy  Child, 


THE  FOREIGN  SCHOOLS.  29 

an  innocent  babe  supported  by  an  angel.  Three  angels  float  tranquilly 
in  the  deep  blue  sky  above,  with  scrolls  from  which  they  will  probably 
sing.  Daylight  is  sinking  behind  the  distant  sea  and  a  still  beautiful 
Umbrian  landscape.  On  the  left  is  a  noble  triumphant  St.  Michael, 
with  wings  half  scaly,  half  feathered  :  the  scales  with  which  he  weighs 
souls  hang  on  a  tree  beside  him.  On  the  right,  St.  Raphael  leads  the 
young  beautiful  Tobias,  who  carries  his  fish,  through  a  flowery  meadow. 
This  picture  belonged  to  an  altar-piece  in  three  parts  painted  for  the 
Certosa  of  Pavia.  One  of  the  upper  parts  remains  there  still,  the  other 
compartments  are  supplied  by  copies.  The  portions  here  were  pur- 
chased for  the  comparatively  small  sum  of  ^"3, 57 1. 

753.  Altobello  Melone  of  Cremona,  late  fifteenth  century.  Christ  and 
the  two  Disciples  on  the  way  to  Emmaus — painted  for  the  Church  of  St. 
Bartolommeo  at  Cremona.  Christ  is  a  pilgrim  with  his  staff,  and  a 
cockle-shell  in  his  hat. 

*  274.  Andrea  Montegna.  The  Virgin,  a  peasant  maid,  is  enthroned 
with  the  Child  under  a  red  canopy  backed  by  orange  and  citron  trees 
of  wondrous  execution.  The  Magdalen  and  St.  John  Baptist  stand 
at  the  sides :  the  latter  is  a  noble  figure  with  floating  hair  and  drapery, 
and  a  speaking  face  which  says,  "Ecce  Agnus  Dei,  ecce  qui  tollit 
peccata  mundi."  On  the  inner  side  of  his  scroll  is  the  artist's  signature 
— "  Andreas  Mantinia,  C.P.F."  Nothing  can  exceed  the  exquisite 
finish  of  the  plants  and  stones  in  the  foreground. 

*  296.  Pullajuolo.  The  Madonna,  such  a  figure  as  Isotta  da  Rimini, 
adores  the  Child,  who  looks  innocently  up  at  her  as  it  lies  across  her 
knee  eating  a  raspberry.  Of  two  angels,  one  looks  indifferently  out  of 
the  picture  :  the  other  gazes  in  rapturous  awe  at  something  beyond  the 
group.  Such  strange  rocks  as  are  introduced  here  may  be  frequently 
seen  in  the  Apennines  at  La  Vernia.  The  ethereal  glories  here  are 
peculiar  to  Florentine  masters  of  this  period.  The  profession  of  Polla- 
juolo  as  a  goldsmith  comes  out  in  the  beautiful  old  jewelled  ornaments 
worn  by  the  Virgin  and  one  of  the  angels. 

629.  Lorenzo  Costa  of  Ferrara,  1460 — 1535.  Madonna  and  Child 
enthroned,  with  saints  and  angels — a  beautiful  picture  hung  too  high 
lor  study.     From  the  Oratorio  delle  Grazie  at  Faenza. 

806.  Boccaccio  Boccaccino  of  Cremona,  c.  1496 — 1518.  The  Proces- 
sion to  Calvary — a  coarse  but  powerful  picture.  From  the  Church  of 
St.  Domenico  de'  Osservanti  at  Cremona. 

282.  Giovanni  di  Pietro  of  Spoieto,  commonly  called  Lo  Spagna  (the 
Spaniard),  early  sixteenth  century.  The  Virgin  enthroned.  The  Holy 
Child  upon  her  knees  looks  down  to  a  human  child  beneath,  who  is 
about  to  serenade  Him.     From  the  Palazzo  Ercolani  at  Bologna. 

293.  Filippino  Lippi.      A  grand  weird  picture.     The  Virgin  and 


30  WALKS  IN  LONDOA. 

Child  are  in  a  wild  Apennine  landscape  between  St  Jerome  and  St. 
Anthony — a  noble  figure  with  his  book  and  lily.  Bel  ind  St.  Anthony 
the  simple  hermit  life  of  the  mountain  is  portrayed.  Behind  St. 
Jerome,  his  lion  defends  his  lair  against  the  pig  (a  wild  boar)  of  St. 
Anthony.  This  picture,  in  its  marvellous  finish,  introduces  the  peculiar 
flowers  of  the  high  mountains  in  Tuscany.  In  the  predella  is  St. 
Joseph  of  Arimathea  supporting  the  dead  Christ  between  St.  Francis 
and  the  Magdalen.  The  arms  of  the  family  indicate  the  picture  having 
been  painted  for  the  Ruccellai  Chapel  at  Florence,  where  it  long  re- 
mained in  the  Church  of  St.  Pancrazio. 

735.  Paolo  Morando  of  Verona,  commonly  called  Cavazzola,  1484 — 
1522.  St.  Roch  and  the  Angel — splendid  in  colour.  St.  Roch  is 
always  represented  with  the  ulcer  in  his  leg,  which  resulted  from  his 
devotion  to  those  sick  of  the  plague  at  Piacenza,  but  which  caused  him 
to  be  exiled  from  the  haunts  of  men  for  fear  of  infection  :  in  his 
solitude  he  was  supported  by  his  little  dog,  which  brought  him  bread 
from  the  city.  From  the  Cagnoli  altar  in  Santa  Maria  della  Scala  at 
Verona. 

*  18.  Bernardino  Luini.  Christ  disputing  with  the  Doctors— a 
very  beautiful  picture  injured  by  restoration.  The  Saviour  is  twenty- 
four,  not  twelve. 

748.  Girolamo  dai Libri  of  Verona,  1472 — 1555.  St.  Anne  with  the 
Virgin  and  Child  seated  under  a  lemon-tree  (the  especial  characteristic 
of  the  master),  and  three  angels  serenading.  Behind  is  the  wattled 
fence  of  reeds  so  common  in  Italy  still,  entwined  with  roses.  From 
the  Church  of  Santa  Maria  della  Scala  at  Verona. 

734.  Andrea  da  Solario  (Milanese  School),  1458 — 1516.  A  noble 
Portrait  of  Giovanni  Cristoforo  Longorio,  painted  in  1505.  The  back- 
ground is  most  beautiful. 

728.  Giovanni  Antonio  Beltraffio  of  Milan,  1467 — 1516.  Madonna 
and  Child— the  Virgin  is  no  peasant,  but  a  noble  Milanese  lady  backed 
by  a  rich  green  curtain  wrought  with  gold. 

700.  Bernardino  Lanini  of  Vercelli,  sixteenth  century.  Madonna  and 
Child — the  child  playfully  shrinks  from  the  smiling  St.  Catherine.  St. 
Paul  gives  it  an  apple;  St.  Gregory  and  St.  Joseph  stand  in  the 
background. 

*  27.  Raffaelle.  Pope  Julius  II. — a  repetition  of  the  well-known 
picture  at  Florence. 

24.  Sebastiano  Luciani  of  Venice,  generally  called  Sebastian  del 
Piombo,  from  his  being  keeper  of  the  Leaden  Seals,  1485 — 1547.  The 
Portrait  of  a  Lady,  supposed  to  be  Giulia  Gonzaga,  painted  as  St. 
Apollonia  (as  is  indicated  by  the  pincers).  Called  "a  divine  picture" 
by  Vasari. 


THE  FOREIGN  SCHOOLS.  31 

•  10.  Antonio  Allegri  (commonly  called  77  Correggio  from  his  birth- 
place), the  great  artist  of  Parma,  1493— 1534.  Mercury  teaching  Cupid 
his  letters,  while  Venus  holds  his  bow.  Purchased  by  Charles  I.  from 
the  Duke  of  Mantua  in  1630,  but  sold  with  the  rest  of  the  royal  collec- 
tion and  purchased  by  the  Duke  of  Alva,  from  whom  it  passed  into  the 
collection  of  Godoy,  Prince  of  the  Peace.  When  his  collection  was 
sold  at  Madrid  during  the  French  invasion,  it  was  bought  by  Murat 
and  taken  to  the  royal  palace  at  Naples.  Queen  Caroline  carried  it  off 
with  her  to  Vienna,  and  it  was  bought  from  her  collection  by  the 
Marquis  of  Londonderry. 

"  The  figure  of  Venus  is  of  slender,  fine  proportions ;  the  attitude  of 
the  beautiful  limbs  of  the  most  graceful  flow  of  lines,  with  all  the  parts 
at  the  same  time  so  modelled  in  the  clearest  and  most  blooming 
colours,  that  Correggio  may  here  be  called  a  sculptor  on  a  flat  sur- 
lace." — Dr.  Waagen. 

"  Those  who  may  not  perfectly  understand  what  artists  and  critics 
mean  when  they  dwell  with  rapture  on  Correggio's  wonderful 
chiaro-oscuro  should  look  well  into  this  picture ;  they  will  perceive  that  in 
the  painting  of  the  limbs  they  can  look  through  the  shadows  into  the 
substance,  as  it  might  be  into  the  flesh  and  blood  ;  the  shadows  seem 
mutable,  accidental,  and  aerial,  as  if  between  the  eye  and  the  colour, 
and  not  incorporated  with  them ;  ia  this  lies  the  inimitable  excellence 
of  this  master." — Mrs.  Jameson. 

1024.  Giambattista  Moroni  of  Bergamo,  15 10 — 1578.  Portrait  of  a 
Lawyer— a  most  astute  man. 

650.  Angelo  Bronzino  (School  of  Florence),  1502 — 1572.  Portrait  of 
a  Lady. 

15.  Correggio.  Christ  presented  by  Pilate  to  the  People — a  picture 
full  of  intensest  anguish  of  expression:  once  in  the  Colonna  Gallery 
at  Rome. 

"  The  expression  and  attitude  of  Christ  are  extremely  grand  ;  even 
the  deepest  grief  does  not  disfigure  his  features.  The  manner  in 
which  he  holds  forward  his  hands,  which  are  tied  together,  is  in  itself 
sufficient  to  express  the  depth  of  suffering.  On  the  left  is  a  Roman 
soldier  of  rude,  but  not  otherwise  than  noble  aspect,  and  evidently 
touched  by  pity  :  on  the  right,  Pilate  looking  with  indifference  over  a 
parapet.  The  Virgin,  in  front,  is  fainting,  overpowered  by  her  grief, 
in  the  arms  of  the  Magdalen :  her  head  is  of  the  highest  beauty.  The 
drawing  in  this  picture  is  more  severe  than  is  usual  with  Correggio."— 
Kugler. 

670.  Bronzino.     A  Knight  of  St.  Stefano. 

17.  Andrea  Fannurcki  of  Florence,  commonly  called  Andrea  del 
Sarto,  from  his  being   the   son   of  a   tailor,    1487— 1531.     The  Holy 


32  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Family —a  dark  powerful  picture.  The  Virgin  holds  the  laughing 
Child,  to  whom  St.  Anne  turns,  her  face  in  deep  shadow.  St.  John 
Baptist  leans  against  St.  Anne  and  watches  the  Holy  Child,  his  scroll 
and  staff  thrown  on  the  ground. 

*  287.  Bartolotnmeo  Veneziano.  Portrait  of  Lodovico  Martinengo 
(1530),  in  the  picturesque  costume  of  the  Compagnia  della  Calza.  One 
of  the  only  three  known  pictures  of  the  artist.  Bought  from  the  heir 
of  Count  Girolamo  Martinengo. 

624.  Giulio  de'  Gianuzzi,  called  Giulio  Romano,  1492 — 1546.  The 
Infancy  of  Jupiter.  The  landscape,  with  its  quaint  vine  wreaths  and 
flowers  heightened  with  gold,  is  supposed  to  be  by  Giambattista 
Dossi. 

669.  Giovanni  Battista  Benvenuti  of  Ferrara,  called  L'Ortolano, 
from  his  father's  occupation  as  a  gardener.  St.  Sebastian,  St.  Roch, 
and  St.  Demetrius. 

651.  Bronzino.  Venus,  Cupid,  Folly,  and  Time — a  foolish,  ugly, 
inexplicable  picture. 

272.  Giov.  Antonio  Licinio,  called  //  Pordenone,  from  his  birth- 
place, 1483— 1539.     An  Apostle. 

649.  Jacopo  Carucci,  called,  from  his  birthplace,  yacopo  da  Pontormo, 
1494 — 1556.     Portrait  of  a  Boy  in  a  crimson  and  black  dress. 

674.  Paris  Bordone  of  Treviso,  1500— 1571.  Portrait  of  a  Contessa 
Brignole  of  Genoa — part  of  the  palace  at  Genoa  is  seen  in  the  back- 
ground. 

41.  Giorgio  Barbarelli  of Venice,  called,  from  his  beauty,  Giorgione, 
1477 — 1511.  The  Death  of  St.  Peter  Martyr — a  doubtful  picture  in  a 
hideous  English  frame. 

*  294.  Paul  Veronese.  The  Family  of  Darius  at  the  feet  of 
Alexander  after  the  Battle  of  the  Issus,  B.C.  333.  This,  long  one  of 
the  most  celebrated  pictures  at  Venice,  was  painted  for  Count  Pisani, 
and  contains  many  portraits  of  the  Pisani  family.  It  was  purchased  in 
1857  for  ^13,650. 

255.  Giulio  Romano.    Assumption  of  the  Magdalen. 

299.  Alessandro  Bonvicino.  Portrait  of  Count  Sciarra  Martinengo 
of  Brescia.  While  still  a  boy,  the  services  of  his  father  to  Francis  I. 
caused  him  to  be  received  into  the  household  of  Henry  II.  as  page, 
and  in  his  eighteenth  year  he  was  made  knight  of  the  Order  of  St. 
Michael,  the  most  coveted  of  French  honours.  "  There  gleamed  in 
his  eyes,"  says  Rossi,*  "an  indomitable  desire  for  glory,  and  on  his 
brow  might  be  read  a  soul  unmindful  of  death  or  danger."  While  at 
the  French  Court,  he  received  the  news  that  his  father  was  murdered 
by  a  vendetta  of  Count  Alovisio  Avogadro.  He  flew  to  Brescia  and 
*  Elogi  Historic!  dei  Bresciani  Illustri,  1620. 


THE  FOREIGN  SCHOOLS.  33 

fell  upon  Avogadro  as  he  came  out  of  church  :  the  murderer  escaped  in 
the  scuffle,  but  one  of  his  kinsmen  was  slain.  The  adventures  of 
Martinengo's  later  life  and  his  numerous  duels  are  recounted  by  Bran- 
tome,  who  describes  him  as  the  "  sweetest-tempered  and  most  gracious 
gentleman  whom  it  was  possible  to  meet  with,  and  a  sure  friend  when 
he  gave  his  promise."  In  1569  he  was  killed  under  the  walls  of  La 
Charite  on  the  Upper  Loire,  whilst  reconnoitring  the  place  for  an 
assault.  In  his  portrait  we  see  on  the  brim  of  his  hat  an  inscription  in 
Greek  characters  "  through  excessive  desire,"  his  father's  last  words, 
which  he  always  wore  to  remind  himself  that  his  vengeance  was  still 
incomplete. 

*  742.  Moroni.  Portrait  of  a  Lawyer — beautiful  at  once  in  colour 
and  quietude,  on  a  simple  grey  background. 

3.  Titian.  The  Music  Lesson.  Purchased  by  Charles  I.  from 
Mantua. 

16.  Tintoretto.  St.  George  and  the  Dragon.  The  whole  story  is 
told,  but  the  horse  of  St.  George  will  inevitably  plunge  over  the  preci- 
pice and  be  lost  in  the  lake,  on  the  edge  of  which  the  Dragon  is 
waiting. 

218.  Baldassare  Peruzzi,  the  architect  of  Siena  (?),  1481 — 1536.  The 
Adoration  of  the  Magi — a  very  doubtful  picture. 

26.  Paul  Veronese.  The  Consecration  of  St.  Nicholas,  Bishop  of 
Myra.  This  picture,  which  shows  the  master's  thorough  knowledge  of 
chiaro-oscuro,  is  from  the  Church  of  San  Niccolo  de'  Frari  at  Venice. 

*  697.  Moroni.     Portrait  of  a  Tailor. 

699.  Lorenzo  Lotto  of  Treviso,  1480 — 1558.  Portraits  of  Agostino 
and  Niccolo  della  Torre. 

*  34.  Titian  (?)  Venus  and  Adonis.  Venus  vainly  endeavours  to 
hold  back  Adonis  from  the  chase,  for  Love  is  asleep  in  the  background. 
From  the  Colonna  Palace  at  Rome,  a  copy  of  the  picture  at  Madrid. 

32.  Titian.  The  Rape  of  Ganymede.  An  octagonal  picture,  pro- 
bably intended  for  a  ceiling,  from  the  Palazzo  Colonna. 

"  The  effect  of  the  handsome  boy,  coloured  in  the  fullest  golden 
tone,  every  part  being  carefully  rounded,  contrasted  with  the  powerful 
black  eagle  which  is  flying  away  with  him,  is  admirable." — Waagen. 

1023.  Moroni.     Lady  in  a  red  dress. 

224.   Titian.     The  Tribute  Money. 

*  625.  Alessandro  Bonvicino.  St.  Bernardino  of  Siena  with  St. 
Jerome,  St.  Joseph,  St.  Francis,  and  St.  Nicholas  of  Bari.  The 
Virgin  and  Child  appear  above,  with  St.  Catherine  and  St.  Clara. 
At  the  feet  of  St.  Bernardino  are  the  mitres  of  the  three  bishoprics 
which  he  refused — Urbino,  Siena,  and  Ferrara.  He  holds  the  mono- 
gram of  I.H.S.,  which  appears  over  all  the  gates  of  his  Dative  Siena. 

VOL.  II.  D 


34  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

"  When  preaching  St.  Bernardino  was  accustomed  to  hold  in  Ms 
hand  a  tablet,  on  which  was  carved,  within  a  circle  of  golden  rays,  the 
name  of  Jesus.  A  certain  man  who  had  gained  his  living  by  the  manu- 
facture of  cards  and  dice  went  to  him,  and  represented  to  him  that  in 
consequence  of  the  reformation  of  manners,  gambling  was  gone  out  of 
fashion,  and  he  was  reduced  to  beggary.  The  saint  desired  him  to 
exercise  his  ingenuity  in  carving  tablets  of  the  same  kind  as  that  which 
he  held  in  his  hand,  and  to  sell  them  to  the  people.  A  peculiar 
sanctity  was  soon  attached  to  these  memorials  ;  the  desire  to  possess 
them  became  general ;  and  the  man  who  by  the  manufacture  of  gaming- 
tools  could  scarcely  keep  himself  above  want,  by  the  fabrication  of 
these  tablets  realised  a  fortune.  Hence  in  the  figure  of  St.  Bernardino 
he  is  usually  holding  one  of  these  tablets,  the  I.H.S.  encircled  with 
rays,  in  his  hand." — Jameson's  Monastic  Orders. 

1025.  II  Moretto.  One  of  the  noblest  and  simplest  Portraits  of  the 
master. 

4.  Titian.  A  Holy  Family,  with  a  Shepherd  (a  shepherd  of  Friuli) 
in  adoration. 

637.  Paris  Bordone.     Daphnis  and  Chloe. 

*  1.  Sebastian  del  Piombo.  The  Resurrection  of  Lazarus — the 
master-piece  of  the  artist,  and  one  of  the  most  important  pictures  in 
England.  It  is  especially  interesting  as  having  been  executed  by 
Sebastian  for  Cardinal  Giulio  de'  Medici,  afterwards  Pope  Clement  VII., 
as  an  altar-piece  to  the  Cathedral  of  Narbonne,  of  which  he  was  then 
Archbishop.  It  was  to  be  the  rival  and  companion  of  the  "  Trans- 
figuration "  ofRaffaelle,  which  Was  ordered  by  the  same  patron  for 
the  same  cathedral.  Sebastian  had  already  enlisted  himself  as  a 
partisan  of  Michel  Angelo  in  his  rivalry  with  Raffaelle,  and  it  is 
generally  believed  that  in  this  instance  the  greater  master — "  il  dio  di 
disegno  " — furnished  the  drawing  of  some  of  the  figures,  if  not  the 
design  of  the  whole  composition.  Raffaelle  is  said  to  have  heard  of 
this,  and  to  have  exclaimed,  "I  am  graciously  favoured  by  Michel 
Angelo  in  that  he  has  declared  me  worthy  to  compete  with  himself 
instead  of  Sebastian."  In  the  year  of  Raffaelle's  death,  1520,  the 
rival  pictures  were  exhibited  together  at  Rome  :  the  "Transfiguration'' 
was  kept  there,  and  the  "  Raising  of  Lazarus  "  sent  to  Narbonne,  whence 
it  was  bought  by  the  Regent  Duke  of  Orleans  in  the  last  century.  It 
was  purchased,  on  the  sale  of  the  Orleans  Collection,  by  Mr.  Angerstein, 
who  refused  a  large  offer  for  it  from  the  French  Government,  which  was 
anxious  to  bring  it  once  more  into  juxtaposition  with  the  "  Transfigura- 
tion," when  that  great  picture  was  in  the  Louvre.  The  picture  is 
inscribed — "  Sebastianus  Venetus  Faciebat." 

"In  the  figure  of  Lazarus,  who  is  gazing  upwards  at  Christ,  while  at 


THE  FOREIGN  SCHOOLS.  35 

the  same  time  he  endeavours  to  disengage  himself  from  the  bandages, 
the  expression  of  returning  life  is  wonderfully  given.  The  Christ  him- 
self, a  noble  form,  is  pointing  with  his  right  hand  to  heaven,  while  the 
miracle  just  performed  is  told  in  the  grandest  way  in  the  various 
expressions  of  the  bystanders.  The  execution  is  of  the  greatest 
solidity,  and  the  colouring  still  deep  and  full." — Kugler. 

635.   Titian.     The  Virgin  and  Child,  with  St.  John. 

20.  Sebastian  del  Piombo.  Portraits  of  Cardinal  Ippolito  de'  Medici 
and  the  Artist — from  the  Borghese  Palace. 

*  1022.  Moroni.  A  noble  Portrait  of  a  Warrior  who  has  taken  off 
his  armour.  Except  in  the  face,  the  picture  is  almost  entirely  painted 
in  black,  brown,  and  grey. 

297.  Girolamo  Romani  of  Brescia,  called  //  Romanino,  1480 — 
1560.  The  Nativity.  On  the  left  are  St.  Alessandro,  martyr  of  Brescia, 
and  St.  Filippo  Benizzi ;  on  the  right  St.  Jerome  and  St.  Gaudioso, 
Bishop  of  Brescia.  An  altar-piece,  finished  in  1525,  for  St.  Alessandro 
of  Brescia.     A  very  noble  picture. 

*  234.  Giovanni  Bellini.  A  most  glorious  picture,  which  illuminates 
the  whole  side  of  the  gallery.  The  Madonna  (her  indifferent  expression 
the  only  blemish  in  the  work)  holds  the  Holy  Child.  St.  Joseph 
stands  by,  his  rich  brown  robe  sunlit  yet  dark  against  the  glowing  sky 
and  a  lovely  landscape  like  that  of  the  Apennines  near  Pietra  Santa. 
One  of  the  Magi,  in  armour,  kneels  in  adoration  of  the  Child,  while  an 
attendant,  in  deep  shadow,  holds  his  horse  behind  a  low  parapet  wall, 
beneath  which  a  charming  little  dog  is  seated.  The  well-known  studio 
property  of  Giovanni  Bellini,  the  green  draper}'  with  a  red  edge  (which 
is  seen  in  the  adjoining  picture  as  the  background  of  the  Virgin)  is  here 
stretched  upon  the  ground  as  a  carpet. 

280.  Giovanni  Bellini.  A  Madonna  and  Child  often  repeated  by 
the  master,  but  an  unpleasing  specimen. 

750.  Vittore  'Carpaccio  of  Venice,  1450 — c.  1524.  The  Madonna 
enthroned,  with  the  Doge  Giovanni  Mocenigo  entreating  her  interces- 
sion in  the  Plague  of  Venice  of  1478,  and  her  blessing  upon  the 
remedies  in  the  golden  vase  before  her  throne.  Behind  the  Doge 
stands  his  patron,  St.  John  Baptist ;  behind  the  Virgin  is  St.  Christo- 
pher, with  the  infant  Christ  upon  his  shoulders. 

634.   Cima  da  Conegliano,  c.  1480 — 1520.     Madonna  and  Child. 

816.  Cima  da  Conegliano.  The  Incredulity  of  St.  Thomas — painted 
for  the  Church  of  St.  Francesco  at  Portogruaro. 

803.  Marco  Marziale  of  Venice.  The  Circumcision  —  a  curious 
and  expressive  picture,  painted  in  1500  for  the  Church  of  St.  Silvestro 
at  Cremona.  It  bears  the  painter's  monogram  and  an  inscription  in  a 
cartellino. 


36 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


749.  Niccolo  Giolfino.     Portraits  of  the  Giusti  Family  at  Verona. 

300.   Cima  da  Coneghano.     Madonna  and  Child. 

695.  Andrea  Previtah  ot  Bergamo,  early  sixteenth  century.  Ma 
doL<na  and  Child. 

804.  Marco  Marziale.  Madonna  and  Child  enthroned ;  on  the  right, 
St.  Gallo  Abate  and  St.  John  Baptist ;  on  the  lelt  St.  Andrew  and  St. 
Ja-nes  of  Compostella.     Fiom  the  Church  ol  St.  Gailo  at  Cremona. 

*  599.  Marco  Basaiti.  The  Virgin,  with  the  Child  deeply  and  most 
sweetly  sleeping  on  her  knee,  sits  in  her  blue  robe  and  white  veil  in  \ 
meadow  on  the  outskirts  of  such  a  tower-girdled  town  as  Spello. 
Snowy  clouds  float  across  the  quiet  blue  sky.  The  railings  are  of  the 
simplest  Italian  construction.  The  flowers  ol  spring  are  out,  but  the 
trees  have  scarcely  begun  to  bud.  On  the  one  side  a  cowherd  lies 
armngst  his  cattle  ;  on  the  other  a  peasant  woman  is  keeping  her  cows 
and  lop-eared  sheep.  At  the  foot  of  a  tree  a  stork  is  fighting  with  a 
snake,  while  an  eagle  looks  down  from  the  leafless  branches. 

589.  Fra  Filippo  Lippi  (/).  An  Angel  presents  the  Holy  Infant  to 
the  Virgin. 

Room  XV. 

755.  Melozzo  da  Forli.     Rhetoric  (?). 

636.  Titian.    A  noble  Portrait,  said  to  be  that  of  Ariosto. 

808.   Giovanni  Bellini.     St.  Peter  Martyr. 

*  213.  Raffaelle.  The  Vision  of  a  Knight — a  lovely  miniature  in 
oils,  painted  on  wood,  from  the  Aldobrandini  Collection.  A  female 
figure  stands  on  either  side  of  the  sleeping  youth ;  one,  in  a  crimson 
robe,  offers  him  a  book  and  sword ;  the  other,  richly  dressed,  tempts 
him  with  the  flowers  of  life. 

269.  Giorgione.  This  most  interesting  painting,  bequeathed  by 
Rogers  the  poet,  is  a  study  for  the  picture  of  St.  Liberate  in  the  altar- 
piece  of  Castelfranco,  and  is  evidently  a  portrait  of  Matteo  Costanzo, 
son  of  Tuzio  Costanzo  of  Castelfranco,  a  noble  "free-lance"  who 
fought  for  the  Republic  of  Venice,  and  died  at  Ravenna  in  1504.* 

595.  Battista  Zelotti  of  Verona,  1532 — c.  1 592.     Portrait  of  a  Lady. 

270.  Titian.  The  Appearance  of  Christ  to  the  Magdalen  in  the 
Garden.     Bequeathed  by  Rogers  the  poet. 

"The  Magdalen,  kneeling,  bends  forward  with  eager  expression, 
and  one  hand  extended  to  touch  the  Saviour ;  He,  drawing  his  linen 
garment  around  him,  shrinks  back  from  her  touch — yet  with  the  softest 
expression  of  pity.  Besides  the  beauty  and  truth  of  the  expression,  this 
picture  is  transcendent  as  a  piece  of  colour  and  effect ;  while  the  ricJi 

#  See  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle. 


THE  FOREIGN  SCHOOLS.  37 

landscape  and  the  approach  of  morning  over  the  blue  distance  arc 
conceived  with  a  sublime  simplicity." — Jameson's  Sacred  Art. 

*  35.  Titian.  Bacchus  and  Ariadne.  Returning  from  a  sacrifice  in 
the  island  of  Naxos,  attended  by  Silenus,  with  nymphs  and  fauns, 
Bacchus  meets  with  Ariadne  after  her  desertion  by  Theseus,  wooes  her, 
and  carries  her  off  in  triumph.  One  of  three  pictures  painted  c.  1514 
for  Duke  Alfonso  of  Ferrara. 

"  Is  there  anything  in  modern  art  in  any  way  analogous  to  what 
Titian  has  effected,  in  the  wonderful  bringing  together  of  two  times  in 
the  'Ariadne'  of  the  National  Gallery?  Precipitous,  with  his  reeling 
satyrs  around  him,  re-peopling  and  re-illuming  suddenly  the  waste 
places,  drunk  with  a  new  fury  beyond  that  of  the  grape,  Bacchus,  born 
in  fire,  fire-like  flings  himself  at  the  Cretan.  This  is  time  present. 
With  this  telling  of  the  story,  an  artist,  and  no  ordinary  one,  might 
remain  richly  proud.  Guido,  in  his  harmonious  version  of  it,  saw  no 
further.  But  from  the  depths  of  the  imaginative  spirit  Titian  has 
recalled  past  time,  and  made  it  contributory  with  the  present  to  one 
simultaneous  effect.  With  the  desert  all  ringing  with  the  mad  cymbals 
of  his  followers,  made  lucid  with  the  presence  and  new  offers  of  a  god — 
as  if  unconscious  of  Bacchus,  or  but  idly  casting  her  eyes  as  upon  some 
unconcerning  pageant,  her  soul  undisturbed  from  Theseus,  Ariadne  is 
still  pacing  the  solitary  shore,  in  as  much  heart-silence,  and  in  almost 
the  same  local  solitude,  with  which  she  awoke  at  daybreak  to  catch  the 
forlorn  last  glances  of  the  sail  that  bore  away  the  Athenian." — Charles 
Lamb. 

"  Thee  seeking,  Ariadne,  Bacchus  young 

Hurries  with  flying  steps  the  shores  along. 

Before  his  path  the  Satyrs  madly  prance, 

The  gay  Sileni,  Nysa's  offspring,  dance ; 

Wild  sporting  round  him  range  the  frantic  rout, 

And  toss  their  brows,  and  Eva?,  Evas !  shout. 

Some  brandish  high  their  ivy-covered  spears  ; 

Some  tear  the  quivering  limbs  from  mangled  steers ; 

Some  round  their  waists  enwrithing  serpents  tie  ; 

Some  with  their  stores  from  ozier  caskets  ply 

Those  fearful  orgies,  that  high  mystic  rite 

That's  ever  hid  from  uninitiate  sight ; 

Some  their  lank  arms  on  echoing  timbrels  dash  ; 

Some  from  the  cymbals  their  thin  tinklings  clash ; 

Some  wake  the  trumpet's  hoarser  blast  of  strife, 

Or  the  sharp  note  of  the  discordant  fife." 

Catullus.     Traits,  by  G.  Lamb. 
277.  y.  Bassano.     The  Good  Samr>ntan. 


38  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

222.  Van  Eyck.  c.  1390 — 1440.  Male  Portrait  in  black  fur,  with  red 
drapery  on  the  head,  1433. 

"So  highly  finished  that  the  single  hairs  on  the  shaven  chin  are 
given." —  Waagen. 

290.   Van  Eyck.     Male  Portrait. 

638.  Francia.     Madonna  and  Child,  with  saints. 

*  186.  Van  Eyck.  Portraits  of  Jean  Arnolfini  and  his  wife,  Jeanne 
de  Chenany,  1434.  This  picture  belonged  to  Margaret  of  Austria,  and 
afterwards,  in  1556,  to  Mary,  Queen  Dowager  of  Hungary,  who  gave 
a  pension  of  one  hundred  guilders  as  a  reward  to  a  banker  who  pre- 
sented it  to  her.  Observe  the  marvellous  beauty  of  the  chandelier, 
mirror,  and  other  details  introduced,  and  the  scene  in  the  room  as 
reflected  in  the  mirror. 

658.  Martin  Schongauer.     The  Death  of  the  Virgin. 
809.  Michel  Angelo   Buonarrotti,   1475  —  1564.      The   Virgin   and 
Child,  with  St.  John  Baptist  and  angels— in  tempera,  unfinished. 
923.  Andrea  di  Solario.     Portrait  of  a  Venetian  Senator. 

*  744.  Raffaelle.  The  Holy  Family,  known  as  the  "  Garvagh 
Raffaelle,"  from  the  family  from  whom  it  was  purchased  in  1865,  having 
originally  come  from  the  Palazzo  Aldobrandini  at  Rome.  The  Ma- 
donna, a  graceful  and  lovely  figure,  holds  the  Child  upon  her  lap,  who 
is  giving  a  pink  to  the  infant  St.  John,  who  holds  a  cross  in  his  right 
hand. 

*  168.  Raffaelle.  St.  Catherine  of  Alexandria,  painted  c.  1507 — 
from  the  Aldobrandini  Collection.  St.  Catherine,  having  successfully 
discussed  theology  with  fifty  heathen  philosophers,  was  condemned  by 
the  Emperor  Maximin,  310,  to  be  broken  on  the  wheel,  but  the  wheels 
were  miraculously  broken  in  pieces.  The  saint  was  eventually  be- 
headed, but  the  broken  wheel  is  her  attribute.  Raffaelle's  first  idea 
for  this  picture,  drawn  with  a  pen,  is  at  Oxford ;  the  Duke  of  Devon- 
shire has  a  more  finished  study. 

777.  Marando.  Madonna  and  Child,  with  St.  John  Baptist  and  an 
angel. 

790.  Michel  Angelo.  The  Entombment— from  the  collection  of 
•Cardinal  Fesch. 

*  690.  Andrea  del  Sarto.     Portrait  of  Himself. 

"  His  life  was  corroded  by  the  poisonous  solvent  of  love,  and  his  soul 
burnt  into  dead  ashes." — Swinburne. 

I     *  23.  Correggio.     The  Holy  Family— called  "  La  Vierge  au  Panier," 
from  the  basket  in  the  left  corner.    From  the  Royal  Gallery  at  Madrid. 

"  This  picture  shows  that  Correggio  was  the  greatest  master  of  aerial 
perspective  of  his  time." — Mengs. 

"  Never  perhaps  did  an  artist  succeed  in  combining  the  most  blissful, 


THE  FOREIGN  SCHOOLS.  39 

innocent  pleasure  with  so  much  beauty  as  in  the  head  of  this  Child,  who 
is  longing  with  the  greatest  eagerness  for  some  object  out  of  the  pic- 
ture, and  thus  giving  the  mother,  who  is  dressing  It,  no  little  trouble. 
But  her  countenance  expresses  the  highest  joy  at  the  vivacity  and  play- 
fulness of  her  child.  In  the  landscape  which  forms  the  background 
Joseph  is  working  as  a  carpenter." — Waagen. 

169.  Mazzolino  da  Ferrara,  c.  1481— 1530.  The  Holy  Family,  with 
St.  Nicholas  of  Tolentino. 

*  189.  Giovanni  Bellini.  Portrait  of  Leonardo  Loredano,  Doge  of 
Venice  from  1501  to  1521.  Loredano  sat  repeatedly  to  Bellini;  but 
this,  finished  with  marvellous  detail,  is  the  best  of  his  many  portraits. 

626.  Tommaso  Guidi,  commonly  called  Masaccio,  1402  —  1443- 
Portrait  of  Himself. 

*  694.    Giovanni  Bellini.      St.  Jerome  in  his  Study — a  picture  of 
exquisite  beauty  and  finish,   from   the   Palazzo   Manfrini  at  Venice 
Ascribed  by  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle  to  Catena. 

756.  Melozzo  da  Forli.    Music  (?) 

Central  Hall. 

639.  Francesco  Mantegna.     Christ  appearing  to  the  Magdalen. 
769.  Fra  Carnovale  of  Urbino,  fifteenth  century.     St.  Michael  and 

the  Dragon. 

gt2 — 914.  Pinturicchio.  The  story  of  the  patient  Griselda.  A 
peasant  girl  is  married  to  the  Marquis  of  Saluzzo,  and  after  thirteen 
years  of  honour,  having  been  deprived  of  her  children,  is  sent  back 
divorced  to  her  father's  cottage,  but  recalled  thence  to  work  as  a 
servant  in  the  castle,  for  her  husband's  new  marriage.  Submitting  to 
all  these  trials  in  obedience  and  patience,  she  is  restored  to  her  children 
and  reinstated  by  her  husband  in  her  former  honours. 

729.  Bartolommeo  Suardi  of  Milan,  called  Bramantino  from  his 
master  Bramante,  early  sixteenth  century.    The  Adoration  of  the  Magi. 

691.  Lo  Spagna.     Ecce  Homo. 

768.  Ant.  Vivarini.     St.  Peter  and  St.  Jerome. 

641.  Mazzolino  da  Ferrara.     The  Woman  taken  in  Adultery. 

648.  Lorenzo  di  Credi.     The  Virgin  adoring  the  Holy  Child. 

778.  Pellegrino  di  San  Daniele.  The  Donor  is  presented  to  the 
Virgin  by  St.  James.  St.  George  is  on  horseback,  with  the  dead 
Dragon  at  his  feet. 

640.  Dosso  Dossi  of  Ferrara,  1480 — 1545.     Adoration  of  the  Magi. 
593.  Lorenzo  di  Credi.     Madonna  and  Child. 

718.  Heinrich  de  Bias,  c.  1480— 1550.  The  Crucifixion,  with  angeLs 
receiving  the  blood. 


40 


WALKS  IN  LOXDON. 


*  $3.  Parmigiano.  The  Vision  of  St.  Jerome — painted,  by  order  o( 
Maria  Bufalina,  in  1527,  for  the  Church  of  San  Salvatore  in  Lauro  at 
Citta  di  Castello.  Though  the  artist  was  only  in  his  twenty-fourth  year 
when  he  executed  it,  this  is  a  most  noble  picture.  It  is  supposed  to  be 
that  which  so  absorbed  the  painter's  attention  during  the  siege  of 
Rome  by  the  Constable  de  Bourbon,  that  he  was  unaware  the  city  was 
taken  till  some  German  soldiers,  bursting  in  to  plunder  his  house,  were 
overwhelmed  with  its  beauty,  and  not  only  spared,  but  protected  him. 

81.  Benvenuto  Tisio,  called  Garofalo  from  the  pink  with  which  he 
marked  his  pictures,  1481— 1559.  The  Vision  of  St.  Augustine.  He 
is  warned  by  a  child  that  his  efforts  to  understand  the  mystery  of  the 
Trinity  must  be  as  futile  as  attempting  to  empty  the  ocean  with  a 
spoon.  St.  Catherine,  the  patron  saint  of  theologians,  stands  near 
him,  gazing  up  at  the  Virgin  and  Child'  surrounded  by  angels :  the 
little  red  figure  in  the  background  represents  St.  Stephen,  whose  life 
and  acts  are  set  forth  in  the  homilies  of  St.  Augustine.  From  the 
Corsini  Palace  at  Rome. 

8.  Michel  Angela.     A  Dream  of  Human  Life. 

693.  Pinturicchio.     St.  Catherine  of  Alexandria. 

632.  Girolamo  da  Santa  Croce  of  Venice,  sixteenth  century.  A 
Saint  reading. 

671.  Garofalo.  The  Madonna  and  Child  enthroned  ;  on  their  left 
St.  Francis  and  St.  Anthony  ;  on  their  right  St.  Guglielmo  and  St. 
Chiara. 

702.  Andrea  di  Luigi  of  Assisi,  called  L" Ingegno,  fifteenth  century. 
Madonna  and  Child  in  glory. 

633.  Girolamo  da  Santa  Croce.     A  Saint. 


Room  XVI.     Peel  Collection. 


864.  Terburg.     The  Guitar  Lesson. 

889.  Sir  J.  Reynolds.     His  own  Portrait. 

834.  Peter  de  Hooge.     Dutch  Interior. 

;    *  887.  Sir  J.  Reynolds.     Portrait  of  Dr.  Johnson. 

835.  P.  de  Hooge.     Courtyard  of  a  Dutch  House. 
823.  Cuyp.     Cattle. 

841.   IV.  Van  Mien's  of  Leyden,  1662 — 1747.      A  Fish  and  Poultry 
Shop. 
*  849.  Paul  Potter,  1625 — 1654.     Landscape  with  cattle. 

865.  Vander  Cappdle.     Fishing  Boats  in  a  Calm. 

830.  Hobbema.  The  lopped  Avenue,  with  a  dyke  on  either  side, 
leading  to  the  dull  brick  town  of  Middelharnis,  the  reputed  birtl  place 
of  the  artist. 


THE  FOREIGN  SCHOOLS.  K 

845.   Gaspar  Natscher  of  Antwerp,  1570— 1651.     A  Lady  spiu^iiig. 

839.  Gabriel  Metsu.     The  Music  Lesson. 

852.  Rubens.     The  Chapeau  de  Poil. 

863.    Tenters.     Dives — "  Le  Mauvais  Riche." 

867.    Vandevelde.     The  Farm  Cottage. 

888.  Reynolds.     Portrait  of  James  Boswell.^^ 

870.    Vandevelde.     A  Calm. 

892.  Reynolds.     Robinetta. 

Room  XVII.     Early  Italian  art — indifferent  specimens. 

d68.  School  of  Giotto.     The  Coronation  of  the  Virgin. 

564.  Margaritone  d'Arezzo,  1216 — 1293.  The  Virgin  and  Child, 
with  scenes  from  the  Lives  of  the  Saints.  From  the  Ugo  Baldi  Collec- 
tion. 

565.  Giovanni  Gualtieri  of  Florence,  called  Cimabue,  1 240— c.  1302. 
Madonna  and  Child  enthroned -from  the  Church  of  Santa  Croce  at 
Florence.     Retouched. 

215.   Taddeo  Gaddi  of  Florence,  c.  1300— 1366.     Saints. 
567.  Segna  di  Buonaventura  of  Siena,  early  fourteenth  century.     A 
Crucifix. 

579.  Taddeo  Gaddi.     The  Baptism  of  Christ. 

566.  Duccio  di  Buoninsegna  of  Siena,  1261 — c.  1339.  Madonna 
and  Child,  with  angels  and  saints. 

580.  Jacopo  di  Casenlino,  1310— c.  1390.  The  Assumption  of  St. 
John  the  Evangelist  and  other  Saints. 

570—578.  Andrea  di  Clone  Arcagnuolo,  called  Orcagna,  1315— c. 
1376.     Scenes  from  the  Life  of  Christ. 

C30.  Gregorio  Schiavone,  fifteenth  century,  School  of  Padua. 
Madonna  and  Child,  with  saints. 

276.  Giotto,  Florentine,  1276— 1336.  Heads  of  SS.  John  and  Paul— 
10m  the  Church  of  the  Carmine  at  Florence. 

586.  Era  Filippo  Lippi.  Madonna  and  Child,  with  angels  and  saints 
—  supposed  to  have  been  painted  by  the  artist  in  his  twenty-fifth  year 
for  the  Convent  of  Santo  Spirito  at  Florence. 

248.  Era  Eilippo  Lippi.  The  Vision  of  St.  Bernard— supposed  to 
have  been  painted  for  the  Palazzo  della  Signoria  at  Florence. 

583.  Paolo  di  Dono,  called  Paolo  Uccello  from  his  love  of  birds,  1396 
— 1479.  The  Battle  of  Snnt  Egidio  (?),  July  7,  1416,  in  which  Carlo 
Mnlatesta,  Lord  of  Rimini,  and  his  nephew  Galeazzo,  were  taken 
prisoners  by  Braccio  di  Montonc.  The  beautiful  young  Galeazzo  is 
distinguished  by  his  floating  golden  hair. 

227.  Cosimo  Rosselli  of  Florence,    1439  -c.    1506.     St.  Jerome  ir 


42  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

the  Desert  and  other  saints,  painted  for  the  Ruccellai  Cbapel  at 
Fiesole. 

284.  Bart.  Vivarini  of  Murano,  fifteenth  century.  The  Virgin  and 
Child,  with  St.  Paul  and  St.  Jerome. 

772.  Cosimo  Tura.     Madonna  and  Child  enthroned,  with  angels. 

Room  XVIII.     Chiefly  Spanish. 

184.  Antonij  Mora  (Sir  Antonio  More),  1512 — 1581.  Portrait  of 
Jeanne  d'Archel,  of  the  family  of  Count  Egmont. 

176.  Bartolome  Esteban  Murillo  of  Seville,  1618 — 1682.  St.  John 
and  the  Lamb.     The  St.  John  is  a  Spanish  peasant  boy. 

*  13.  Murillo.  The  Holy  Family — painted  by  the  artist  at  Cadiz, 
when  sixty  years  old,  for  the  family  of  the  Marquis  del  Pedroso. 

*  230.  Francisco  Zurbaran,  "  the  Spanish  Caravaggio,"  1598 — 1662. 
A  Franciscan  Monk — a  most  weird  picture,  in  which,  after  it  is  long 
gazed  upon,  the  eyes  come  out  and  take  possession  of  the  spectator. 
From  the  gallery  of  Louis  Philippe. 

741.  .Don    Diego    Velazquez   de  Silva   of  Seville,    1599 — 1660.     A 
Dead  Warrior — called  El  Orlando  Muerto. 
244.  Spagnoletto.     Shepherd  with  a  Lamb. 
232.    Velazquez.     The  Nativity. 

*  74.  Murillo.     A  laughing  Beggar  Boy. 

*  197.  Velazquez.  A  Boar  Hunt  of  Philip  IV.  The  groups  in  the 
foreground,  especially  the  dogs,  most  admirable.  The  dreary  space  in 
the  centre  destroys  the  interest  of  the  picture  as  a  whole.  From  the 
Royal  Palace  at  Madrid. 

745.    Velazquez.     Portrait  of  Philip  IV. 
195.  Portrait  of  a  German  Professor,  1580. 

It  was  near  the  entrance  of  the  Park  from  Charing  Cross 
that  the  first  Royal  Academy  Exhibition  of  Pictures  was 
held.  Hogarth's  "Sigismunda"and  "  Siege  of  Calais  "  and 
Reynolds's  "  Lord  Ligonier "  were  amongst  the  pictures 
exhibited  there. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE    WEST-END. 

FROM  Trafalgar  Square,  Pall  Mall,  the  handsGmesrt 
street  in  London,  leads  to  the  west.  Its  name  is  a 
record  of  its  having  been  the  place  where  the  game  of 
Palle-malle  was  played — a  game  still  popular  in  the  deserted 
streets  of  old  sleepy  Italian  cities,  and  deriving  its  name 
from  Palla,  a  ball,  and  Maglia  a  mallet.  It  was  already 
introduced  into  England  in  the  reign  of  James  I.,  who  (in 
his  "  Basilicon  Doron  ")  recommended  his  son  Prince  Henry 
to  play  at  it.  Charles  II.,  who  was  passionately  fond  of  the 
game,  removed  the  site  for  it  to  St.  James's  Park.* 

It  was  across  the  ground  afterwards  set  apart  for  Palle- 
malle,  described  by  Le  Serre  as  "  near  the  avenues  of  the 
(St.  James's)  palace — a  large  meadow,  always  green,  in 
which  ladies  walk  in  summer,"  that  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  led 
his  rebel  troops  into  London  in  1554,  passing  with  little 
loss  under  the  fire  of  the  artillery  planted  on  Hay  Hill  by 
the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  and  forcing  his  way  successfully 
through  the  guard  drawn  out  to  defend  Charing  Cross,  but 

•  Curious  details  as  to  the  game  are  given  in  "  Le  Jeu  de  Mail,  par  Joseph 
I  anthier,"  1717.  It  was  played  with  balls  made  from  the  root  of  box,  which 
were  gradually  attuned  to  the  stroke  of  the  mallet,  and  were  always  rubbed  with 
peliitory  before  being  put  away  alter  use. 


44  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

only  to  be  deserted  by  ids  men  and  taken  prisoner  as  he 
entered  the  City. 

The  street  was  not  enclosed  till  about  1690,  when  it  was 
at  first  called  Catherine  Street,  in  honour  of  Catherine  oi 
Braganza,  and  it  still  continued  to  be  a  fashionable  pro- 
menade rather  than  a  highway  for  carriage  traffic.  Thus 
Gay  alludes  to  it — 

"  O  bear  me  to  the  paths  of  fair  Pall  Mall ! 
Safe  are  thy  pavements,  grateful  is  thy  smell ! 
At  distance  rolls  along  the  gilded  coach, 
Nor  sturdy  carmen  on  thy  walks  encroach  ; 
No  lets  would  bar  thy  ways  were  chairs  deny'd, 
The  soft  supports  of  laziness  and  pride  ; 
Shops  breathe  perfumes,  through  sashes  ribbons  glow, 
The  mutual  arms  of  ladies  and  the  beau." 

Trivia,  bk.  II. 

Cub-houses  are  the  characteristic  of  the  street,  though 
none  of  the  existing  buildings  date  beyond  the  present 
century.  In  the  last  century  their  place  was  filled  by 
taverns  where  various  literary  and  convivial  societies  had 
their  meetings:  Pepys  in  1660  was  frequently  at  one  of 
these,  "Wood's  at  the  Pell-Mell."  The  first  trial  of  street 
pas  in  London  was  made  here  in  1807,  in  a  row  of  lamps,  on 
the  King's  birthday,  before  the  colonnade  of  Carlton  House. 
Amid  all  the  changes  of  the  town,  London-lovers  have 
continued  to  give  their  best  affections  to  Pall  Mall,  and 
how  many  there  are  who  agree  with  the  lines  of  Charles 
Morris  * — 

"  In  town  let  me  live,  then,  in  town  let  me  die  ; 
For  in  truth  I  can't  relish  the  country,  not  I. 
If  one  must  have  a  villa  in  summer  to  dwell, 
Oh  !  give  me  the  sweet  shady  side  of  Pall  Mall." 

•  The  genial  wit,  of  whom  Curran  said,  "  Die  when  you  will,  Charles,  you  wil, 
die  in  your  youth." 


WARWICK  STREET.  45 

Entering  the  street  by  Pall  Mall  East,  we  pass,  just 
beyond  the  rooms  of  the  Old  Water  Colour  Society,  the 
entrance  to  Suffolk  Street,  where  Charles  II.  "furnished  a 
house  most  richly"  *  for  his  beloved  Moll  Davis,  and  where 
Pepys  "  did  see  her  coach  come  for  her  to  her  door,  a 
mighty  pretty  fine  coach."  f  Here  also  lived  Miss  Esther 
Vanhomrigh,  who  has  become,  under  the  name  of  Vanessa, 
celebrated  for  her  unhappy  and  ill-requited  devotion  to  Dean 
Swift.  On  the  right  is  the  Gallery  of  British  Artists. 
Suffolk  Street  existed  as  early  as  1664,  marking  the  site  of 
a  house  of  the  Earls  of  Suffolk,  but  did  not  become  im- 
portant till  the  Restoration,  when  the  residence  of  Secretary 
Coventry  gave  a  name  to  the  neighbouring  Coventry  Street. 

On  the  left  Cockspur  Street  falls  into  Pall  Mall.  At  the 
end  of  Warwick  Street, %  which  opens  into  it,  stood  Warwick 
House,  where  Princess  Charlotte  was  compelled  by  her 
father  to  reside,  and  where  "wearied  out  by  a  series  of  acts 
all  proceeding  from  the  spirit  of  petty  tyranny,  and  each 
more  vexatious  than  another,  though  none  of  them  very 
important  in  itself,"  she  determined  to  escape.  She  (July 
16,  1814)  "  rushed  out  of  her  residence  in  Warwick  House, 
unattended  ;  hastily  crossed  Cockspur  Street ;  flung  herself 
into  the  first  hackney-coach  she  could  find;  and  drove  to 
her  mother's  house  in  Connaught  Place."  § 

A  public-house  at  the  entrance  of  Warwick  Street  still 
bears  the  sign  of  "  The  Two  Chairmen,"  which  recalls  the 
habits  of  locomotion  in  the  last  century,  when  Defoe  wrote — 

"  I  am  lodged  in  the  street  called  Pall  Mall,  the  ordinary  residence  of 
all  strangers,  because  of  its  vicinity  to  the  Queen's  Palace,  the  Park,  the 

•  Pepys,  Jan  14,  1667-8.  +  Feb.  15,  1668-9. 

t  Built  1681.     Called  after  Sir  Philip  Warwick.  }  Lord  Brougham. 


46  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Parliament  House,  the  theatres,  and  the  chocolate  and  coffee  houses, 
where  the  best  company  frequent.  If  you  would  know  our  manner  of 
living,  'tis  thus  : — we  rise  by  nine,  and  those  that  frequent  great  men's 
levees  find  entertainment  at  them  till  eleven,  or,  as  at  Holland,  go  to 
tea-tables.  About  twelve,  the  beau-monde  assembles  in  several  coffee 
or  chocolate  houses  ;  the  best  of  which  are  the  Cocoa  Tree,  and  White's 
chocolate-houses ;  St.  James's,  the  Smyrna,  Mr.  Rochford's,  and  the 
British  coffee-houses ;  and  all  these  so  near  one  another,  that  in  less 
than  one  hour  you  see  the  company  of  them  all.  We  are  carried  to 
these  places  in  Sedan  chairs,  which  are  here  very  cheap,  a  guinea  a 
week,  or  a  shilling  per  hour ;  and  your  chairmen  serve  you  for  porters 
to  run  on  errands,  as  your  gondoliers  do  at  Venice." 


Passing  the  equestrian  statue  of  George  III.,  by  Matthew 
Cotes,  1837,  we  now  reach  the  foot  of  the  Haymarket,  so 
called  from  the  market  for  hay  and  straw  which  was  held 
here  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  and  was  not  finally  abolished 
till  1830.  On  the  right  is  the  Haymarket  Theatre  (opened 
Dec.  1720),  on  the  left  the  Italian  Opera  House  (built  in 
1 790).  It  was  between  these,  at  the  foot  of  the  Haymarket, 
that  Thomas  Thynne  of  Longleat  was  murdered  on  Sunday, 
Feb.  12,  1681,  by  ruffians  hired  by  Count  Konigsmarck, 
who  hoped,  when  Thynne  was  out  of  the  way,  to  ingratiate 
himself  with  his  affianced  bride,  the  rich  young  Lady  Eliza- 
beth Percy,  already,  in  her  sixteenth  year,  the  widow  of 
Lord  Ogle.  The  assassins  employed  were  Vratz,  a 
German  ;  Stern,  a  Swede  ;  and  Borotski,  a  Pole  ;  but  only 
the  last  of  these  fired,  though  no  less  than  five  of  his  bullets 
pierced  his  victim.  The  scene  is  represented  on  Thynne's 
monument  in  Westminster  Abbey.  The  conspirators  were 
taken,  and  tried  at  Hicks's  Hall  in  Clerkenwell,  where 
Konigsmarck  was  acquitted,  but  the  others  sentenced  to 
death,  and  hanged  in  the  street  which  was  the  scene  of 
their  crime.     They  were  attended  by  Bishop  Burnet,  who 


PALL   MALL.  47 

narrates  that,  in  return  for  his  religious  admonitions,  Vratz 
expressed  his  conviction  that  "  God  would  consider  a 
gentleman,  and  deal  with  him  suitably  to  the  condition  and 
profession  he  had  placed  him  in  ;  and  that  he  would  not 
take  it  ill  if  a  soldier  who  lived  by  his  sword  avenged  an 
affront  offered  him  by  another."  Stern,  on  the  scaffold, 
complained  that  he  died  for  a  man's  fortune  whom  he  never 
spoke  to,  for  a  woman  whom  he  never  saw,  and  for  a  dead 
man  whom  he  never  had  a  sight  of." 

[Addison  lived  in  the  Haymarket,  and  wrote  his  "  Cam- 
paign" there.  On  the  right  are  fames  Street,  where  James  II. 
used  to  play  in  the  tennis  court,  and  Panton  Street,  so 
called  from  Colonel  Panton,  the  successful  gamester, 
who  died  in  1681.  At  the  corner  ot  Market  Street  (left) 
lived  Hannah  Lightfoot,  the  fair  Quakeress,  beloved  by 
George  III.  Farther  on  the  left  is  the  entry  of  the  little 
court  called  James  s  Market,  where  Richard  Baxter 
preached.] 

Proceeding  down  Pall  Mall,  and  passing  the  United 
Service  Club,  by  Nash,  1826,  we  reach  the  opening  of 
Waterloo  Place,  which  occupies  the  site  of  Carlton  House, 
built  for  Henry  Boyle,  Lord  Carlton,  in  1709,  and 
purchased  by  Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales,  in  1732.  His 
widow,  Augusta  of  Saxe-Cobourg,  lived  here  for  many 
years,  and  died  in  1772.  The  house  was  redecorated 
for  the  marriage  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  afterwards 
George  IV.  Here  his  daughter  Charlotte  was  born 
(January  7,  1796),  and  married  to  Leopold  of  Saxe-Cobourg 
(May  2.  1816).  Here  also,  in  1811,  George  IV.  gave  his 
famous  banquet  as  Prince  Regent. 

Horace  Walpole   was   beyond   measure   ecstatic   in   hia 


48  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

admiration  of  Carlton  House,  though  where  the  money  to 
pay  for  it  was  to  come  from  he  could  not  conceive  ;  "  all 
the  mines  in  Cornwall  could  not  pay  a  quarter."  The 
redundancy  of  ornament  induced  Bonomi  to  write  on  the 
Ionic  screen  facing  Pall  Mall  the  epigram — 

*' '  Care  colonne,  che  fate  qua  ? ' 
'  Non  sappiamo,  in  verita ! ' " 

But  all  its  magnificence  came  to  an  end  in  1827,  when  the 
house  was  pulled  down,  its  fittings  taken  to  Buckingham 
Palace,  and  its  columns  used  in  building  the  portico  of 
the  National  Gallery.  Its  site  is  marked  by  the  Column 
(124  feet  high)  surmounted  by  a  Statue  of  Frederick,  Duke  oj 
York,  second  son  of  George  III.,  by  Westmacott,  which 
faces  Regent  Street.  On  the  right  is  a  Statue  of  Lord 
Clyde.  On  the  left  is  a  Statue  of  Sir  John  Franklin  by 
Noble.  The  relief  on  its  pedestal  represents  the  funeral 
of  Franklin,  with  Captain  Crozier  reading  the  burial  service: 
it  wonderfully  appeals  to  human  sympathies,  and  there  is 
scarcely  a  moment  in  the  day  when  passers-by  are  not 
lingering  to  examine  it. 

We  now  enter  upon  a  perfect  succession  of  the  buildings 
erected  for  the  clubs,  originally  defined  by  Dr.  Johnson  as 
"  assemblies  of  good  fellows,  meeting  under  certain  con- 
ditions." They  have  greatly  improved  since  those  days, 
and  are  now  the  great  comfort  of  bachelor-life  in  London. 
"Comme  ils  savent  organiser  le  bien-etre  ! "  Taine  justly 
exclaims  with  regard  to  them.  At  the  angle  of  Waterloo 
Place  is  the  Athenceum,  the  chief  literary  club  in  London, 
built  by  Decimus  Burton,  1829.  Beyond  arise,  on  the 
left,  the    Travellers'  Club    (by    Barry,   1832)  ;   the   Reform 


ST.  JAMES'S  SQUARE.  49 

Club  (by  Barry,  1838) ;  and  the  Carlton  Chib  (by 
Smirke,  1854,  from  St.  Mark's  Library  at  Venice),  the 
famous  political  Conservative  club  founded  by  the  Duke 
of  Wellington  in  1831.  Beyond  these,  the  War  Office 
ocrupies  a  house  originally  built  for  Edward,  Duke  ot 
York,  brother  of  George  III.,  with  an  admirable  medi- 
tative statue  in  front  of  it,  representing  Lord  Herbert  of 
Lea,  Secretary  of  State  for  War  (by  Foley,  1S67).  Beyond 
this  are  the  Oxford  and  Cambridge  Club  (by  Smirke 
1835 — 8)  ;  and  the  Guards'  Club  (by  Harrison,  1850).  On 
the  right,  opposite  the  War  Office,  is  the  Army  and  Navy 
Club  (by  Parnell  and  Smith,  1851). 

(The  two  short  streets  on  the  right  of  Pall  Mall  lead 
into  St.  James's  Square,  which  dates  from  the  time  of 
Charles  II.,  when  the  adjoining  King  Street  and  Charles* 
Street  were  named  in  honour  of  the  King,  and  York  Street 
and  Duke  "Street  in  honour  of  the  Duke  of  York.  In  the 
centre  was  a  Gothic  conduit,  which  is  seen  in  old  prints  and 
maps  of  London,  with  a  steep  gable  and  walls  of  coloured 
bricks  in  diamond  patterns.  Its  site  is  now  occupied  by  a 
statue  of  William  III.  by  the  younger  Bacon,  1808.  The 
great  Duke  of  Ormond  lived  here  in  Ormond  House,  and 
his  duchess  died  there.  No.  3  was  the  house  of  the  Duke 
of  Leeds. 

"  When  the  Duke  of  Leeds  shall  married  be 
To  a  fair  young  lady  of  high  quality, 
How  happy  will  that  gentlewoman  be 
In  his  grace  of  Leeds'  good  company ! 

She  shall  have  all  that's  fine  and  fair, 
And  the  best  of  silk  and  satin  shall  wear ; 
And  ride  in  a  coach  to  take  the  air, 
And  have  a  house  in  St.  James's  Square." 

VOL.  II.  E 


50  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

No.  15,  which  belonged  to  Sir  Philip  Francis,  was  lent  to 
Queen  Caroline  (1820),  and  was  inhabited  by  her  during 
the  earlier  part  of  her  trial.  No.  16  was  the  house  of  Lord 
Castlereagh,  who  lay  in  state  there  in  1822.  No.  17,  the 
Duke  of  Cleveland's,  is  an  interesting  old  house,  and  con- 
tains a  fine  picture  of  Barbara,  Duchess  of  Cleveland,  by 
Sir  Peter  Lely.  No.  21,  in  the  south-east  corner,  is  Norfolk 
House,  and  has  been  inhabited  by  the  Dukes  of  Norfolk 
since  1684.  Hither  Frederick  Prince  of  Wales,  when 
turned  out  of  St.  James's  by  George  II.,  took  refuge  with 
his  family  till  the  purchase  of  Leicester  House ;  and  here 
George  III.  was  born,  June  4,  1738,  being  a  seven-months' 
child,  and  was  privately  baptized  the  same  day  by  Seeker, 
Bishop  of  Oxford.) 

•  We  may  notice  No.  79,  Pall  Mall,  as  occupying  the  site 
of  the  house  which  was  given  by  Charles  II.  to  Nell 
Gwynne,  described  by  Burnet  as  "  the  indiscreetest  and 
wildest  creature  that  ever  was  in  a  court."  She  lived  here 
from  1671  to  1687.  It  is  still  the  only  freehold  in  the 
street. 

"  It  was  given  by  a  long  lease  by  Charles  II.  to  Nell  Gwyn,  and 
upon  her  discovering  it  to  be  only  a  lease  under  the  Crown,  she  returned 
him  the  lease  and  conveyances,  saying  she  had  always  conveyed  free 
under  the  Crown,  and  always  would ;  and  would  not  accept  it  till  it 
was  conveyed  free  to  her  by  Act  of  Parliament  made  on  and  for  that 
purpose.  Upon  Nell's  death  it  was  sold,  and  has  been  conveyed  free 
ever  since." — Granger's  Letters,  p.  308. 

The  garden  of  the  house  had  a  mount,  on  which  Nell  used 
to  stand  to  talk  over  the  wall  to  the  King  as  he  walked 
in  St.  James's  Park. 

"  5  March,  1671. — I  walk'd  with  him  (Charles  II.)  thro'  St.  James's 
Parke  to  the  gardens,  where  I  both  saw  and  heard  a  very  familiar  dis 


SCHOMBERG  HOUSE.  51 

course  between  the  King  and  Mrs.  Nellie,  as  they  cal'd  an  impudent 
comedian,  she  looking  out  of  her  garden  on  a  terrace  on  the  top  of  the 
wall,  and  the  king  standing  on  ye  greene  waike  under  it.  I  was 
heartily  sorry  at  this  scene.  Thence  the  king  walk'd  to  the  Duchess  oi 
Cleaveland,  another  lady  of  pleasure  and  curse  of  our  nation."— 
Evelyn. 

This  neighbourhood,  so  close  to  the  palace,  was  naturally 
popular  with  the  mistresses  of  the  royal  Stuarts.  Barbara 
Palmer,  Duchess  of  Cleveland,  and  Hortensia  Mancini, 
Duchess  of  Mazarin,  both  lived  at  one  time  in  Pall  Mall, 
and  Moll  Davis  in  St.  James's  Square.  Arabella  Churchill 
and  Catherine  Sedley,  mistresses  of  James  II.,  also  lived 
in  St.  James's  Square. 

Nos.  81  and  82  are  portions  of  ScJwmberg  House,  built 
for  the  great  Duke  of  Schomberg,  who  was  killed  in  his 
eighty-second  year  at  the  Battle  of  the  Boyne  in  1690,  and 
over  whose  death  William  III.  wept,  saying,  "  I  have  lost 
my  father."*  It  was  afterwards  inhabited  by  John  Astley 
the  painter,  who  placed  the  relief  over  the  entrance.  He 
divided  the  house  and  after  his  death  the  central  compart- 
ment was  occupied  by  Cosway  the  miniature  painter. 
Gainsborough  lived  in  one  of  the  wings  of  the  house  from 
1778  to  1788,  and  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  sat  to  him  for  his 
portrait  there.  It  was  there  also,  "in  a  second-floor 
chamber,"  that  Sir  Joshua  was  present  (July,  1788)  at  the 
death-bed  of  Gainsborough,  and  heard  his  last  words,  "  We 
are  all  going  to  heaven,  and  Vandyke  is  of  the  company." 
Much  of  the  house  has  been  demolished,  but  Gainsborough's 
wing  remains. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  was  the  "Star  and 
Garter,"  where  the  Literary  Club  had  the  meetings  which 

•  Lettrcs  au  Roi  do  Danemark,  par  Jean  Pa\en  dc  la  Foulercssc,  1688—02. 


52  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Swift  describes  in  a  letter  to  Stella ;  and  where  (Jan.  24, 
1 765)  William,  fifth  Lord  Byron,  having  a  quarrel  with  his 
neighbour,  Mr.  Chaworth,  as  to  which  had  most  game  on 
his  estate,  challenged  him,  fought  him  by  the  light  of  a 
single  tallow  candle,  and  gave  him  a  wound  which  proved 
fatal  the  next  day,  and  for  which  he  was  tried  in  West- 
minster Hall. 

On  the  left  is  Marlborough  House,  built  (1709 — 10)  by  Sir 
Christopher  Wren  for  the  great  Duke  ot  Marlborough,  on  an 
offset  of  the  Park  given  by  Queen  Anne.  The  Duke  died  in 
the  house  in  1722,  and  here  also  died  his  famous  duchess, 

Sarah, 

"  The  wisest  fool  that  ever  Time  has  made," 

in  spite  of  her  retort  when  told,  in  her  eighty-fourth  year, 
that  she  must  either  be  blistered  or  die — "  I  won't  be 
blistered,  and  I  woiA  die."  She  kept  up  the  utmost  pomp 
to  the  last,  and  talked  of  her  "  neighbour  George  "  at  St. 
James's.  The  bad  entrance  that  still  exists  testifies  to  the 
spite  of  Sir  Robert  Walpole,  who,  when  he  found  the  old 
duchess  desirous  of  making  a  suitable  approach  to  her 
house,  bought  up  the  leases  of  the  encroaching  houses  to 
prevent  her.  The  house  remained  in  the  Marlborough 
family  till  it  was  purchased  for  Princess  Charlotte  in  181 7. 
It  was  the  London  residence  of  Queen  Adelaide  in  her 
widowhood,  and  was  settled  upon  Albert  Edward,  Prince  of 
Wales,  in  1850.  The  saloon  still  contains  a  number  of 
very  interesting  pictures  by  Laguerre  of  the  victories  of  the 
Duke  of  Marlborough,  George  IV.  made  a  plan  for  con- 
necting Marlborough  House  with  Carlton  House  by  a 
gallery  of  portraits  of  the  British  Sovereigns  and  historical 
personages  connected  with  them. 


ST.  JAMES'S  PALACE. 


S3 


The  building  which  projects  into  the  grounds  of  Marl- 
borough House,  and  which  is  entered  from  the  roadway 
into  the  Park  on  the  left  of  St.  James's  Palace,  is  interest- 
ing as  the  Roman  Catholic  Chapel  built  by  Charles  I.  for 
Henrietta  Maria,  the  erection  of  which  gave  such  offence 
to  his  subjects. 


Gateway,  St.  James's  Palace. 


The  picturesque  old  brick  gateway  of  Sf.  James's  Palace 
still  looks  up  St.  James's  Street,  one  of  the  most  precious 
relics  of  the  past  in  London,  and  enshrining  the  memory  of 
a  greater  succession  of  historical  events  than  any  ether 
domestic  building  in  England,  Windsor  Castle  not  excepted. 
The  site  of  the  palace  was  occupied,  even  before  the  Con- 


54  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

quest,  by  a  hospital  dedicated  to  St.  James,  for  "fourteen 
maidens  that  were  leprous."  Henry  VIII.  obtained  it  by 
exchange,  pensioned  off  the  sisters,  and  converted  the 
hospital  into  "  a  fair  mansion  and  park,"*  in  the  same  year 
in  which  he  was  married  to  Anne  Boleyn,  who  was  com- 
memorated here  with  him  in  love-knots,  now  almost  oblite- 
rated, upon  the  side  doors  of  the  gateway,  and  in  the 
letters  "  H.  A."  on  the  chimney-piece  of  the  presence- 
chamber  or  tapestry  room.  Holbein  is  sometimes  said  to 
have  been  the  king's  architect  here,  as  he  was  at  White- 
hall. Henry  can  seldom  have  lived  here,  but  hither  his 
daughter,  Mary  I.,  retired,  after  her  husband  Philip  left 
England  for  Spain,  and  here  she  died,  Nov.  17,  1558. 

"  It  is  said  that  in  the  beginning  of  her  sickness,  her  friends,  sup- 
posing King  Philip's  absence  afflicted  her,  endeavoured  by  all  means 
to  divert  her  melancholy.  But  all  proved  in  vain :  and  the  Queen, 
abandoning  herself  to  despair,  told  them  she  should  die,  though  they 
were  yet  strangers  to  the  cause  of  her  death  ;  but  if  they  would  know 
it  hereafter,  they  must  dissect  her,  and  they  would  find  Calais  at  her 
heart;  intimating  that  the  loss  of  that  place  washer  death's  wound." — 
Godwin. 

James  I.,  in  1610,  settled  St.  James's  on  his  eldest  son, 
Prince  Henry,  who  kept  his  court  here  for  two  years  with 
great  magnificence,  having  a  salaried  household  of  no  less 
than  two  hundred  and  ninety-seven  persons.  Here  he 
died  in  his  nineteenth  year,  Nov.  6,  161 2.  Upon  his 
death,  St.  James's  was  given  to  his  brother  Charles,  who 
frequently  resided  here  after  his  accession  to  the  throne, 
and  here  Henrietta  Maria  gave  birth  to  Charles  II., 
James  II.,  and  the  Princess  Elizabeth.  In  1638  the  palace 
was  given  as  a  refuge  to  the  queen's  mother,  Marie  de'  Medici, 

*  Holinshed. 


ST.  JAMES'S  PALACE.  51 

who  lived  here  for  three  years,  with  a  pension  of  ^3,000  a 
month  !  Hither  Charles  I.  was  brought  from  Windsor  as  the 
prisoner  of  the  Parliament,  his  usual  attendants,  with  one 
exception,  being  debarred  access  to  him,  and  being  replaced 
by  common  soldiers,  who  sat  smoking  and  drinking  even 
in  the  royal  bedchamber,  never  allowing  him  a  moment's 
privacy,  and  hence  he  was  taken  in  a  sedan  chair  to  his 
trial  at  Whitehall. 

"  On  Sunday  the  28th  (after  his  condemnation)  he  was  attended  by 
a  guard  from  Whitehall  to  St.  James's,  where  Juxon,  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don, preached  before  him  on  these  words  (Rom.  ii.  16),  "In  the  day 
when  God  shall  judge  the  secrets  of  all  men  by  Jesus  Christ,  according 
to  my  gospel."  After  the  service  the  King  received  the  Sacrament,  and 
he  spent  the  rest  of  the  day  in  private  devotion,  and  in  conferences  with 
the  Bishop.  The  next  day  Charles  underwent  the  cruel  pang  of  sepa- 
rating from  his  two  children  (who  alone  were  in  England),  Henry,  Duke 
of  Gloucester,  who  was  about  seven  years  of  age,  and  the  Princess 
Elizabeth,  who  was  about  thirteen.  Their  interview  with  him  was  long, 
tender,  and  afflicting.  He  bade  the  Lady  Elizabeth  tell  her  mother 
that  his  thoughts  had  never  strayed  from  her,  and  that  his  love  should 
be  the  same  to  the  last,  and  begged  her  to  remember  to  tell  her  brother 
'  James  '  that  it  was  his  father's  last  desire  that  after  his  death  he  should 
no  longer  look  upon  his  brother  Charles  merely  as  his  elder  brother,  but 
should  be  obedient  to  him  as  his  sovereign  ;  and  that  they  should  both 
love  one  another,  and  forgive  their  father's  enemies.  'But,'  said  the 
King  to  her,  'sweetheart,  you  will  forget  this?'  'No,'  said  she,  'I 
will  never  forget  it  as  long  as  I  live.'  He  prayed  her  not  to  grieve  for 
him,  for  he  should  die  a  glorious  death ;  it  being  for  the  laws  and 
liberties  of  the  land,  and  for  maintaining  the  true  Protestant  religion. 
He  charged  her  to  forgive  those  people,  but  never  to  trust  them  ;  foi 
they  had  been  most  false  to  him,  and  to  those  that  gave  them  power, 
and  he  feared  also  to  their  own  souls.  He  then  urged  her  to  read 
Bishop  Andrewes'  '  Sermons,'  Hooker's  '  Ecclesiastical  Polity,'  and 
Archbishop  Laud's  Book  against  Fisher,  which  would  strengthen 
her  faith,  and  confirm  her  in  a  pious  attachment  to  the  Church  of 
England,  and  an  aversion  from  Popery.  Then  taking  the  Duke  of 
Gloucester  on  his  knee,  the  King  said  to  him,  '  Sweetheart,  now  they 
will  cut  off  thy  father's  head  '  (upon  which  words  the  child  looked  very 
earnestly  and  steadfastly  at  him).     '  Mark,  child,  what  1  say,  they  will 


56  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

cut  off  my  head,  and  perhaps  make  thee  a  king :  but  mark  me,  you 
must  not  be  a  king,  so  long  as  your  brothers,  Charles  and  James,  do 
live ;  for  they  will  cut  off  your  brothers'  heads  when  they  can  catch 
them,  and  cut  off  thy  head  at  last  too  ;  and  therefore  I  charge  you  do 
not  be  made  a  king  by  them  : '  at  which  the  child  said  earnestly,  '  I 
will  be  torn  in  pieces  first,'  which  ready  reply  from  so  young  an  infant 
filled  the  King's  eyes  with  tears  of  admiration  and  pleasure." — Trial  oj 
Charles  I.,  Family  Library,  xxxi. 

On  the  following  day  the  king  was  led  away  from  St. 
James's  to  the  scaffold.  His  faithful  friends  Henry  Rich, 
Earl  of  Holland  ;  the  Duke  of  Hamilton  and  Lord  Capel  ; 
were  afterwards  imprisoned  in  the  palace  and  suffered  like 
their  master. 

Charles  II.,  who  was  born  at  St.  James's  (May  29,  1630), 
resided  at  Whitehall,  giving  up  the  palace  to  his  brother 
the  Duke  of  York  (also  born  here,  Oct.  25,  1633),  but 
reserving  apartments  for  his  mistress,  the  Duchess  of  Maza- 
rin,  who  at  one  time  resided  there  with  a  pension  of  ^4,000 
a  year.  Here  Mary  II.  was  born,  April  30,  1662  ;  and  here 
she  was  married  to  William  of  Orange,  at  eleven  at  night,  Nov. 
4,  1677.  Here  for  many  years  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of 
York  secluded  themselves  with  their  children,  in  mourning 
and  sorrow,  on  the  anniversary  of  his  father's  murder. 
Here,  also,  Anne  Hyde,  Duchess  of  York,  died,  March  31, 
1671,  asking  "What  is  truth?"  of  Blandford,  Bishop  of 
Worcester,  who  came  to  visit  her. 

In  St.  James's  Palace  also,  James's  second  wife,  Mary  of 
Modena,  gave  birth  to  her  fifth  child,  Prince  James  Edward 
("the  Old  Pretender")  on  June  10,  1688. 

"  There,  en  the  morning  of  Sunday,  the  tenth  cf  June,  a  day  long 
kept  sacred  by  the  too  faithful  adherents  of  a  bad  cause,  was  bom  the 
most  unfortunate  of  princes,  destined  to  seventy-seven  years  of  exile 


ST.  JAMES'S  PALACE.  y 

and  wandering,  of  vain  projects,  of  honours  more  galling  than  insults, 
and  of  hopes  such  as  make  the  heart  sick." — Macaulay,  ch.  viii. 

"  The  king  rose  between  seven  and  eight,  and  went  to  his  own  side 
of  the  palace.  About  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after,  the  queen  sent  for 
him  in  hot  haste,  and  requested  to  have  every  one  summoned  whom  he 
wished  to  be  witnesses  of  the  birth  of  their  child.  The  first  person  who 
obeyed  the  summons  was  Mrs.  Margaret  Dawson,  one  of  her  bed- 
chamber women,  formerly  in  the  service  of  Anne  Hyde,  Duchess  of 
York  ;  she  had  been  present  at  the  birth  of  all  the  king's  children, 
including  the  Princess  Anne  of  Denmark.  The  bed  was  then  made 
ready  for  her  majesty,  who  was  very  chilly,  and  wished  it  to  be  warmed. 
Accordingly,  a  warming-pan  full  of  hot  coals  was  brought  into  the 
chamber,  with  which  the  bed  was  warmed  previously  to  the  queen 
entering  it.  From  this  circumstance,  simple  as  it  was,  but  unusual,  the 
absurd  talk  was  fabricated  that  a  spurious  child  was  introduced  into  the 
queen's  bed.  Mrs.  Dawson  afterwards  deposed,  on  oath,  that  she  saw 
fire  in  the  warming-pan  when  it  was  brought  into  her  majesty's  cham- 
ber, the  time  being  then  about  eight  o'clock,  and  the  birth  of  the 

prince  did  not  take  place  until   ten After  her  majesty  was  in 

bed,  the  lung  came  in,  and  she  asked  him  if  he  had  sent  for  the  queen 
dowager.  He  replied,  'I  have  sent  for  everybody,'  and  so,  indeed,  it 
seemed  ;  for  besides  the  queen  dowager  and  her  ladies,  and  the  ladies  of 
the  queen's  household,  the  state  officers  of  the  palace,  several  of  the 
royal  physicians,  and  the  usual  professional  attendants,  there  were 
eighteen  members  of  the  Privy  Council,  who  stood  at  the  foot  of  the 
bed.  There  were  in  all  sixty-seven  persons  present.  Even  the 
Princess  Anne,  in  her  coarse,  cruel  letters  to  her  sister  on  this  sub- 
ject, acknowledged  that  the  queen  was  much  distressed  by  the  presence 
of  so  many  men,  especially  by  that  of  the  Lord  Chancellor  Jeffreys." — 
Strickland's  Queens  of  England. 

It  was  to  St.  James's  that  William  III.  came  on  his  first 
arrival  in  England,  and  he  frequently  resided  there  after- 
wards, dining  in  public,  with  the  Duke  of  Schomberg  seated 
at  his  right  hand  and  a  number  of  Dutch  guests,  but  on  no 
occasion  was  any  English  gentleman  invited.  In  the  latter 
part  of  William's  reign  the  palace  was  given  up  to  the 
Princess  Anne,  who  had  been  born  there,  Feb.  6,  1665,  and 
married  there  to  Prince  George  of  Den  nark,  July  28,  16S3 


58  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

She  was  residing  here  when  Bishop  Burnet  brought  her  the 
news  of  William's  death  and  her  own  accession. 

George  I.,  on  his  arrival  in  England,  came  at  once  to  St. 
James's. 

"'This  is  a  strange  country,'  he  remarked  afterwards;  'the  first 
morning  after  my  arrival  at  St.  James's,  I  looked  out  of  the  window, 
and  saw  a  park  with  walks,  and  a  canal,  which  they  told  me  were  mine. 
The  next  day  Lord  Chetwynd,  the  ranger  of  my  park,  sent  me  a  fine 
brace  of  carp  out  of  my  canal ;  and  I  was  told  I  must  give  five  guinea", 
to  Lord  Chetwynd's  servant  for  bringing  me  my  own  carp,  out  of  my 
own  canal,  in  my  own  park." — Walpole's  Reminiscences. 

The  Duchess  of  Kendal,  the  king's  mistress,  had  rooms 
in  the  palace,  and,  towtrds  the  close  of  his  reign,  George  I. 
assigned  appartments  there  on  the  ground-floor  to  a  fresh 
favourite,  Miss  Anne  Brett.  When  the  king  left  for 
Hanover,  Miss  Brett  had  a  door  opened  from  her  rooms  to 
the  royal  gardens,  which  the  king's  grand-daughter,  Princess 
Anne,  who  was  residing  in  the  palace,  indignantly  ordered 
to  be  walled  up.  Miss  Brett  had  it  opened  a  second  time, 
and  the  quarrel  was  at  its  height,  when  the  news  of  the  king's 
death  put  an  end  to  the  power  of  his  mistress.  With  the 
accession  of  George  II.  the  Countesses  of  Yarmouth  and 
Suffolk  took  possession  of  the  apartments  of  the  Duchess 
of  Kendal.  As  Prince  of  Wales,  George  II.  had  resided  in 
the  palace,  till  a  smouldering  quarrel  with  his  father  came 
to  a  crisis  over  the  christening  of  one  of  the  royal  children, 
and  the  next  day  he  was  put  under  arrest,  and  ordered 
to  leave  St.  James's  with  his  family  the  same  evening. 
Wilhelmina  Caroline  of  Anspach,  the  beloved  queen  of 
George  II.,  died  in  the  palace,  Nov.  20,  1737,  after  an 
agonizing  illness,  endured  with  the  utmost  fortitude  and 
consideration  for  all  around  her. 


ST.  JAMES'S  PALACE.  59 

Of  the  daughters  of  George  II.  and  Queen  Caroline, 
Anne,  the  eldest,  was  married  at  St.  James's  to  the  Prince 
of  Orange,  Nov.  1733,  urged  to  the  alliance  by  her  desire 
for  power,  and  answering  to  her  parents,  when  they  reminded 
hei  of  the  hideous  and  ungainly  appearance  of  the  bride- 
groom, "  I  would  many  him,  even  if  he  were  a  baboon  !  " 
The  marriage,  however,  was  a  happy  one,  and  a  pleasant 
contrast  to  that  of  her  younger  sister  Mary,  the  king's  fourth 
daughter,  who  was  married  here  to  the  brutal  Frederick  of 
Hesse  Cassel,  June  14,  1 77  j  .  The  third  daughter,  Caroline, 
died  at  St.  James's,  Dec.  28,  1757,  after  a  long  seclusion 
consequent  upon  the  death  of  John,  Lord  Harvey,  to  whom 
she  was  passionately  attached. 

George  I.  and  George  II.  used,  on  certain  days,  to  play 
at  Hazard  at  the  grooms'  postern  at  St.  James's,  and  the 
name  "  Hells,"  as  applied  to  modern  gaming-houses,  is 
derived  from  that  given  to  the  gloomy  room  used  by  the 
royal  gamblers.* 

The  northern  part  of  the  palace,  beyond  the  gateway 
(inhabited  in  the  reign  of  Victoria  by  the  Duchess  of 
Cambridge),  was  built  for  the  marriage  of  Frederick  Prince 
of  Wales. 

The  Slate  Apartments  (which  those  who  frequent  levees 
and  drawing-rooms  have  abundant  opportunities  of  survey- 
ing) are  handsome,  and  contain  a  number  of  good  royal 
portraits. 

The  Chapel  Royal,  on  the  right  on  entering  the 
"  Colour  Court,"  has  a  carved  and  painted  ceiling  of  1540. 
Madame  d'Arblay  describes  the  pertinacity  of  George  III. 
in  attending  service  here  in  bitter  November  weather,  when 

•  Theodore  Hook. 


60  WALKS  JN  LONDON. 

the  queen  and  court  at  length  left  the  king,  his  chaplain, 
and  equerry  "  to  freeze  it  out  together."  There  is  still  a 
full  choral  service  here  at  eight  a.m.  and  one  p.m.,  when,  on 
payment  of  2s.,  any  one  may  occupy  the  "  seats  of  nobility  " 
and  say  their  prayers  on  crimson  cushions.  Bishop  Burnet's 
complaint  to  the  Princess  Anne  of  the  ogling  which  went  on 
here  during  Divine  service  drew  down  the  ballad  attributed 
■-.o  Lord  Peterborough — ■ 

"  When  Burnet  perceived  that  the  beautiful  dames, 
Who  flock'd  to  the  chapel  of  hilly  St.  James, 
On  their  lovers  alone  their  kind  looks  did  bestow, 
And  smiled  not  on  him  while  he  bellow'd  below, 

To  the  Princess  he  went, 

With  pious  intent, 
This  dangerous  ill  to  the  Church  to  prevent. 
'  Oh,  madam,'  he  said,  'our  religion  is  lost, 
If  the  ladies  thus  ogle  the  knights  of  the  toast. 
These  practices,  madam,  my  preaching  disgrace  : 
Shall  laymen  enjoy  the  first  rights  of  my  place  ? 
Then  all  may  lament  my  condition  so  hard, 
Who  thrash  in  the  pulpit  without  a  reward. 

Then  pray  condescend 

Such  disorders  to  end, 
And  to  the  ripe  vineyard  the  labourers  send, 
To  build  up  the  seats,  that  the  beauties  may  see 
The  face  of  no  bawling  pretender  but  me.' 
The  Princess,  by  rude  importunity  press'd, 
Though  she  laugh'd  at  his  reasons,  allow'd  his  request; 
And  now  Britain's  nymphs,  in  a  Protestant  reign, 
Are  box'd  up  at  prayers  like  the  virgins  in  Spain." 

When  Queen  Caroline  (wife  of  George  II.)  asked  Mr. 
Whiston  what  fault  people  had  to  find  with  her  conduct,  he 
replied  that  the  fault  they  most  complained  of  was  her 
habit  of  talking  in  chapel.  "  She  promised  amendment, 
but  proceeding  to  ask  what  oth^r  faults  were  objected  to 


BRIDGE  WATER   HOUSE.  61 

tier,  he  replied,  '  When  your  Majesty  has  amended  this  I'll 
tell  you  of  the  next.'  "  * 

It  was  in  this  chapel  that  the  colours  taken  from  James  II, 
at  the  Battle  of  the  Boyne  were  hung  up  by  his  daughter 
Mary,  an  unnatural  exhibition  of  triumph  which  shocked 
the  Londoners.  Besides  that  of  Queen  Anne,f  a  number  of 
royal  marriages  have  been  solemnised  here  ;  those  of  the 
daughters  of  George  II.,  of  Frederick  Prince  of  Wales  to 
Augusta  of  Saxe  Cobourg,  of  George  IV.  to  Caroline  of 
Brunswick,  and  oi  Queen  Victoria  to  Prince  Albert. 

The  Garden  at  the  back  of  St.  James's  Palace  has  a  private 
entrance  to  the  Park.  It  was  as  he  was  alighting  from  his 
carriage  here,  August  2,  1786,  that  George  III.  was  attacked 
with  a  knife  by  the  insane  Margaret  Nicholson.  "  The 
bystanders  were  proceeding  to  wreak  summary  vengeance 
on  the  (would-be)  assassin,  when  the  King  generously  inter- 
fered in  her  behalf.  '  The  poor  creature,'  he  exclaimed, 
'is  mad  :  do  not  hurt  her;  she  has  not  hurt  me.'  He  then 
stepped  forward  and  showed  himself  to  the  populace, 
assuring  them  that  he  was  safe  and  uninjured."  J 

Cleveland  Rozv  (where  John  Selwyn,  Marlborough's  aide- 
de-camp,  and  his  son,  George  Selwyn,  lived,  and  where 
the  latter  died,  June  25,  1791)  now  leads  to  Bridgewater 
House  (Earl  of  Ellesmere),  built  1847 — 9  by  Barry,  on 
the  site  of  Cleveland  House,  once  the  residence  of 
Barbara  Villiers,  Duchess  of  Cleveland,  having  before  that 
belonged  to  the  great  Earl  of  Clarendon,  and  afterwards  to  the 
Eat  Is  of  Bridgewater.  The  principal  windows  bear  the  mono- 
gram of  EE  on  their  pediments,  and,  on  the  panel  beneath, 

•  Art.  Whiston,  "  Biog.  Brit.,"  vi.  4214. 
t  Mary  II.  was  married  in  her  bed<  li.nnbsr. 
X  Jesse,  "  Memoirs  01  George  III." 


b2  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

the  Bridgewater  motto — "  Sic  donee."     The  Bridgeumtet 

Picture  Gallery  can  generally  be  visited  on  Wednesdays  and 
Saturdays,  but  the  pictorial  gems  of  the  house  are  all  con- 
tained in  the  dwelling-rooms  on  the  ground-floor,  and  can 
only  be  seen  by  an  especial  permission  from  its  master.  In 
the  centre  of  the  house  is  a  great  hall,  surrounded,  on  the 
upper  floor,  by  an  arcaded  gallery,  which  contains,  turning 
left  from  the  head  of  the  stairs — 

63 — 6g.  Nicholas  Poussin.  The  Seven  Sacraments  —  from  the 
Orleans  Gallery.  A  similar  set  of  pictures,  by  the  same  master,  is  at 
Belvoir. 

76.  Annibale  Carracci.  St.  Gregory  at  Prayer,  surrounded  by  angels 
— a  dull  picture  painted  for  the  Church  of  St.  Gregorio  at  Rome. 

244.  Andrea  del  Sarto.     Holy  Family. 

102.  Lodovico  Carracci.     The  Descent  from  the  Cross. 

The  shadows  are  too  black,  but  "for  the  taste  of  form,  the  happy 
chiaro-oscuro,  the  extreme  and  almost  unique  verity,  the  head,  body, 
arms,  nay,  indeed,  the  whole  Christ,  is  of  the  utmost  conceivable 
perfection,  whether  unitedly  or  separately  considered  ;  in  like  manner, 
the  feet  also,  and  the  beautiful  head  of  the  Magdalen." — Barry. 

40.   Tintoret.     The  Entombment. 

P.  S.  Weit.  The  Marys  at  the  Sepulchre — a  picture  well  known 
from  engravings. 

105.  Salvator  Rosa.     Jacob  and  his  Flocks. 

The  Picture  Gallery  is  crowded  with  pictures,  hung  so 
entirely  without  reason  that  they  are  for  the  most  part 
mere  wall  decoration.  Two-thirds  are  so  high  up  that  it  is 
impossible  to  see  them,  and  nothing  is  "  on  the  line." 
This  fine  room  is  spoilt  by  the  lowness  of  the  dado.  We 
may  notice — ■ 

Left  Wall. 

17.  Titian.  Diana  and  Actseon.  "  Titianus  F."  is  inscribed  in  gold 
letters  on  a  pilaster. 

130.  Ary  de  Voys.  A  Young  Man  with  aBook — a  small  picture  by 
a  very  rare  master. 


BR1DGEWATER   HOUSE.  63 

27.  Guercino.  David  and  Abigail — a  coarse  ugly  picture  from  the 
gallery  of  Cardinal  Mazarin. 

18.  Titian.  The  Fable  of  Calisto  —  from  the  Orleans  Gallery; 
painted,  with  its  companion  picture,  according  to  Vasari,  for  Philip  II. 
of  Spain,  when  the  master  was  in  his  seventieth  year. 

130.  Tenters.  The  Alchemist — inscribed  1649.  A  wonderful  pic- 
ture, but  constantly  repeated  by  the  master. 

Sight  Wall. 

196,  Vandcvelde.  The  Rising  of  the  Gale  at  the  Entrance  of  the 
Texel. 

153.  jfan  Steen.     A  Village  School. 

168.  Rembrandt.  A  Child  saying  its  Prayers  at  an  Old  Woman's 
Knees.     This  little  picture  is  absurdly  called  "  Hannah  and  Samuel." 

ici.     Annibale  Carracci.     Danae — from  the  Orleans  Gallery. 

78.  Paul  Veronese.     The  Judgment  of  Solomon. 

Returning  to  the  Ground  Floor — 

Soom  I. 

38.  Raffaelle  (?).  Madonna  and  Child,  "  La  plus  belle  des  Vierges  " 
— from  the  Orleans  Gallery,  much  retouched.  There  are  many  repe- 
titions of  this  picture  :  the  best  is  in  the  gallery  at  Naples. 

*  35.  Raffaelle.  "La  Vierge  au  Palmier" — a  beautiful  circular 
picture.  The  Virgin  has  wound  her  veil  around  the  infant  Saviour,  to 
whom  St.  Joseph,  kneeling,  gives  some  flowers.  Supposed  to  have 
been  painted  at  Florence  for  Taddeo  Taddi  in  1506. 

"  The  following  anecdote  of  this  picture  was  related  to  the  Marquis 
of  Stafford  by  the  Duke  of  Orleans  when  on  a  visit  to  England.  Jt 
happened  once,  amidst  the  various  changes  of  the  world,  that  this 
picture  fell  to  the  portion  of  two  old  maids.  Both  having  an  equal 
right,  and  neither  choosing  to  yield,  they  compromised  the  matter  by 
cutting  it  in  two.  In  this  state  the  two  halves  were  sold  to  one  pur- 
chaser, who  tacked  them  together  as  well  as  he  could,  and  sent  I 
further  into  the  world.  The  transfer  from  canvas  to  wood  has 
obliterated  every  trace  by  which  the  truth  of  this  tale  might  be 
corroborated."  * — Passavant. 

37.  Raffaelle  (?}.  "  La  Madonna  del  Passeggio."  The  Holy  Family 
walking  in  a  green  landscape.  Passavant  and  Kugler  ascribe  this 
picture  to  Francesco  Penni.     It  is  of  exquisite  beauty— the  children 

*  Ilazlitt  asserts  that  the  join  may  be  detected,  on  careful  inspection,  passing 
through  the  body  of  the  Child,  and  only  just  missing  the  forehead  ot  the  Vi; 


»4  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

especially  graceful.  Philip  II.  of  Spain  gave  the  picture  to  the  Duke  of 
Urbino,  who  gave  it  to  the  Emperor  Rudolph  II.  Gustavus  Adolphus 
carried  it  off  from  Prague  to  Sweden.  It  was  inherited  by  his  daughter 
Christina,  who  took  it  to  Rome,  where  it  was  purchased,  after  her 
death,  by  the  Duke  of  Bracciano.  From  his  collection  it  was  purchased 
by  the  Regent  Duke  of  Orleans.     Many  repetitions  are  in  existence. 

48.  Lodovico  Carracci.  St.  Catherine  sees  the  Virgin  and  Child  in 
a  Vision.  The  saint  recalls  the  work  of  Correggio,  whom  Lodovico 
especially  studied  and  imitated. 

93.  Salvator  Rosa.  "  Les  Augures  " — aver}-  beautiful  and  unusually 
quiet  work  of  the  master. 

*  77.   Titian.     The  Three  Ages  of  Life. 

"This  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  idyllic  groups  of  modern  creation, 
and  the  spectator  involuntarily  partakes  of  the  dreamlike  feeling  which 
it  suggests." — Kugler. 

"  This  picture  is  a  piece  of  poetry  in  the  truest  sense  :  it  is  like  a 
Greek  lyric  or  idyll ;  while  the  melting  harmony  of  the  colour  is  to  the 
significance  of  the  composition  what  music  is  to  the  song." — Mrs. 
Jameson. 

13.  Gnido  Rent.  The  Infant  Christ  asleep  upon  the  Cross — a  lovely 
little  picture. 

36.  Raffaelle.  "La  Vierge  au  Linge" — a  replica  of  the  picture  in 
the  Louvre. 

200.  A.  Cnyp.     Milking. 

30.  Domenichino.     The  Cross-bearing. 

Room  II. 

15.   Tintoret.     Portrait  of  a  Venetian  Nobleman,  1588. 

*  216.  A.  Cuyp.  The  Landing  of  Prince  Maurice  at  Dort  —  a 
noble,  sunlit,  and  beautiful  picture,  the  water  especially  limpid  and 
transparent. 

198.  Terburg.  "  Conseil  Paternel."  The  girl  in  white  satin  is 
especially  characteristic  of  the  master,  who  loved  to  give  thus  his  chief 
and  harmonious  light :  her  face  betrays  the  feeling  of  shame  with  which 
she  hears  her  father's  reproof.  There  is  an  inferior  repetition  of  this 
picture  in  the  gallery  at  Amsterdam,  and  another  at  Berlin. 

205.  Ddbson.  Portrait  of  John  Cleveland,  the  poet-friend  of 
Charles  I.,  for  whose  cause  he  was  imprisoned  by  Cromwell. 

II.  Claude.  Demosthenes  on  the  Seashore — a  lonely  figure  on 
the  shore  of  a  deep  blue  sea,  illumined  by  the  morning  sun. 

41.  Claude.  Moses  and  the  Burning  Bush— the  incident  suboioj 
nite  to  the  wooded  landscape. 


STAFFORD    HOUSE.  65 

32.    Velazquez.     A  son  of  the  Duke  of  Olivares — a  noble,  though 
Unfinished  portrait. 

120.  Sir  J.  Reynolds.     Full-length  Portrait  of  a  Lady. 

Room  III. 

23.   Vandyke.    Virgin  and  Child — a  careful  example   of  a  picture 
frequently  repeated  by  the  master. 

147.  A.  Cuyp.     Cattle,  with  a  cowherd  playing  on  his  flute. 

Colonel  Blood,  who  afterwards  became  famous  for  his 
plot  to  seize  the  Crown  Jewels,  made  his  audacious  attempt 
on  the  Duke  of  Ormond  as  he  was  returning  to  Cleve- 
land House.  At  the  end  of  Cleveland  Row,  on  the  left, 
is  the  approach  to  Stafford  House  (Duke  of  Sutherland), 
built  by  B.  Wyait  for  the  Duke  of  York,  second  son  of 
George  III.,  on  the  site  of  "  the  Queen's  Library,"  erected 
for  Caroline  of  Anspach.  Its  hall  and  staircase,  by  C.  Barry, 
perfect  in  proportions  and  harmonious  in  their  beautiful 
purple  and  grey  colouring,  are  the  best  specimens  of  scagliola 
decoration  in  England.  The  noble  collection  of  pictures, 
greatly  reduced  in  importance  through  the  sale  of  several 
fine  works  by  the  present  owner,  is  scattered  through  the 
different  rooms  of  the  house,  and  can  only  be  seen  by 
special  permission.  Amongst  the  pictures  deserving  notice 
are — 

A?iie  Dining  Room. 

Landseer.     Lady  Evelyn  Gower  (afterwards  Lady  Blantyre)  and  th< 
Marquis  of  Stafford,  as  children. 

Dauby.     The  Passage  of  the  Red  Sea. 

Dining  Room. 

Lawrence.  Harriet  Elizabeth,  second  Duchess  of  Sutherland,  with  her 
eldest  daughter,  Lady  Elizabeth  Gower,  afterwards  Duchess  of  Argyle. 
Pordenone.    The  Woman  taken  in  Adultery. 
VOL.  II.  F 


66  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Yellow  Drawing  Room. 

Murillo.  SS.  Justina  and  Rufina,  the  potter's  daughters  of  Triana, 
martyred  A.D.  304  for  refusing  to  make  earthenware  idols.  They  are 
painted  as  simple  Spanish  muchachas,  with  the  alcarrazas,  or  earthen- 
ware pots,  of  the  country.     From  the  Soult  Collection. 

Ante  Yellow  Drawing  Room. 

Breckelencamp.     An  Old  Woman's  Grace. 
Tintoret.     A  Consistory  of  Cardinals. 

Little  Drawing  Room. 

Hogarth.    Portrait  of  Mr.  Porter  of  Lichfield. 

Reynolds.     Portrait  of  Dr.  Johnson,  without  his  wig,  and  very  blind. 

Passage. 

The  Marriage  of  Henry  VI. — a  curious  and  interesting  picture. 

Picture  Gallery. — (In  the  central  compartment  of  the 
ceiling  is  St.  Crisogono  supported  by  angels,  a  fine  work 
of  Guercino  from  the  soffita  of  the  saint's  church  in  the 
Trastevere  at  Rome.) 

Spagnoletto.  Christ  and  the  Disciples  at  Emmaus. 
Alonzo  Cano.  God  the  Father — glorious  in  colour. 
Vandyke.     Portrait  of  a  Student. 

Velazquez.  The  Duke  of  Gandia  at  the  door  of  the  Convent  of  St. 
Ognato  in  Biscay — a  poor  work  of  the  master. 

*  Moroni.     Portrait  of  a  Jesuit  — the  masterpiece  of  the  gallery. 
Titian.     The  Education  of  Cupid — from  the  Odescalchi  Collection. 
Guercino.     St.  Gregory  the  Great. 

*  Vandyke.  A  noble  Portrait  of  Thomas  Howard,  Lord  Arundel, 
the  great  collector,  seated  in  an  arm-chair;  painted  1635. 

Honthorst.  Christ  before  Pilate — a  really  grand  work  of  the  master. 
From  the  Palazzo  Giustiniani. 

Rubens.     Sketch  for  the  Marriage  of  Marie  de  Medicis  in  the  Louvre, 

Philippe  de  Champagne.     Portrait  of  the  Minister  Colbert. 

Correggio.  The  Muleteer — said  to  have  been  painted  as  a  sign- 
board, to  discharge  a  tavern-bill.  Once  in  the  collection  of  Queea 
Christina,  and  afterwards  in  the  Orleans  Gallery. 


STAFFORD  HOUSE.  67 

Paul  de  la  Roche.  Lord  Strafford  receiving  the  Blessing  of  Arch- 
bishop Laud  on  his  way  to  Execution. 

Albert  D'urer.     The  Death  of  the  Virgin. 

Mar  Mo.  Abraham  and  the  Angels — who  are  represented  simply  as 
thiee  young  men.     From  the  Soult  Collection. 

*  Raffaelle.  The  Cress-bearing — painted  for  Cardinal  Giovanni  de" 
Medici  (afterwards  Leo  X.),  and  long  over  a  private  altar  of  the  Palazzo 
Medici,  afterwards  Ricciardi,  at  Florence. 

*  Murillo.  The  Prodigal  Son — a  very  noble  picture  from  the  Soult 
Collection. 

Carlo  Maratti.  St.  Anne  teaching  the  Virgin  to  read— a  very  pretty- 
little  picture. 

The  Green  Velvet  Drawing  Room  contains — 

Two  chairs  which  belonged  to  Marie  Antoinette  in  the  Petit  Trianon, 
and  two  admirable  studies  by  Fra  Bartolommeo  and  Paul  Veronese.  A 
picture  of  Charles  I.  and  Henrietta  Maria,  by  Vandyke,  came  from 
Strawberry  Hill. 

From  St.  James's  Palace,  St.  James's  Street,  built  in  1670, 
and  at  first  called  Long  Street,  leads  to  Piccadilly.  From 
its  earliest  days  it  has  been  popular. 

"The  Campus  Martius  of  St.  James's  Street, 
Where  the  beaux  cavalry  pace  to  and  fro, 
Before  they  take  the  field  in  Rotten  Row." 

Sheridan. 

On  the  left,  the  first  building  of  importance  is  the  Con- 
servative Club  (the  second  Tory  club),  built  by  Smirke  and 
Basevi,  1845,  and  occupying  paitly  the  site  of  the  old 
Thatched  House  Tavern,  celebrated  for  its  literary  meet- 
ings, and  partly  that  of  the  house  in  which  Edward  Gibbon. 
the  historian  of  the  Roman  Empire,  died  Jan.  16,  1794- 
No.  64  was  the  Cocoa-Tree  Tavern,  mentioned  by 
Addison  as  "a  place  where  his  face  is  known."  No.  69  is 
Arthur 's,  so  called  from  the  proprietor  of  White's  Chocolate 
House,   who   died  in   1761  :    the  celebrated   Kitty  Fisher 


68  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

was  maintained  by  a  subscription  of  the  whole  club  at 
Arthur's  ! 

On  the  right,  beyond  No.  8,  where  Lord  Byron  was 
li\ing in  1811,  is  the  opening  of  King  Street,  once  celebrated 
as  containing  "Almack's,"  which,  opened  in  1765,  continued 
to  be  the  fashionable  house  of  entertainment  through  the 
early  part  of  the  present  century,  when  it  figures  in  most  of 
the  novels  of  the  time.  But,  as  "  the  palmy  days  of  exclu- 
siveness"  passed  away,  it  deteriorated,  and  now,  as  Willis's 
Rooms,  is  used  for  tradesmen's  balls.  Close  by  is  the  St. 
James's  Theatre.  No.  16  is  the  house  to  which  Napoleon  III. 
drew  the  especial  attention  of  the  Empress,  on  his  triumphal 
progress  through  London  as  a  royal  guest,  because  it  had 
been  the  home  of  his  exile :  a  plate  in  the  wall  records  his 
residence  there. 

[Out  of  King  Street  open  Bury  (Berry)  Street  and  Duke 
Street,  ever-crowded  nests  of  bachelors'  lodgings,  though 
the  prices  are  rather  higher  now  than  they  were  (17 10)  when 
Swift  complained  to  Stella  from  Bury  Street — "  I  have  the 
first-floor,  a  dining-room,  and  bedchamber,  at  eight  shillings 
a  week,  plaguy  dear."  Horace  Walpole  narrates  how  he 
stood  in  Bury  Street  in  the  snow,  in  his  slippers  and  an 
embroidered  suit,  to  watch  a  fire  at  five  o'clock  in  the 
morning.] 

No.  60,  on  the  right  of  St.  James's  Street,  is  Brooks's  Club 
(Whig),  built  by  Holland,  177S.  No.  57  is  the  New  Uni- 
versity Club. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  street,  No.  28,  is  Boodle's,  the 
country  gentleman's  club — "  Every  Sir  John  belongs  to 
Boodle's."  No.  29  was  the  house  where  Gilray  the  carica- 
turist committed  suicide  by  throwing  himself  from  an  upper 


ARLINGTON  STREET.  69 

window.  No.  37-38  is  White's  (Tory),  built  by  Wyatt,  the 
successor  of  White's  Chocolate  House  (established  in  1698), ;; 
celebrated  for  the  bets  and  betting  duels  of  the  last  century, 
when  it  had  the  reputation  of  "  the  most  fashionable  hell  in 
London."  Walpole  tells,  in  illustration  of  the  overwhelming 
mania  for  gambling  there,  that  when  a  man  fell  into  a  fit 
outside  the  door,  bets  were  taken  as  to  whether  he  was 
dead ;  and  when  a  surgeon  wished  to  save  his  life  by 
bleeding  him,  the  bettors  furiously  interposed  that  they 
would  have  no  foul  play  of  that  kind,  and  that  he  was  to 
let  the  man  alone.  The  fire,  in  which  Mrs.  Arthur,  wife 
of  the  proprietor,  leaped  out  of  a  second-floor  window  upon 
a  feather  bed  unhurt,  is  commemorated  by  Hogarth  in 
Plate  VI.  of  the  "  Rake's  Progress." 

On  the  left  is  St.  James's  Place,  where  Thomas  Parnell 
the  poet  lived ;  also,  for  a  time,  Addison ;  and  Samuel 
Rogers,  from  1808  till  he  died  in  his  ninety-third  year, 
Dec.  18,  1855.  In  Park  Place,  the  next  turn  on  the  left, 
Hume  the  historian  lived  in  1769.  Then  Bennet  Street 
leads  into  Arlington  Street,  the  two  streets  commemorating 
the  Bennets,  Earls  of  Arlington.  In  Arlington  Street  lived 
Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montague,  in  the  house  of  her  father,  the 
Marquis  of  Dorchester.  Here  also  (No.  5)  was  the  town 
house  of  Sir  Robert  Walpole,  who  died  in  it  (1745).  leaving 
it  to  his  son  Horace,  who  lived  in  it  till  1779.  He  had 
previously  resided  in  No.  24,  where  the  quaint  pillared 
drawing-room  is  represented  in  the  second  scene  of  the 
"  Marriage  a  la  Mode."  It  was  in  Arlington  Street  that  (in 
the  winter  of  1800-1)  Lord  and  Lady  Nelson  had  their  final 

•  White's  Chocolate  House  and  St.  James's  Palace  are  represented  in  Plate  IV 
of  Hogarth's  "  Rake's  Progress." 


7i> 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


quarrel  on  the  subject  of  Lady  Hamilton,  after  which  they 
never  lived  together.  In  No.  16,  the  house  of  the  Duke  of 
Rutland,  Frederick  Duke  of  York  died,  Jan.  5,  1827. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  St.  James's  Street  opens  Jenny ti 
Street,  which  (with  St.  Alban's  Place)  commemorates  Henry 
Jermyn,  Earl  of  St.  Alban's,*  the  chamberlain  of  Henrietta 
Maria,  whom  scandal  asserted  to  have  become  her  husband 
after  the  execution  of  Charles  I.  The  great  Duke  of  Marl- 
borough was  living  here,  1665 — 81,  as  the  handsome 
Colonel  Churchill.  It  was  in  the  St.  James's  Hotel  in  this 
street  that  Sir  Walter  Scott  spent  some  of  the  last  weeks  of 
his  life  in  1832,  and  thence  that  he  set  off  on  July  7  for 
Abbotsford,  where  he  died  on  July  21. 

St.  James's  Street  falls  into  the  important  street  of 
Piccadilly,  which  is  generally  said  to  derive  its  queer 
name  from  "piccadillies,"  the  favourite  turn-down  collars 
of  James  I.,  which  we  see  in  Cornelius  Jansen's  pic- 
tures. These  collars,  however,  were  not  introduced  before 
1617,  and  in  1596  we  find  Gerard,  the  author  of  the 
"  Herball,"  already  speaking  of  gathering  bugloss  in  the  dry 
ditches  of  "  Piccadille."  Jesse  f  ingeniously  suggests  that  the 
fashionable  collar  may  have  received  its  name  first  from 
being  worn  by  the  dandies  who  frequented  Piccadilla 
House,  which,  probably  as  early  as  Elizabeth's  time,  was  a 
fashionable  place  of  amusement  (on  the  site  of  Panton 
Square),  and  that  the  word,  as  applied  to  the  house,  may 
come  from  the  Spanish  peccadillo,  literally  meaning  a 
venial  fault.  Clarendon  (1641)  speaks  of  Picccadilly  Hall 
as  "  a  fair  house  for  entertainment  and  gaming,  with  hand- 

•  His  arms   are  over  the  south  entrance  of  St.  James's  Church.     It  was  nit 
nephew  who  gave  a  name  to  Dover  Street. 
+  Memorials  of  London,  i.  6. 


S2.  JAMES'S,  PICCADILLY.  71 

some  gravel  walks  with  shade,  and  where  was  an  upper 
and  lower  bowling  green,  whither  very  many  of  the  nobility 
and  gentry  of  the  best  quality  resorted,  both  for  exercise 
and  conversation."  Sir  John  Suckling  the  poet  was  one  of 
its  gambling  frequenters,  and  Aubrey  narrates  how  his  sisters 
came  crying  "  to  Peccadillo  Bowling-green,  for  the  fear  he 
should  lose  all  their  portions.'" 

Turning  eastwards,  we  find,  on  the  right,  St.  James's 
Church,  built  by  Wren,  1684.  Hideous  to  ordinary  eyes, 
this  church  is  still  admirable  in  the  construction  of  its  roof, 
which  causes  the  interior  to  be  considered  as  one  of  the 
architect's  greatest  successes.  The  marble  font  is  an 
admirable  work  of  Gibbons  :  the  stem  represents  the  Tree 
of  Knowledge,  round  which  the  Serpent  twines,  who  offers 
the  apple  to  Eve,  standing  with  Adam  beneath.  The  or 
was  ordered  by  James  II.  for  his  Catholic  chapel  at  White 
hall,  and  was  civen  to  this  church  by  his  daughter  Mary. 
The  carving  here  was  greatly  admired  by  Evelyn. 

"Dec.  10,  1684. — I  went  to  see  the  new  church  at  St.  James's, 
elegantly  built.  The  altar  was  especially  adorned,  the  white  marble 
inclosure  curiously  and  richly  carved,  the  flowers  and  garlands  about 
the  walls  by  Mr.  Gibbons,  in  wood ;  a  pelican,  with  her  young  at  her 
breast,  just  over  the  altar  in  the  carv'd  compartment  and  border  in- 
vironing  the  purple  velvet  fringed  with  IHS  richly  embroidered,  and 
most  noble  plate,  were  given  by  Sir  R.  Geare,  to  the  value  (as  is  said) 
of_£20O.  There  was  no  altar  anywhere  in  England,  nor  has  there  been 
any  abroad,  more  richly  adorned." — Diary. 

The  Princess  Anne  of  Denmark  was  in  the  habit  of 
attending  service  in  this  (then  newly  built)  church,  and  it 
was  one  of  the  petty  insults  which  William  and  Mary 
offered  to  their  sister-in-law  (after  her  refusal  to  give  up 
Lady  Marlborough)  to  forbid  Dr.  Birch,  the  rector,  to  place 


72 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


the  text  upon  the  cushion  in  her  pew,  an  order  the  rector, 
an  especial  partisan  of  the  Princess,  refused  to  comply 
with. 

Among  the  illustrious  persons  who  have  been  buried 
here  are  Charles  Cotton,  the  friend  of  Izaak  Walton,  1687  ; 
the  two  painters  Vandevelde;  Dr.  Arbuthnot,  the  friend 
of  Pope  and  Gay,  the  slouching  satirist,  of  whom  Swift 
said  that  he  could  "do  everything  but  walk,"  1734-5; 
Mark  Akenside,  the  harsh  doctor  who  wrote  the  "  Plea- 
sures of  Imagination,"  1770;  Michael  Dahl,  the  portrait- 
painter;  Robert  Dodsley,  footman,  poet,  and  bookseller, 
1764;  William,  the  eccentric  Duke  of  Queensberry,  known 
as  "  Old  Q." ;  the  beautiful  and  brilliant  Mary  Granville, 
Mrs.  Delany,  1788;  James  Gilray,  the  caricaturist,  1815; 
and  Sir  John  Malcolm,  Governor  of  Bombay,  1833.*  In 
the  vestry  are  portraits  of  most  of  the  rectors  of  St.  James's, 
including  Tenison,  Wake,  and  Seeker,  who  were  afterwards 
Archbishops  of  Canterbury.  On  the  outside  of  die  tower, 
towards  Jermyn  Street,  a  tablet  commemorates  the  humble 
poet-friend  of  Charles  II.,  who  wrote  "Pills  to  purge 
Melancholy."  It  is  inscribed — "Tom  D'Urfey,  dyed 
February  26,  1723." 

«'  I  remember  King  Charles  leaning  on  Tom  D'Urfey's  shoulders 
more  than  once,  and  humming  over  a  song  with  him.  It  is  certain  thai 
the  monarch  was  not  a  little  supported  by  'Joy  to  great  Caesar,'  which 
gave  the  Whigs  such  a  blow  as  they  were  not  able  to  recover  that 
whole  reign.  My  friend  afterwards  attacked  Popery  with  the  same 
success,  having  exposed  Bellarmine  and  Porto-Carrero  more  than  once, 
in  short  satirical  compositions  which  have  been  in  everybody's  mouth. 
....  Many  an  honest  gentleman  has  got  a  reputation  in  his  country, 
by  pretending  to  have  been  in  company  with  Tom  D'Urfey." — Addison, 
Guardian,  No.  67. 

•  Removed  to  Kensal  Green :  his  monument  is  on  the  outside  of  the  church 


BURLINGTON  HOUSE.  73 

On  the  other  side  of  Piccadilly,  nearly  opposite  the 
church,  are  the  Albany  Chambers,  which  take  their  name 
from  the  second  title  of  the  Duke  of  York,  to  whom  the 
principal  house  once  belonged. 

"In  the  quiet  avenue  of  the  Albany,  memories  of  the  illustrious  dead 
crowd  upon  you.  Lord  Byron  wrote  his  '  Lara '  here,  in  Lord  Althorpe's 
chambers;  George  Canning  lived  at  A.  5,  and  Lord  Macaulay  in  E.  1  ; 
Tom  Duncombe  in  F.  3  ;  Lord  Valentia,  the  traveller,  in  H.  5  ;  Monk 
Lewis  in  K.  I." — Blanchard  Jeri-old. 

On  the  right  in  returning  is  Burlington  House,  built  by 
Banks  and  Barry,  1868 — 74.  The  inner  part  towards  the 
courtyard  is  handsome  ;  that  towards  the  street,  and  the 
sides  of  the  building,  are  spoilt  by  the  heavy  meaningless 
vases  by  which  they  are  overladen.  In  the  construction  of 
this  commonplace  edifice,  one  of  the  noblest  pieces  of 
architecture  in  London  was  wantonly  destroyed — the 
portico,  built  in  1668,  of  which  Sir  William  Chambers 
wrote  as  "  one  of  the  finest  pieces  of  architecture  in 
Europe,"  and  which  Horace  Walpole  said  "  seemed  one  of 
those  edifices  in  fairy-tales  that  are  raised  by  genii  in  a 
night-time." 

The  old  house  (the  second  on  the  site)  was  built  from 
the  designs  of  Richard  Boyle,  third  Earl  of  Burlington,* 
but  the  portico  has  been  attributed  to  Colin  Campbell. 
The  walls  of  the  interior  were  painted  by  Marco  Ricci. 
Handel  lived  in  the  house  for  two  years.  Alas  thrt  we 
can  no  longer  say  with  Gay — 

" Burlington's  fair  palace  still  remains  ; 

Beauty  within,  without  proportion  reigns  ! 

•  Hogarth's  print  of  "Taste"  represents  the  Gate  of  Burlington  House 
su-.mounted  by  his  favourite  Kent,  with  Lord  Burlington  on  a  ladder  carrying  us 
■uaterials,  and  Pope  whitewashing  the  gate  E.nd  splashing  the  passers-by. 


74  WALKS  IN  LONDON, 

Beneath  his  eye  declining  art  revives, 

The  wall  with  animated  pictures  lives  ; 

There  Handel  strikes  the  strings,  the  melting  strain 

Transports  the  soul,  and  thrills  through  every  vein." 

Burlington  House  was  bought  by  the  nation  in  1854. 
The  central  portion  of  the  modern  buildings  is  devoted  to 
the  Royal  Academy,  which  was  founded  in  1768,  with 
Reynolds  as  President.  It  consists  of  forty  Academicians 
and  twenty  Associates.  Their  first  exhibitions  took  place 
in  Somerset  House,  but,  after  1838,  they  were  held  in  the 
eastern  wing  of  the  National  Gallery. 

The  Exhibition  opens  on  May  1,  and  closes  the  last  week  in  July. 
Admission  is.     Catalogues  is. 

The  permanent  possessions  of  the  Royal  Academy 
include — 

Leonardo  da  Vinci.     Cartoon  of  the  Holy  Trinity  in  black  chalk. 

Michel  Angela.  Relief  of  the  Holy  Trinity— in  which  St.  John  is 
giving  a  dove  to  the  infant  Saviour,  who  shrinks  into  his  mother's 
arms. 

Marco  d'Oggione.  A  copy  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci's  Last  Supper — 
from  the  Certosa  of  Pavia. 

The  buildings  to  the  right  of  the  quadrangle  on  entering 
are  occupied  by  the  Chemical,  Geological,  and  Royal 
Societies  :  those  to  the  left  by  the  Linnsean,  Astronomical, 
and  Antiquarian  Societies. 

The  Royal  Society  had  its  origin  in  weekly  meetings  of 
learned  men,  which  were  first  held  in  1645.  The  early 
meetings  of  the  Society,  under  the  Presidency  of  Sir  Isaac 
Newton,  were  held  in  Crane  Court  in  Fleet  Street.  After 
1780  the  meetings  were  held  in  Somerset  House  till  1857, 
when  the  Society  moved  to  Burlington  House.  It  possesses 
a  valuable  collection  of  portraits,  including — 


THE   ROYAL   SOCIETY.  75 

Meeting  Rooms. 

Hogarth.  Martin  Folkes  the  Antiquary,  who  succeeded  Sir  Hans 
Sloane  as  President  in  1741. 

Phillips.  Sir  Joseph  Banks,  President  from  177-  to  1820,  during 
which  he  contributed  much  to  the  advancement  of  science.  He  is 
represented  in  the  chair  adorned  with  the  arms  of  the  Society,  which 
is  still  to  be  seen  at  the  end  of  the  room,  and  which  was  given  by  Sir 
1.  Newton. 

"  Sir  Joseph  Banks,  who  was  almost  bent  double,  retained  to  the, 
last  the  look  of  a  privy-councillor." — Hazlitt. 

Jackson.  Dr.  Wollaston  (1776— 1828),  who  made  platinum  malle- 
able, and  is  celebrated  as  having  analyzed  a  lady's  tear,  which  he 
arrested  upon  her  cheek; 

Kneller.  Samuel  Pepys,  author  of  the  well-known  "  Diary,"  Presi- 
dent from  1684  to  1686.     The  portrait  was  presented  by  Pepys. 

Kerseboom.  The  Hon.  Robert  Boyle  (1627—1691),  equally  illustrious 
as  a  religious  and  philosophical  writer.     Given  by  his  executors. 

Kneller.     Lord  Chancellor  Somers,  elected  President  in  1702. 

Vanderbank.     Sir  Isaac  Newton,  President  from  1 703  to  1727. 

"  Nature  and  Nature's  laws  lay  hid  in  night ; 
God  said,  '  Let  Newton  be,'  and  all  was  light  !  " 

Lely.  Viscount  Brouncker  (1620—84),  illustrious  as  a  mathe- 
matician. 

Reynolds.  Sir  J.  Pringle,  physician  to  George  III.,  elected  Presi- 
dent in  1 714. 

Lawrence.  Sir  Humphry  Davy,  the  first  chemist  of  his  age,  elected 
President  in  1820. 

Hudson.  George,  Earl  of  Macclesfield,  who  brought  about  the 
change  from  the  Old  to  the  New  Style,  and  by  whose  coach  the  people 
used  to  run  shouting,  "  Give  us  back  our  fortnight ;"  "  Who  stole  the 
eleven  days  ?  " 

Kneller.     Sir  Christopher  Wren  the  architect,  1632 — 1723. 

Home.  John  Hunter  (1728 — 1793),  tne  great  anatomist  and 
surgeon. 

Home.  J.  Ramsden  (1735 — 1800),  the  great  philosophical  instrument 
maker,  who,  however,  worked  so  slowly  that  people  used  to  say  that  if 
he  had  to  make  the  trumpets  for  the  Day  of  Judgment  they  would  not 
be  read)-  in  time. 

Cliamberlain.     Dr.   Chandler,   the    Nonconformist   divine,   1693  — 

Gibson.     John  Flamsteed  (1646  — 1719),  the  first  astronomer  royal 


76 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


In  the  Library  up-stairs  are  preserved  a  model  of  Davy's 
Safety  Lamp  made  by  himself,  and  many  relics  of  Sir  Isaac 
Newton,  the  most  important  being  the  first  complete  reflect- 
ing Telescope,  which   had   so   much   to   do   with  the  evolu- 
tion of  astronomy  from   astrology,  "  invented  by  Sir  Isaac 
Newton,  and  made  with  his  own  hands,  167 1."     The  other 
relics  include  a   sundial  which  he  carved   on   the  wall  of 
Woolsthorpe  Manor-house,   near  Grantham,  where  he  was 
born;  his  telescope,  made  in   1688;  his  watch;  a  lock  of 
his  silver  hair ;  various  articles  carved  from  the  apple-tree 
which  has  long  played  an  imaginary  part  as  suggesting  his 
discoveries ;  and  an  autograph  written  as  "  Warden  of  the 
Mint,"  in  which  office  he  was   not  above  speculations   in 
the  South  Sea  Bubble ;  and  a  MS. — apparently  written  by 
his  amanuensis,  with  interpolations  from  his  own  hand — of 
the    "  Principia,"    which    occupies    the    same    position    to 
philosophy  as  the  Bible  does  to  religion.     There  is  here  a 
fine  bust  of  Newton  by  JRoubiliac,  but  a  cast  taken  after 
death  shows  that  the  features  are  too  small.     A  noble  bust 
by  Chantrey  represents  Sir  J.  Banks,  the  President  whose 
despotic  will  was  law  to   the  Society  for  forty  years,  and 
who  transacted  the  business  of  the  Society  at  his  break- 
fasts.    Mrs.  Somerville  has  the  honour  of  being  the  only 
lady  whose  bust  (by  Chantrey)  is  placed  there.     The  por- 
traits include — 


Paul  Vansomer.     Lord  Chancellor  Bacon,  1560 — 1626. 

Sir  P.  Lely.     Robert  Boyle— a  portrait  bequealh.'d  by  Newton. 

Thomas  Hobbes  (1588— 1679),  the  free-thinking  philo- 


W.  Dobson. 
sopher. 

y.    Murray. 
astronomer. 

jfervas.     Sir  Isaac  Newton 


Dr.   Halley   (1656  -1742),    the    mathematician  and 


SOCIETY  OF  ANTIQUARIES.  77 

The  Society  of  Antiquaries  had  its  origin  in  an  antiquarian 
society    founded   by    Archbishop   Parker   in    1572,   whose 
members,  including  Camden,  Cotton,  Raleigh,  and  Stow, 
met  in  1580  at  the  Heralds'  College,  though  by  the  close  of 
Elizabeth's  reign  we  hear  of  the  "  Collegium  Antiquariorum  " 
as  assembling  at  the  house  of  Sir  R.  Cotton  in  Westminster. 
The  suspicions  of  James  I.  compelled  them  for  a  time  to 
suspend  all  public  meetings,  and   in   the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century  they  met   at   the  "Bear  Tavern"   in 
Butchers'  Row.  In  1707  we  find  them  at  the  "  Young  Devil 
Tavern"   in  Fleef   Street;    then,  in   1709,  hard   by   at  the 
"Fountain;"  and,  in    1717,   at  the  "Mitre."     On  Nov.  2, 
1750,  George  II.,  who  called  himself  "  Founder  and  Patron," 
granted  a  charter  of  incorporation  to   the  Society,  who,  in 
1753,  moved    to    the  Society's  house  in    Chancery  Lane. 
In    1 781   apartments  in   Somerset   House  were   bestowed 
upon   the   Society,  which   they  occupied  till   1874.     The 
room  in  which  the  Society  now  holds  its  meetings  contains 
a  number  of  curious  ancient  portraits,  chiefly  royal :  that  of 
Margaret  of  York,  sister  of  Edward  IV.,  is  by  Hugo  Vander 
Goes.     Here  also  are  copies  by  R.  Smirke  from  the  lost 
historical  paintings  in  St.  Stephen's  Chapel  at  Westminster. 
A  picture  of  the  Martyrdom  of  St.  Erasmus  is  interesting  as 
an  English  work  of  the  fifteenth  century.     On  the  Staircase 
is  a  diptych  representing  the  old   St.  Paul's,  with   Paul's 
Cross,  painted  by  John  Gipkym  in   1616.     The  handsome 
Library  on  the  upper  floor  contains  a  fine  bust  of  George  III. 
by  Bacon,  and  the  splendid  portrait  of  Mary  I.,  painted  by 
Lucas  de  Hcere  m   1554.     The  queen  is  represented  in  a 
yellow  dress  with  black  jewels  :  the  jewel  which  hangs  from 
the  neck  still  exists  in  the  possession  of  the  Abercorn  family, 


78  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

[At  the  back  of  Burlington  House  are  the  Palladian 
buildings  of  the  Nciv  London  University,  built  from  designs 
of  Pennethome,  i860 — 70. 

In  Cork  Street,  facing  the  back  of  Burlington  House, 
General  Wade's  house  was  built  by  R.  Boyle,  Earl  of  Bur- 
lington, a  house  which  was  sc  uncomfortable  as  to  make 
Lord  Chesterfield  say  that  if  the  owner  could  not  be  at  his 
ease  in  it,  he  had  better  take  a  house  over  against  it  and 
look  at  it.~\ 

The  Burlington  Arcade  was  built  by  Ware  for  Lord  George 
Cavendish  in  1815,  and  is  "famous,"  as  Leigh  Hunt  says, 
"for  small  shops  and  tall  beadles."  Just  beyond  is  the 
little  underground  newsvendor's,  whither  Louis  Napoleon 
Buonaparte  "  would  stroll  quietly  from  his  house  in  King 
Street,  St.  James's,  in  the  evening,  with  his  faithful  dog 
Ham  for  his  companion,  to  read  the  latest  news  in  the  last 
editions  of  the  papers."  *  Bond  Street,  Albemarle  Street, 
Dover  Street,  and  Grafton  Street  occupy  the  site  of 
Clarendon  House  and  its  gardens,  built  by  the  Lord 
Chancellor  Earl  of  Clarendon,  who  laid  out  the  gardens 
at  a  cost  of  ^"50,000.  He  sold  the  property  in  1657  to 
Christopher  Monk,  second  Duke  of  Albemarle,  who  pulled 
down  the  house. 

Bond  Street  was  built  in  1686  by  Sir  Thomas  Bond  of 
Peckham,  Comptroller  of  the  Household  to  Henrietta  Maria. 
as  Queen  Mother,  who  was  created  a  baronet  by  Charles  II., 
and  bought  part  of  the  Clarendon  estate  from  the  Duke  of 
Albemarle.  The  author  of  "Tristram  Shandy,"  Laurence 
Sterne,  died  at  "  the  Silk  Bag  Shop,"  No.  41,  March  18, 
1768,  without  a  friend  near  him. 

•  Blanchard  Jerrold's  "  Life  of  Napoleon  III.,"  vol.  ii. 


DEVONSHIRE  HOUSE.  79 

"  No  one  but  a  hired  nurse  was  in  the  room,  when  a  footman,  sent 
from  a  dinner-table  where  was  gathered  a  gay  and  brilliant  part/ — the 
Dukes  of  Roxburgh  and  Graf' on,  the  Earls  of  March  and  Ossory,  David 
Garrick  and  David  Hume — to  enquire  how  Dr.  Sterne  did,  was  bid  to 
go  up  stairs  by  the  woman  of  the  shop.  He  found  Sterne  just  a  dying. 
In  ten  minutes,  'Now  it  is  come,'  he  said  ;  he  put  up  his  hand  as  if  to 
stop  a  blow,  and  died  in  a  minute." — Leslie  and  Taylor's  Life  of  Sir 
J.  Reynolds. 

No.  134  is  the  Grosvenor  Gallery,  a  Picture  Gallery 
and  Restaurant,  opened  May,  1877,  by  Sir  Coutts  Lindsay. 
It  has  a  doorway  by  Palladio,  brought  from  the  Church  of 
St.  Lucia  at  Venice,  inserted  in  an  inartistic  front  of  mounte- 
bank architecture  by  W.  T.  Sams.  No.  64,  at  the  corner 
of  Brook  Street,  is  a  capital  modern  copy  of  old  Dutch 
architecture. 

In  Albemarle  Street,  named  from  Christopher  Monk, 
second  Duke  of  Albemarle,  is  the  Royal  Institution,  esta- 
blished in  1799,  where  the  threads  of  science  are  unravelled 
by  men.  At  the  entrance  of  the  street  is  the  publishing 
house  of  John  Murray,  third  in  the  dynasty  of  John 
Murrays,  whose  house  was  founded  in  Fleet  Street  in  1768, 
and  whose  fortunes  were  made  by  the  Quarterly  Review. 

Dover  Street  derives  its  name  from  Henry  Jermyn,  Lord 
Dover.  John  Evelyn  lived  on  the  eastern  side  of  this 
street,  and  died  there  in  his  eighty-sixth  year,  Feb.  27, 
1705-6. 

Beyond  the  turn  into  Berkeley  Street,  a  high  brick  wall 
hides  the  great  courtyaid  of  Devonshire  House.  The  site 
was  formerly  occupied  by  Berkeley  House,  built  by  Sir 
John  Berkeley,  created  Lord  Berkeley  of  Stratton  (whence 
Stratton  Street)  in  1658.  It  was  to  this  house  that  the 
Princess  (afterwards  Queen)  Anne  retreated  when  she 
quarrelled  with  William  III.  in  1693     5. 


80  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

"  The  Princess  Anne,  divested  of  eve,ry  vestige  of  royal  rank,  lived 
«t  Berkeley  House,  where  she  and  Lady  Marlborough  amused  them- 
selves with  superintending  their  nurseries,  playing  at  cards,  and  talking 
treason  against  Queen  Mary  and  '  her  Dutch  Caliban,'  as  they  called 
the  hero  of  Nassau." — Strickland's  Alary  II, 

Berkeley  House  was  burnt  in  1733,  and  Devonshire 
House  was  built  on  its  site  by  William  Kent  for  the  third 
Duke  of  Devonshire.*  It  is  a  perfectly  unpretending  build- 
ing, with  a  low  pillared  entrance-hall,  but  its  winding  marble 
staircase  with  wide  shallow  steps  is  admirably  suited  to  the 
princely  hospitalities  of  the  Cavendishes,  and  its  large 
gardens  with  their  tall  trees  give  the  house  an  unusual  air 
of  seclusion.  Of  both  house  and  garden  the  most  interest- 
ing associations  centre  around  the  brilliant  crowd  which 
encircled  the  beautiful  Georgiana  Spencer,  fifth  Duchess 
of  Devonshire,  whose  verses  on  William  Tell  produced  the 
lines  of  Coleridge — 

*  Oh  Lady,  nursed  in  pomp  and  pleasure, 
Where  learnt  you  that  heroic  measure  ?  " 

Her  traditional  purchase  of  a  butcher's  vote  with  a  kiss, 
when  canvassing  for  Fox's  election,  produced  the  epigram — 

•  Array'd  in  matchless  beauty,  Devon's  fair 

In  Fox's  favour  takes  a  zealous  part : 
But  oh  !  where'er  the  pilferer  comes,  beware, 

She  supplicates  a  vote,  and  steals  a  heart."  t 

The  reception-rooms  are  handsome,  with  beautiful  ceilings. 
Few  of  the  pictures  are  important.  Ascending  the  principal 
staircase,  we  may  notice — 

*  Devonshire  House  is  only  shown  on  presentation  of  a  special  order  from  the 
family. 

♦  History  of  the  "Westminster  Election,  by  Lovers  of  Truth  and  Justice,  1784. 


DEVONSHIRE  HOUSE.  Si 

State  Drawing  Room. 

Paul  Veronese.  The  Adoration  of  the  Magi— a  very  beautiful 
picture,  full  of  religious  feeling. 

Giacomo  Bassano.     (Over  door)  Moses  and  the  Burning  Bush. 

//  Calabrese.     Musicians. 

Michel  Angelo  Caravaggio.     Musicians. 

Cignani.     Virgin  and  Child. 

Jordaens.  Prince  Frederick  Henry  of  Orange  and  his  wife.  A 
capital  picture.  There  is  a  picturesque  feeling  unusual  with  the  master 
in  the  arch  with  the  vine  tendril  climbing  across,  and  the  parrot  pecking 
at  it— both  dark  against  a  dark  sky,  the  better  to  bring  out  the  light  on 
the  lady's  forehead. 

Saloon. 

Family  Portraits,  including  the  first  Duke  of  Devonshire  and  the  first 
Lord  and  Lady  Burlington,  by  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller. 

Great  Drawing  Room. 

Salvator  Rosa.  Jacob's  Dream— a  poetical  picture.  The  angels 
ascending  and  descending  are  poised  upon  the  Udder  by  the  power  of 
their  wings. 

Dining  Room. 

Sir  P.  Lely.     Portrait  of  a  Sculptor. 

Dobson.  (The  first  great  English  portrait-painter)  Sir  Thomas 
Brownie,  the  author  of  "  Religio  Medici,"  with  his  wife  and  several  oi 
his  children.  She  had  ten,  and  lived  very  happily  with  her  husband 
for  forty-one  years,  though  at  the  time  of  their  marriage  he  had  just 
published  his  opinion  that  "  man  is  the  whole  world,  but  woman  only 
the  rib  or  crooked  part  of  man." 

Frank  Hals.     Portrait  of  Himself. 

Vandyke.     Margaret,  Countess  of  Carlisle,  and  her  little  daughter. 
Very  carefully  painted  and  originally  conceived. 

Vandyke.     Eugenia  Clara  Isabella,  daughter  of  Philip  IV.  of  Spain, 
as  widow  of  the  Archduke  Albert. 

Vandyke.     A  Lady  in  a  yellow  dress. 

Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.     Lord  Richard  Cavendish. 

Vandyke.     Lord  Strafford. 

Blue  Velvet  Room. 

Murillo.     The  Infant  Moses. 

Guercino.     Christ  on  the  Mount  of  Olives. 

Guido  Reni.     Perseus  and  Andromeda. 

VOL.  IT.  O 


82  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Beyond  Devonshire  House,  Piccadilly  has  only  houses 
on  one  side,  which  look  into  die  Green  Park.  After  pass- 
ing Clarges  Street,  named  from  Sir  Walter  Clarges 
(nephew  of  Anne  Clarges,  the  low-born  wife  of  General 
Monk),  we  may  notice  No.  So  as  the  house  whence  Sir 
Francis  Burdett  was  taken  to  the  Tower,  April  6,  1810 ; 
at  the  corner  of  Bolton  Row  (No.  82)  Bath  House,  rebuilt 
in  1 82 1  for  Lord  Ashburton  \  and  No.  94,  with  a  courtyard, 
now  a  Naval  and  Military  Club,  as  Cambridge  House, 
where  Adolphus,  Duke  of  Cambridge,  youngest  son  of 
George  III.,  died  July  8,  1850.  On  the  balcony  of  No.  138, 
on  fine  days  in  summer,  used  to  sit  the  thin  withered 
old  figure  of  the  Duke  of  Queensberry,  "  with  one  eye, 
looking  on  all  the  females  that  passed  him,  and  not  dis- 
pleased if  they  returned  him  whole  winks  for  his  single 
ones."  *  He  was  the  last  grandee  in  England  who  em- 
ployed running  footmen,  and  he  used  to  try  their  paces 
by  watching  and  timing  them  from  his  balcony  as  they  raa 
up  and  down  Piccadilly  in  his  liveries.  One  day  a  sew 
footman  was  running  on  trial,  and  acquitted  himself  splen- 
didly. "You  will  do  very  well  for  me,"  said  the  Duke. 
"And  your  grace's  livery  will  do  very  well  for  me,"  replied 
the  footman,  and  gave  a  last  proof  of  his  fleetness  of  foot 
by  running  away  with  it.f 

Half-Moon  Street,  so  called  from  a  tavern,  leads  into 
Curzon  Street  (named  from  George  Augustus  Curzon,  third 
Viscount  Howe),  associated  in  the  recollection  of  so  many 
living  persons  with  the  charming  parties  of  the  sisters 
Mary    and    Agnes    Berry,    who    died    in    1S52    equally 

*  Leigh  Hunt. 

t  See  Notes  and  Queries,  2nd  series,  i.  9. 


PICCADILLY.  8j 

honoured  and  beloved.  They  lived  at  No.  8,  where 
Murrell,  their  servant,  used  to  set  up  a  lamp  over  their  door, 
as  a  sign  when  they  had  "  too  many  women  "  at  their  parties  : 
a  few  habitue's  of  the  male  sex,  however,  knew  thac  they 
could  still  come  in,  whether  the  lamp  was  lighted  or  not. 
"  The  day  may  be  distant,"  says  Lord  Houghton,  "  before 
social  tradition  forgets  the  house  in  Curzon  Street  where 
dwelt  the  Berrys."  * 

"  Our  English  grandeur  on  the  shelf 

Deposed  its  decent  gloom, 
And  every  pride  unloosed  itself 

Within  that  modest  room, 
Where  none  were  sad,  and  few  were  dull, 

And  each  one  said  his  best, 
And  beauty  was  most  beautiful 

With  vanity  at  rest." — Monckton  Milnes. 

Chantrey  lived  in  an  attic  of  No.  24,  Curzon  Street,  and 
modelled  several  of  his  busts  there. 

All  the  streets  north  of  Piccadilly  now  lead  into  the  dis 
trict  of  May/air,  which  takes  its  name  from  a  fair  which 
used  to  be  held  in  Shepherd's  Market  and  its  surrounding 
streets. 

At  the  corner  of  Park  Lane  (once  Tyburn  Lane  !)  is  Glou- 
cester  House,  where  Mary,  Duchess  of  Gloucester,  died,  April 
30,  1857.  This  was  the  house  to  which  Lord  Elgin  brought 
the  Elgin  Marbles,  and  which  was  called  by  Byron  the 

"  general  mart 
For  all  the  mutilated  blocks  of  art." 

In  No.  1,  Hamilton  Place  (named  from  James  Hamilton, 
ranger  of  Hyde  Park  under  Charles  II.)   lived  the   great 

•  Monographs. 


84  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Lord  Eldon.  Just  beyond  we  may  notice  No.  139,  Picca- 
dilly Terrace,  as  the  house  in  which  the  separation  between 
Lord  and  Lady  Byron  took  place. 

Returning  to  Berkeley  Street  (named  from  John,  Lord 
Berkeley  of  Stratton,  Lord  Deputy  of  Ireland  in  the  tim'e  of 
Charles  II.),  we  may  remember  that  it  was  the  London 
residence  of  Alexander  Pope.  On  the  left  is  Lansdowne 
Passage,  a  stone  alley  sunk  in  the  gardens  of  Lansdowne 
House,  leading  to  Bolton  Row.  The  bar  which  crosses  its 
entrance  is  a  curious  memorial  of  London  highwaymen, 
having  been  put  up  in  the  last  century  to  prevent  their 
escape  that  way,  after  a  mounted  highwayman  had  ridden 
full  gallop  up  the  steps,  having  fled  through  Bolton  Row, 
after  robbing  his  victims  in  Piccadilly.  This  is  "  the  dark 
uncanny-looking  passage"  described  by  Trollope  in  "  Phi- 
neas  Redux  "  with  a  persistency  which  almost  impresses  the 
fact  as  real,  as  the  scene  of  Mr.  Bonteen's  murder — "  It  was 
on  the  steps  leading  up  from  the  passage  to  the  level  of  the 
ground  above  that  the  body  was  found." 

On  the  right  is  Hay  Hill,  where  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt's  head 
was  exhibited  on  a  long  pole  after  the  rebellion  of  1554,  his 
quarters  being  set  up  in  various  other  parts  of  the  City.  It 
was  here  that  George  IV.  and  the  Duke  of  York  were 
stopped  as  young  men,  in  a  hackney  coach,  by  a  robber 
who  held  a  pistol  at  their  heads,  while  he  demanded  their 
money,  but  had  to  go  away  disappointed,  for  they  could 
only  muster  half-a-crown  between  them. 

On  the  left  a  heavy  screen  of  foliage  gives  almost  the 
seclusion  of  the  country  to  Lansdowne  House,  which  stands 
in  a  large  garden  approached  by  gates  decorated  with  the 
bee-hives  which  are  the  family  crest.     The  house  was  built 


LANSDOWNE   HOUSE.  85 

by  Robert  Adam  for  the  prime-minister  Lord  Bute,  and, 
while  still  unfinished,  was  sold  to  William  Petty,  Earl  of 
Shelburne,  who  became  prime-minister  on  the  death  of 
Lord  Rockingham,  and  upon  whom  the  title  of  Marquis 
of  Lansdowne  was  conferred  by  Pitt,  from  Lansdowne  Hill, 
near  Bath,  part  of  the  property  of  his  wife,  Sophia,  daughter 
of  John,  Earl  Granville.  The  ancient  statues  in  Lansdowne 
House  were  collected  at  Rome  by  Gavin  Hamilton  in  the 
last  century ;  the  collection  of  pictures  was  formed  by  the 
third  Marquis  of  Lansdowne. 

Lansdowne  House  is  not  shown  except  by  special  order. 

In  the  Entrance  Hall  we  may  notice — 

Over  the  chimney-piece.     Esculapius— a  noble  relief. 

A  Bust  of  Jupiter. 

A  Marble  Seat,  dedicated  to  Apollo,  with  the  sacred  serpent. 

In  the  Ball  Room — 

Diomed  holding  the  palladium  in  one  hand — much  restored. 

Mercury — a  bust. 

Tuno—  a  seated  figure,  much  restored,  but  with  admirable  drapery. 

Jason  fastening  his  sandal. 

*  Mercury — a  glorious  and  entirely  beautiful  statue,  found  at  the  Torre 
Columbaro  on  the  Via  Appia.  Portions  of  the  arms  and  of  the  right 
leg,  and  the  left  foot,  are  restorations. 

Marcus  Aurelius,  as  Mars,  wearing  only  the  chlamys. 

Colossal  bust  of  Minerva. 

In  the  Dining  Room  is — ■ 
A  Sleeping  Female  Figure,  the  beautiful  last  work  of  Cantrva. 

Of  the  Pictures  we  may  especially  notice — 

Ante-Room. 

Gonzales.     An  Architect  and  his  Wife — full  of  character. 
Eckhardt  (in  a  beautiful  frame  by  Gibbons).    Sir  Robert  Walpole  and 


86  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

his  first  wife,  Catherine  Shorter.  Their  house  of  Houghton,  represented 
in  the  background,  and  the  dogs,  are  by  John  Wootton.  From  the 
Strawberry  Hill  Collection. 

Raeburn.     Portrait  of  Francis  Horner. 

Sir  T.  Lawre?ice.     Portrait  of  the  third  Marquis  of  Lansdowne. 

Sitting  Room. 

Rembrandt.     His  own  Portrait. 

Reynolds.     Mary  Teresa,  Countess  of  Uchester  (mother  of  the  third 
Marchioness  of  Lansdowne),  and  her  two  eldest  daughters. 
Tifitoretto.     Portrait  of  Andrew  Doria. 
Ostade.     Skating  on  a  canal  in  Holland— full  of  truth  and  beauty. 

Library. 

Reynolds.     Kitty  Fisher,  with  a  bird. 

Reynolds.     Portrait  of  Garrick. 

Jervas.     Portrait  of  Pope. 

Jackson.     Portrait  of  Flaxman. 

Reynolds.     Portrait  of  Sterne. 

"  When  Sterne  sat  to  Reynolds,  he  had  not  written  the  stories  of  Le 
Fevre,  The  Monk,  or  The  Captive,  but  was  known  only  as  '  a  fellow  of 
infinite  jest,  of  most  excellent  fancy.'  In  this  matchless  portrait,  with 
all  its  expression  of  intellect  and  humour,  there  is  a  sly  look  for  .which 
we  are  prepared  by  the  insidious  mixture  of  so  many  abominations  with 
the  finest  wit  in  Tristram  Shandy  and  the  Sentimental  Journey,  nor  is 
the  position  of  the  figure  less  characteristic  than  the  expression  of  the 
face.     It  is  easy,  but  it  has  not  the  easiness  of  health.     Sterne  props 

himself  up While  he  was  sitting  to  Reynolds,  his  wig  had 

contrived  to  get  itself  a  little  on  one  side  ;  and  the  painter,  with  that 
readiness  in  taking  advantage  of  accident  to  which  we  owe  so  many 
of  the  delightful  novelties  in  his  works,  painted  it  so,  ...  .  and  it  is 
surprising  what  a  Shandean  air  this  venial  impropriety  of  the  wig  gives 
to  its  owner." — Leslie  and  Taylor's  Life  of  Sir  J.  Reynolds. 

Gainsborough.  Portrait  of  Dr.  Franklin.  (A  replica  of  this  picture 
has  been  exhibited  as  a  portrait  of  Surgeon-General  Middleton,  who 
died  in  1 785  ;  but  from  the  resemblance  of  this  portrait  to  the  miniature 
given  by  Franklin  to  his  friend  Jonathan  Shipley,  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph, 
there  caii  be  uo  doubt  whom  it  represents.) 

Reynolds.     Portrait  of  Horace  Walpole. 

Giorgione.    Portrait  of  Sansovino,  the  Venetian  architect. 

Vandyke.     Henrietta  Maria. 


BERKELEY  SQUARE.  87 

Drawing  Room. 

Reynolds.     Portrait  of  Lady  Anstruther. 

Guercino.     The  Prodigal  Son — from  the  Palazzo  Borghese. 

Rembrandt.     A  Lady  in  a  ruff:  dated  1642. 

Reynolds.     The  Sleeping  Girl  (a  replica). 

*  Sebastian  del  Piombo.  A  noble  Portrait  of  Count  Federigo  da 
Bizzola— purchased  from  the  Ghizzi  family  at  Naples.  The  gem  of 
the  collection. 

Domenichino.  St.  Cecilia — once  in  the  Borghese  Gallery,  after, 
wards  in  the  collection  of  the  Duke  of  Lucca. 

"  St.  Cecilia  here  combines  the  two  characters  of  Christian  martyr 
and  patroness  of  music.  Her  tunic  is  of  a  deep  red  with  white  sleeves, 
and  on  her  head  she  wears  a  kind  of  white  turban,  which,  in  the  artless 
disposition  of  its  folds,  recalls  the  linen  headdress  in  which  her  body 
was  found,  and  no  doubt  was  intended  to  imitate  it.  She  holds  the 
viol  gracefully,  and  you  almost  hear  the  tender  tones  she  draws  from 
it ;  she  looks  up  to  heaven ;  her  expression  is  not  ecstatic,  as  of  one 
listening  to  the  angels,  but  devout,  tender,  melancholy — as  one  who 
anticipated  her  fate,  and  was  resigned  to  it ;  she  is  listening  to  her 
own  song,  and  her  song  is,  'Thy  will  be  done.'" — Jameson 's  Sacred 
and  Legendary  Art. 

Reynolds.     The  Girl  with  a  muff  (a  replica). 

Velazquez.  Portraits,  of  Himself,  the  Duke  of  Olivares,  and  an 
Infant  of  Spain  in  its  cradle. 

Lodovico  Carracci.  The  Agony  in  the  Garden — from  the  Giustiniani 
Collection. 

Murillo.     The  Conception. 

Reynolds.     Portrait  of  Elizabeth  Drax,  fourth  Countess  of  Berkeley. 

Berkeley  Square,  built  1698,  and  named  from  Berkeley- 
House  in  Piccadilly  (see  Devonshire  House),  has  the  best 
trees  of  any  square  in  London.  They  are  all  planes,  the 
only  trees  which  thoroughly  enjoy  a  smoky  atmosphere. 
It  was  in  No.  1 1  that  Horace  Walpole  died  in  1797.  No.  44 
has  a  noble  staircase  erected  by  Kent  for  Lady  Isabella 
Finch.  In  No.  45  the  great  Lord  Clive,  founder  of  the 
British  Empire  in  India,  committed  suicide,  November  22, 
1774.     No.  50  has  obtained  a  great  notoriety  in  late  years 


88  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

as  the  "Haunted  House  in  Berkeley  Square,"  about  which 
there  have  been  such  strange  stories  and  surmises.  Many 
of  the  houses  in  this  and  in  Grosvenor  Square  retain,  in  the 
fine  old  ironwork  in  front  of  their  doors,  the  extinguishers 
employed  to  put  out  the  flambeaux  which  the  footmen  used 
to  carry  lighted  at  the  back  of  the  carriages  during  a  night 
drive  through  the  streets.  Ben  Jonson  speaks  of  those 
thieves  of  the  night  who — 

"  Their  prudent  insults  to  the  poor  confine 
Afar  they  mark  the  flambeau's  bright  approach, 
And  shun  the  shining  train,  and  golden  coach  ;  " 

and  Gay  says — 

"  Yet  who  the  footman's  arrogance  can  quell, 
Whose  flambeau  gilds  the  sashes  of  Pall-Mali, 
When  in  long  rank  a  train  of  torches  flame, 
To  light  the  midnight  visits  of  the  dame." 

One  of  the  best  examples  is  that  at  No.  45,  where  the 
doorplate  of  the  Earl  of  Powis  is,  with  the  exception  of  that 
of  Lady  Willoughby  de  Broke  in  Hill  Street,  the  only 
remaining  example  of  the  old  aristocratic  doorplates,  which 
were  once  universal. 

Near  the  entrance  of  Charles  Street,  Berkeley  Square,  we 
may  notice  the  tavern  sign  of  the  Running  Footman — "  I 
am  the  only  Running  Footman  " — only  too  popular  with  the 
profession,  which  shows  the  dress  worn  by  the  running 
retainers  of  the  last  century,  who  have  left  nothing  but  their 
name  to  the  stately  flunkeys  of  the  present. 

Just  behind  Berkeley  Square,  at  the  north-east  corner, 
in  Davies  Street,  is  Bourdon  House,  preserved  through  all 
the  vicissitudes  of  this  part  of  London  as  having  been  the 


GROSVENOR   SQUARE. 


89 


little  manor-house  in  the  country  which  was  the  home  of 
Miss  Mary  Davies,  whose  marriage  with  Sir  Thomas  Grosvc 
nor  in  1676  resulted  in  the  enormous  wealth  of  his  family 
through  the  value  to  which  her  paternal  acres  rose.  Her 
farm  is  commemorated  in  the  rural  names  of  man/ 
neighbouring  streets— Farm  Street,  Hill  Street,  Hay  Hill, 
Hay  Mews. 


In  Berkeley  Square. 


In  front  of  this  house,  Mount  Street  (named  from  Oliver's 
Mount,  part  of  the  fortifications  raised  round  London  by 
the  Parliament  in  1643)  and  Charles  Street  (right)  lead  into 
Grosvenor  Square,  which  has  for  a  century  and  a  half  main- 
tained the  position  of  the  most  fashionable  place  of 
residence  in  London.  No.  39  was  the  house  in  which  "the 
Cato    Street     conspirators "    under    Arthur     Thistlewood 


go  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

arranged  (February  23,  1820)  to  murder  the  Ministers  of  the 
Crown  while  they  were  dining  with  Lord  Harrowby,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Council.  "  It  will  be  a  rare  haul  to  murder 
them  all  together,"  Thistlewood  exclaimed  at  their  final 
meeting,  and  bags  were  actually  produced  in  which  the 
heads  of  Lord  Sidmouth  and  Lord  Castlereagh  were  to  be 
brought  away,  after  which  the  cavalry  barracks  were  to  be 
fired,  and  the  Bank  of  England  and  the  Tower  taken  by 
the  people,  who,  it  was  hoped,  would  rise  on  the  news. 
The  ministers  were  warned,  and  the  conspirators  seized  in 
a  loft  in  Cato  Street,*  Marylebone  Road,  only  a  few  hours 
before  their  design  was  to  have  been  carried  out.  Thistle- 
wood  and  his  four  principal  accomplices  were  tried  for  high 
treason,  and,  after  a  most  ingenious  defence  in  a  speech  of 
five  hours  by  John  Adolphus,  were  condemned  and  hanged 
at  the  Old  Bailey. 

"  Before  their  execution  it  occurred  to  Adolphus  to  ask  each  of  his 
clients  for  an  autograph.     One  of  them,  J.  T.  Brent,  wrote — 

'  Let  S h  and  his  base  colleagues 

Cajole  and  plot  their  dark  intrigues, 
Still  each  Britton's  last  words  shall  be 
Oh  give  me  Death  or  Liberty.' 

"  Much  amusement  was  excited  by  the  caution  as  to  the  name  of 
Sidmouth  in  one  whose  sentence  of  death  would  at  least  save  him  an 
action  for  libel." — See  Henderson's  Recollections  of  John  Adolphus. 

The  old  ironwork  and  flambeau  extinguishers  before  many 
of  the  doors  in  Grosvenor  Square  deserve  notice.  In  the 
last  century  the  nobility  were  proud  of  their  flambeaux,  and 
it   is  remarkable   that  the  aristocratic   Square  refused   to 

*  The  name  was  foolishly  changed  to  Homer  Street  to  obliterate  the  recollec- 
tion ol  the  conspiracy. 


GROSVENOR   HOUSE.  91 

adopt  the  use  of  gas  till  compelled  to  do  so  by  force  of 
public  opinion  in  1842,  Pall  Mall  having  been  lighted 
with  gas  from  1807. 

Grosvenor  Square  is  crossed  by  the  two  great  arteries  of 
Grosvenor  Street  and  Brook  Street.  William,  Duke  of 
Cumberland,  died  (October  31,  1765)  in  Upper  Grosvenor 
Street.  No.  $3,  with  a  courtyard,  separated  from  the  street 
by  a  stone  colonnade  with  handsome  metal  gates  (by  Cundy, 
1842)  is  Grosvenor  House  (Duke  of  Westminster),  once,  as 
Gloucester  House,  inhabited  by  the  Duke  of  Gloucester, 
brother  of  George  III.  Its  noble  collection  of  pictures  can 
only  be  seen  by  a  personal  order  of  admission  from  the 
Duke  of  Westminster.  The  pictures,  which  are  all  hung  in 
the  delightful  rooms  constantly  occupied  by  the  family,  are 
most  generously  shown  between  the  hours  of  eleven  and 
one  to  all  who  have  provided  themselves  with  tickets  by 
application.     We  may  notice — 

Dining  Room. 

2.  Benjamin  West.  The  Death  of  General  Wolfe,  while  heading  the 
attack  on  Quebec,  Sept.  13,  1759.  The  picture  is  of  great  interest,  as 
that  in  which  West  (whom  Reynolds  had  vainly  endeavoured  to  dis- 
suade from  so  great  a  risk)  gained  the  first  victory  over  the  ludicrous 
"  classic  taste  "  which  had  hitherto  crushed  all  historic  art  under  the 
costume  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 

7,19.  Claude  Lorraine.     "  Morning  "  and  "  Evening." 
8,  17.  Rembrandt.     Noble  Portraits  of  Nicholas  Beryhem,  the  land- 
scape-painter and  his  wife,  who  was  daughter  of  the  painter  Jan  Wels, 
1647. 

12,  18.  Claude.  Two  Landscapes,  called,  from  the  Roman  buildings 
introduced,  "  The  Rise  and  Decline  of  the  Roman  Empire." 

13.  Claude.     The  Worship  of  the  Golden  Calf. 

15.  Rubens.     A  Flemish  Landscape  in  Harvest -time. 

16.  Rembrandt.     His  own  Portrait,  at  twenty,  in  a  soldier's  dress. 
23.  Rembra?idt.     Portrait  of  a  Man  with  a  hawk,  1643. 


92 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


25.  Hogarth.  "The  Distressed  Poet."  The  landlady  is  furiously 
exhibiting  her  bill  to  the  bewildered  poet  and  his  simple-minded 
wife. 

27.  Hogarth.  A  Boy  endeavouring  to  rescue  his  kite  from  a  raven, 
which  is  tearing  it,  while  entangled  in  a  bush. 

26.  Claude.     The  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

28.  Claude.     One  of  his  most  beautiful  Landscapes. 
31.  Rembrandt.    A  Lady  with  a  fan — a  noble  portrait. 

Saloon. 

39.  Cuyp.    A  River  Scene  near  Dort— *in  a  haze  of  golden  light. 

40.  Rembrandt.  "The  Salutation."  Elizabeth  is  receiving  the 
"Virgin,  whose  veil  is  being  removed  by  a  negress.  The  aged  Zacharias 
is  being  assisted  down  the  steps  of  the  house  by  a  boy.  This  picture, 
which  formerly  belonged  to  the  King  of  Sardinia,  was  brought  to 
England  in  18 12.     It  is  signed,  and  dated  1640. 

42.  Paui  Potter.  A  Scene  of  Pollard  Willows  and  Cattle,  painted  at 
Dort  for  M.  Van  Singelandt. 

48.  Guido  Rem.  The  Madonna  watching  the  sleeping  Child — a  sub- 
ject frequently  repeated  by  the  master. 

50.  Andrea  del  Sarto.     Portrait  of  the  Contessina  Mattei. 

53.  Murillo.  St.  John  and  the  Lamb — constantly  repeated  by  the 
master. 

69.  Giulio  Romano.     St.  Luke  painting  the  Virgin. 

72.  Murillo.     The  Infant  Christ  asleep — a  most  lovely  picture. 

74.  A.  Van  der  Werff.  The  Madonna  laying  the  sleeping  Child 
upon  the  ground — a  singular  picture,  with  wonderful  power  of  chiaro- 
oscuro. 

75.  Garofalo(?).    A  "Riposo." 

Small  Drawing  Room. 

*  Gainsborough.  "  The  Blue  Boy  "  (Master  Buttall)— the  noblest 
portrait  ever  painted  by  the  master,  who  chose  the  colour  of  the  dress 
to  disprove  the  assertion  of  Reynolds  that  a  predominance  of  blue  in  a 
picture  was  incompatible  with  high  art. 

83.  Teniers.  The  Painter  and  his  wife  (Anne  Breughel)  discoursing 
with  their  old  gardener  at  the  door  of  his  cottage,  close  to  the  artist's 
chateau,  which  is  seen  in  the  background.     Painted  :n  1649. 

85.  Gainsborough.  A  stormy  sea,  with  a  woman  selling  fish  upon 
the  shore— unusual  for  the  master. 

*  Sir  J.  Reynolds.  The  glorious  Portrait  of  Mrs.  Siddons  as  the 
Tiagic  Muse,  painted  in  1785.     The  want  of  colour  in  the  face  is  owing 


GROSVENOR  HOUSE.  93 

(othe  great  actress's  own  request  at  her  last  sitting  that  Sir  Joshua 
would  "  not  heighten  that  tone  of  complexion  so  accordant  with  the 
chilly  and  concentrated  musings  of  pale  melancholy."  Remorse  and 
Pity  appear  like  ghosts  in  the  background.  Reynolds  inscribed  his 
name  on  the  border  of  the  drapery,  telling  Mrs.  Siddons  that  he  could 
not  resist  the  opportunity  of  going  down  to  posterity  on  the  hem  of 
her  garment. 

92.  Vandyke.  The  Virgin  and  Child  with  St.  Catherine.  Avery 
beautiful  work  of  the  master  after  his  return  from  Italy — from  the 
Church  of  the  Recollets  at  Antwerp. 

Large  Drawing  Room. 

95.  Rembrandt.     A  Landscape,  with  figures  by  Teniers. 
98.  Guido  Rent.     "La  Fortuna" — a  repetition  of  the  picture  at 
Rome. 

100.  Raffaelle  (?).     Holy  Family — from  the  Agar  Collection. 

101.  Velazquez.  The  Infante  Don  Balthazar  of  Spain  on  horseback, 
attended  by  Don  Gaspar  de  Guzman,  the  Conde  de  Olivares,  and 
others.  The  king  and  queen  are  seen  on  the  balcony  of  the  riding 
school. 

102.  Titian.  Jupiter  and  Antiope — the  landscape  is  said  to  be 
Cadore. 

105.  Rubens.  The  Painter  and  his  first  wife,  Elizabeth  Brand,  as 
Pausias  and  Glycera — the  inventor  of  garlands.  The  flowers  are  by 
J.  Breughel. 

100.  Andrea  Sacchi.     St.  Bruno. 

1 10.  Giovanni  Bellini  (/).     Madonna  and  Child,  with  four  saints. 

Rubens  Room. 

113.  The  Israelites  gathering  Manna. 

114.  The  Meeting  of  Abraham  and  Melchizedek. 

115.  The  Four  Evangelists. 

Three  of  the  nine  pictures  painted  in  1629  for  Philip  TV.,  who  pre- 
sented them  to  the  Due  of  Olivarez  for  a  Carmelite  convent  which  lie 
had  founded  at  Loeches,  near  Madrid.  These  belong  to  the  seven 
pictures  carried  off  by  the  French  in  1808  :  two  still  remain  at  Loeches. 

"As  a  striking  instance  of  a  mistaken  style  of  treatment,  we  may 
turn  to  the  famous  group  of  the  Four  Evangelists  by  Rubens,  grand, 
colossal,  standing  or  rather  moving  figures,  each  with  his  emblem,  if 
emblems  they  can  be  called,  which  are  almost  as  full  of  reality  as  Dature 
itself :  the  ox  so  like  life,  that  we  expect  him  to  bellow  at  us ;  the  mag- 


94  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

nificent  lion  flourishing  his  tail,  and  looking  at  St. Mark  as  if  about  to  roar 
at  him  !  and  herein  lies  the  mistake  of  the  great  painter,  that,  for  the 
religious  and  mysterious  emblem,  he  has  substituted  the  creatures  them- 
selves ;  this  being  one  of  the  instances,  not  unfrequent  in  art,  in  which 
the  literal  truth  beomes  a  manifest  falsehood." — Jamesoiis  Sacred 
Art. 

Murillo.    Laban  coming  to  search  the  tent  of  Jacob  for  his  stolen 

gods. 

Ante  Drawing  Room. 

117.  Gainsborough.     "  The  Cottage  Door." 

119.  Fra  Bartolotnmeo.     Holy  Family. 

121.  Sir  J.  Reynolds.     Portrait  of  Mrs.  Hartley  the  actress. 

125.  Domenichino.     Meeting  of  David  and  Abigail. 

130.  Albert  Durer.     A  Hare. 

Brook  Street  is  so  called  from  the  Tye  Bourne  whose 
course  it  marks.  No.  57,  four  doors  from  Bond  Street, 
was  the  house  of  George  Frederick  Handel,  the  famous 
composer,  who  used  to  give  rehearsals  of  his  orntorios  there. 

North  and  south  through  Grosvenor  Square  runs  Audley 
Street,  so  called  from  Hugh  Audley,  ob.  1662.  No.  72, 
South  Audley  Street  was  the  house  of  Alderman  Wood,  where 
Queen  Caroline  resided  on  her  return  from  Italy  in  1820, 
and  from  the  balcony  of  which  she  used  to  show  herself  to 
the  people.  Spencer  Perceval  was  born  in  the  recess  of  the 
eastern  side  of  the  street,  called  Audky  Square,  in  1762.  At 
the  bottom  of  South  Audley  Street,  in  May  fair  (so  named  in 
1 7  2 1 ,  from  a  fair  which  began  on  May  Day),  gates  and  a  court- 
yard lead  to  Chesterfield  House  (Charles  Magniac,  Esq.),  built 
by  Ware  in  1749  for  Philip,  fourth  Earl  of  Chesterfield,  on 
land  belonging  to  Curzon,  Lord  Howe  (whence  Chesterfield 
Street,  Stanhope  Street,  and  Curzon  Street).  It  has  a  noble 
marble  staircase  with  a  bronze  balustrade,  which,  as  well  as 
the  portico,  was  brought  from  Canons,  the  seat  of  the  Duke 


CHESTERFIELD  HOUSE. 


95 


of  Chandos  at  Edgeware.  The  curious  Library  still  remains 
where  Lord  Chesterfield  wrote  his  celebrated  Letters,  of 
which  Dr.  Johnson  said,  "Take  out  their  immorality,  and 
they  should  be  put  into  the  hands  of  every  gentleman." 
The    busts  and    pictures   which    once  made  the   room  so 


Staircase  of  Chesterfield  House. 


interesting  have  been  removed,  but  under  the  cornice  still 
run  the  lines  from  Horace — 

"Nunc  .  veterum  .  libris  .  nunc  .  somno  .  ct  .  inertibus  .horis 
Ducere  .  solicitse  .  jucunda  .  oblivia  .  vitas." 

"We  shall  never  recall  that  princely  room  without  fancying  Chester- 
field receiving  in  it  a  visit  of  his  only  child's  mother-  while  probably 
some  new  favourite  was  sheltered  in  the  dim,  mysterious  little  boudoir 
within." —  Quarterly  A      ,     ,  No.  152. 

Lord  Chesterfield  was  one  of  the  first  English  patrons 
of  French  cookery  :   his  cook  was  La  Chapelle,  a  descend- 


96  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

ant  ot  the  famous  cook  of  Louis  XIV.  Chesterfield  died 
in  the  house  in  1773,  and  in  accordance  with  his  Will 
was  interred  in  the  nearest  burial-ground  (that  of  Grosvenor 
Chapel),  but  was  afterwards  removed  to  Shelford  in  Notting- 
hamshire. 

"  Lord  Chesterfield's  entrance  into  the  world  was  announced  by  his 
boa  mots  ;  and  his  closing  lips  dropped  repartees,  that  sparkled  with 
liis  juvenile  fire." — Horace  Walpole. 

The  Garden  of  Chesterfield  House,  mentioned  by  Beck- 
ford  as  "  the  finest  private  garden  in  London,"  has  been 
lamentably  curtailed  of  late  years. 

In  the  vaults  of  Grosvenor  Chapel  is  still  buried 
Ambrose  Philips  (1762),  described  by  Lord  Macaulay  as 
"  a  good  Whig,  and  a  middling  poet,"  and  ridiculed  by 
Pope  as 

"  The  bard  whom  pilfered  pastorals  renown ; 
Who  turns  a  Persian  tale  for  hali-a-cro\vn  ; 
Just  writes  to  make  his  barrenness  appear, 
And  strains  from  hard-bound  brains  eight  lines  a  year. 

Here  also  rests  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu  (1762),  who 
introduced  the  Turkish  remedy  of  inoculation  for  the  small- 
pox (practising  it  first  upon  her  own  children),  and  who  was 
the  authoress  of  the  charming  "  Letters  "which  have  been  so 
often  compared  with  those  of  Madame  de  Sevigne.  A 
tablet  commemorates  "John  Wilkes,  a  Friend  of  Liberty" 
(1797).  This  chapel  is  one  of  the  places  where  public 
thanksgivings  were  returned  (1781)  for  the  acquittal  of 
Lord  George  Gordon. 

North  Audley  Street  and  Orchard  Street  lead  in  a  direct 
line  to  Portman  Square,  so  called  from  having  been  built 
on  the   property  of  William  Henry  Portman  of  Orchard 


PORTA! AN  SQUARE.  97 

Pottman  in  Somersetshire  (died  1796).  Dorset  Square, 
Orchard  Street,  Blandford  Square,  and  Bryanston  Square, 
on  this  property,  take  their  names  from  country  houses  of  the 
Portman  family.  No.  34  (Sir  Edward  Blackett,  Bart.), 
prepared  for  the  marriage  of  William  Henry,  Duke  of 
Gloucester,  with  Lady  Waldegrave  in  1766,  has  a  beautiful 
drawing-room  decorated  by  the  brothers  Adam,  and  hung 
with  exquisite  tapestry.  The  detached  house  at  the  north- 
west angle  is  Montagu  House,  which  became  celebrated 
from  the  parties  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Montagu,  the  "  Queen  of 
the  Blues,"  who  here  founded  the  Bas  Bleu  Society,  whence 
the  expression  Blue  Stocking.  Her  rooms,  decorated  with 
feather  hangings  to  which  all  her  friends  contributed,  are 
celebrated  by  Cowper. 

*'  The  birds  put  off  their  every  hue, 

To  dress  a  room  for  Montagu. 

*  *  *  *  •  • 

This  plumage  neither  dashing  shower, 

Nor  blasts  that  shake  the  dripping  bower, 

Shall  drench  again  or  discompose, 

But  screened  from  every  storm  that  blows, 

It  boasts  a  splendour  ever  new, 

Safe  with  protecting  Montagu." 

"  Mrs.  Montagu  was    qualified  to  preside  in  her  circle,  whatever 
subject  was  started  ;  but  her  manner  was  more  dictatorial  and  senten- 
tious than  conciliatory  or  diffident.     There  was  nothing  feminine  about  ■ 
her  ;  and  though  her  opinions  were  generally  just,  yet  the  organ  which 
conveyed  them  was  not  soft  or  harmonious." — Sir  iV.  Wraxall. 

Johnson  used  to  laugh  at  her,  but  said,  "  I  never  did  her 
serious  harm  ;  nor  would  I, — though  I  could  give  her  a  bite  ; 
but  she  must  provoke  me  much  first." 

In  the  garden  which  surrounds  the  house  Mrs.  Montagu 
used  to  collect  the  chimney-sweeps  of  London  every  May 

voi,.  11.  11 


98  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Day  and  give  them  a  treat,  saying  that  they  should  have  at 
least  one  happy  day  in  the  year.  Her  doing  so  originated 
in  her  discovering,  in  the  disguise  of  a  chimney-sweep, 
Edward  Wortley  Montagu  (Lady  Mary's  son),  who  had  run 
away  from  Westminster  School.  Mrs.  Montagu  died  in 
1800,  aged  eighty :  she  is  commemorated  in  Montagu 
Square  and  Street. 

Baker  Street,  which  leads  north  from  Portman  Square, 
contains  Madame  Tussaud's  famous  Exhibition  of  Waxwork 
Figures.  Many  of  these,  especially  those  relating  to  the 
French  Revolution,  were  modelled  from  life,  or  death,  by 
Madame  Tussaud,  who  was  herself  imprisoned  and  in 
danger  of  the  guillotine,  with  Madame  Beauharnais  and  her 
child  Hortense  as  her  associates. 

Seymour  Street  and  Wigmore  Street*  lead  west  to  Cavendish 
Square.  On  the  left  is  Manchester  Square,  containing  Hert- 
ford House,  the  large  brick  mansion  and  Picture  Gallery  of 
Sir  Richard  Wallace,  who  inherited  it  from  Lord  Hertford. 
The  pictures,  which  are  not  shown  to  the  public,  include 
several  good  works  of  Murillo,  some  fine  specimens  of  the 
Dutch  School,  and  the  "  Nelly  O'Brien,"  "  Mrs.  Braddyl," 
"  Mrs.  Hoare,"  and  other  works  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 
The  residence  here  of  the  second  Marchioness  of  Hertford 
•will  recall  Moore's  lines — 

"  Oh,  who  will  repair  unto  Manchester  Square, 
And  see  if  the  lovely  Marchesa  be  there, 
And  bid  her  to  come,  with  her  hair  darkly  flowing, 
All  gentle  and  juvenile,  crispy  and  gay, 
In  the  manner  of  Ackermann's  dresses  for  May  ?  " 

Cavendish   Square,   laid   out   in    1717,    takes   its   name 

•  Wigmore  Street  and  "Wimpole  Street  derive  their  names  fiom  country  -seat! 
of  the  Earls  oi  Oxlord. 


CAVENDISH  SQUARE.  99 

(with  the  neighbouring  Henrietta  Street  and  Holies  Street) 
from  Lady  Henrietta  Cavendish  Holies.,  who  married,  in 
17 13,  Edward  Harley,  second  Karl  of  Oxford.  In  the  centre 
stood  till  lately  a  statue  of  William  Duke  of  Cumberland 
(172 1 — 65),  erected  in  1770  by  his  friend  General  Strode. 
On  the  south  side  is  a  statue  of  Lord  George  Bentinck,  184S. 
The  two  houses  at  the  north-east  and  north-west  angles 
were  intended  as  the  extremities  of  the  wings  of  the  huge 
mansion  of  the  great  Duke  of  Chandos,  by  which  he 
intended  to  occupy  the  whole  north  side  of  the  square, 
but  the  project  was  cut  short  by  his  dying  of  a  broken 
heart  in  consequence  of  the  death  of  his  infant  heir, 
while  he  was  being  christened  with  the  utmost  magni- 
ficence. On  the  west  is  Harcoitrt  House,  built  1722  for 
Lord  Bingley,  and  bought  after  his  death  by  the  Earl  of 
Harcourt,  who  sold  it  to  the  Duke  of  Portland.*  It  has  a 
courtyard  and  porte-cochere,  like  those  in  the  Faubourg 
St.  Germain.  At  No.  24  lived  and  painted  George  Romney, 
always  called  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  whom  he  had 
the  honour  of  rivalling,  "  the  man  of  Cavendish  Square." 
Princess  Amelia,  daughter  of  George  II.,  lived  in  the  large 
house  at  the  corner  of  Harley  Street.  In  No.  24,  Holies 
Street  Lord  Byron  was  born  in  1788.  There  is  little  more 
worth  noticing  in  the  frightful  district  to  the  north  of  Oxford 
Street,  which,  with  the  exception  of  the  two  squares  we  have 
been  describing,  generally  marks  the  limits  of  fashionable 
society.     We  may  take  Harley  Street  as  a  fair  specimen  of 

•  The  neighbouring  Wclbeck  Street  and  Bolsover  Street  are  named  from 
country-houses  of  the  Portland  family  ;  but  the  great  mass  of  streets  in  this 
ncighbourl  00  1— Bentinck  Street,  Holies  Street,  Vere  Street,  Margaret  Street, 
Cavendish  St  eet,  Harley  Street,  Foley  Place,  Weymouth  Street— commemorate 
the  junction  of  the  great  Bloomsbury  and  Marylebone  estates  by  the  marriage  of 
William  llentinck,  Duke  of  Portland,  with  Margaret  Cavendish  Harley  in  1734. 


too  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

this  dreary  neighbourhood,  with  the  grim  rows  of  expiession- 
less  uniform  houses,  between  which  and  "  unexceptionable 
society "  Dickens  draws  such  a  vivid  parallel  in  c;  Little 
Dorrit."  Taine  shows  it  us  from  a  Frenchman's  point  oi 
view. 

"From  Regent's  Park  to  Piccadilly  a  funereal  vista  of  broad  in- 
terminable streets.  The  footway  is  macadamised  and  black.  The 
monotonous  rows  of  buildings  are  o  blackened  brick  .  the  window- 
panes  flash  in  black  shadows.  Each  house  is  divided  from  the  street 
by  its  railings  and  area.  Scarcely  a  shop,  certainly  not  one  pretty  one  : 
no  plate-glass  fronts,  no  prints.  How  sad  we  should  find  it !  Nothing 
to  catch  or  amuse  the  eye.  Lounging  is  out  of  the  question.  One 
must  work  at  home,  or  hurry  by  under  au  umbrella  to  one's  office  or 
club." — Notes  sur  V '  Angleterre. 

Though  Oxford  Street  was  the  high-road  to  the  University, 
it  derives  its  name  from  Edward  Harley,  Earl  of  Oxford, 
owner  of  the  manor  of  Tyburn.  It  was  formerly  called  the 
Tyburn  Road,  and  in  1729  was  only  enclosed  by  houses 
on  its  northern  side.  Besides  those  already  mentioned,  we 
need  only  notice,  of  its  side  streets  on  this  side  Regent 
Street,  Stratford  Place,  where  the  Lord  Mayor's  Banqueting 
House  stood,  which  was  pulled  down  in  1737.  Thither  the 
Lord  Mayor  occasionally  came  "  to  view  the  conduits,  and 
afore  dinner  they  hunted  the  Hare,  and  killed  her,  and 
thence  to  dinner  at  the  head  of  the  conduit,  and  after 
dinner  they  went  to  hunting  the  Fox."  *  The  end  house 
in  Stratford  Place,  which  belonged  to  Cosway,  the  minia- 
ture painter,  has  a  beautiful  ceiling  by  Angelica  Kauffmann. 

Oxford  Street  leads  to  the  north-eastern  corner  of  Hyde 
Park,  which  is  entered  at  Cumberland  Gate  by  the  Marble 
Arch— owe  of  our  national  follies — a  despicable  caricature 

•  Strype. 


TYBURN.  toi 

of  the  Arch  of  Constantine.  originally  erected  by  Nash  at  a 
cost  of  ^75,000,  as  an  approach  to  Buckingham  Palace, 
and  removed  hither  (when  the  palace  was  enlarged  in  1S51) 
at  a  cost  of  ^4,340. 

At  this  corner  of  Hyde  Park,  where  the  angle  of  Con- 
naught  Place  now  stands,  was  the  famous  "  Tyburn  Tree," 
sometimes  called  the  "  Three-Legged  Mare,"  being  a  tri- 
angle on  three  legs,  where  the, public  executions  took  place 
till  they  were  transferred  to  Newgate  in  1783.  The  manor 
of  Tyburn  took  its  name  from  the  Tye  Bourne  or  brook, 
which  rose  under  Primrose  Hill,  and  the  place  was  originally 
chosen  for  executions  because,  though  on  the  high-road  to 
Oxford,  it  was  remote  from  London.  The  condemned  were 
brought  hither  in  a  cart  from  Newgate — 

"  thief  and  parson  in  a  Tyburn  cart,"  • 

the  prisoner  usually  carrying  the  immense  nosegay  which, 
by  old  custom,  was  presented  to  him  on  the  steps  of  St. 
Sepulchre's  Church,  and  having  been  refreshed  with  a  bowl 
of  ale  at  St.  Giles's.  The  cart  was  driven  underneath  the 
gallows,  and,  after  the  noose  was  adjusted,  was  driven 
quickly  away  by  Jack  Ketch  the  hangman,  so  that  the 
prisoner  was  left  suspended.!  Death  by  this  method  was 
much  slower  and  more  uncertain  than  it  has  been  since  the 
drop  was  invented,  and  there  have  been  several  cases  in 
which  animation  has  been  restored  after  the  prisoner  was 
cut  down.  Around  the  place  of  execution  were  raised 
galleries  which  were  let  to  spectators ;  they  were  destroyed 
by  the  disappointed  mob  who  had  engaged  them  when  Dr. 

•  Prologue  by  Drydcn ,  ib8( 

t   1  he  scene  is  depicted  in  Hogarth's  "Idle  Apprentice  executed  at  Tyburn." 


102 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


Henesey  was  reprieved  in  1758.  One  Mammy  Douglas, 
who  kept  the  key  of  the  boxes,  bore  the  name  of  the 
"Tyburn  Pewopener."*  The  bodies  of  Cromwell,  Ireton, 
and  Bradshaw  were  buried  under  the  Tyburn  tree  after 
hanging  there  for  a  day.  Some  bones  discovered  in  1840, 
on  removing  the  pavement  close  to  Arklow  House,  at  the 
south-west  angle  of  the  Edgeware  Road,  are'  supposed  to 
have  been  theirs.  On  the  house  at  the  corner  of  Upper 
Bryanston  Street  and  the  Edgeware  Road  the  iron  balconies 
remained  till  1785,  whence  the  sheriffs  used  to  watch  the 
executions.!  Amongst  the  reminiscences  of  executions  at 
Tyburn  are  those  connected  with — 

1388.  Judge  Tressilian  and  Sir  N.  Brembre,  for  treason. 
1499.  Perkin  Warbeck  (Richard,  Duke  of  York?),  nominally  for 
attempting  to  escape  from  the  Tower. 

1534.  The  Maid  of  Kent  and  her  confederates,  for  prophesying 
Divine  vengeance  on  Henry  VIII.  for  his  treatment  of  Catherine  of 
Arragon. 

1535.  Houghton,  the  last  Prior  of  the  Charterhouse,  and  several  of 
his  monies,  for  having  spoken  against  the  spoliation  of  Church  lands  by 
Henry  VIII. 

1595.  Robert  Southwell,  the  Jesuit  poet  and  author  of  "Saint 
Peter's  Complaynt,"  "  Mary  Magdalen's  Funeral  Teares,"  &c,  cruelly 
martyred  for  his  faith  under  Elizabeth— "  Mother  of  the  Church"— 
after  having  been  imprisoned  for  three  years  in  the  Tower  and  ten  times 
put  to  the  torture. 

16 1 5  (Nov.  14).  The  beautiful  Mrs.  Anne  Turner,  for  her  part  in  the 
murder  of  Sir  Thomas  Overbury,  hanged  in  a  yellow  cobweb  lawn  ruff, 
with  a  black  veil  over  her  face. 

1623.  John  Felton,  murderer  of  Villiers,  Duke  of  Buckingham.  His 
body  was  afterwards  hung  in  chains  at  Portsmouth. 

1 661.  On  the  30th  of  January,  the  first  anniversary  of  the  execution 
of  Charles  I.  after  the  Restoration,  the  bodies  of  Cromwell,  Bradshaw, 
and  Ireton,  having  been  exhumed  on  the  day  before  from  Hemy  VII.'s 
Chapel  at  Westminster,  and  taken  to  the  Red  Lion  in  Holborn,  were 

*  Timbs,  "Curiosities  of  London." 

♦  Footnote  to  the  engraving  of  Tyburn  Gallows,  by  William  Capon,  1783. 


TYBURN.  103 

dragged  hither  on  sledges  and  hanged  till  sunset.  Then,  being  cut 
down,  they  were  beheaded,  their  heads  set  on  poies  over  Westminster 
Hall,  and  their  bodies  buried  beneath  the  gallows. 

1661,  Jan.  30.  "This  day  (O  the  stupendous  and  inscrutable  judge- 
ments of  God ! )  were  the  carcasses  of  those  arch  rebells  Cromwell, 
Bradshaw  the  judge  who  condemn'd  his  Majestie,  and  Ireton,  son-in- 
law  to  ye  Usurper,  dragg'd  out  of  their  superb  tombs  in  Westminster 
among  the  kings,  to  Tyburne,  and  hang'd  on  the  gallows  from  9  in  ye 
morning  till  6  at  night,  and  then  buried  under  that  fatal  and  igno- 
minious monument  in  a  deepe  pitt ;  thousands  of  people  who  had  seene 
them  in  all  their  pride  being  spectators.  Looke  back  at  Nov.  22,  1658 
(Oliver's  funeral),  and  be  astonish'd !  and  feare  God  and  honor  ye  Kinge; 
but  meddle  not  with  them  who  are  given  to  change." — Evelyn's  Diary. 

1661  (Oct.  19).  Hacker  and  Axtell,  the  regicides. 

1662  (April  19).  Okey,  Barkstead,  and  Corbett,  regicides. 

1676  (March  16).  Thomas  Sadler,  for  stealing  the  purse  and  mace  of 
the  Lord  Chancellor  from  his  house  in  Great  Queen  Street. 

i68r.  Oliver  Plunkett,  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  on  a  ridiculous  accu- 
sation of  plotting  to  bring  over  a  French  army  against  the  Irish 
Protestants. 

1684  (June  20).  Sir  Thomas  Armstrong,  for  the  Rye  House  Plot. 
His  head  was  set  over  Temple  Bar. 

1705  (Dec.  12).  John  Smith,  who,  a  reprieve  arriving  when  he  had 
hung  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  was  cut  down,  when  he  came  to  life,  "to 
the  great  admiration  of  the  spectators." 

1724  (Nov.  16).  The  notorious  Jack  Sheppard— in  the  presence  of 
200,000  spectators. 

1725  (May  24).  Jonathan  Wild,  who,  at  his  execution,  "picked  the 
parson's  pocket  of  his  corkscrew,  which  he  carried  out  of  the  world  in 
his  hand." 

1726.  Katherine  Hayes,  for  the  murder  of  her  husband — burnt  alive 
by  the  fury  of  the  people. 

1753  (June  7).  Dr.  Archibald  Cameron,  for  his  part  at  Preston-Pans. 

1760  (May  5).  Earl  Ferrers,  for  the  murder  of  his  steward.  A  tin;]) 
was  first  used  on  this  occasion.  By  his  own  wish  the  condemned  wore 
his  wedding  dress,  and  came  from  Newgate  in  his  landau  with  six 
horses.  He  was  hanged  with  a  silken  rope,  for  which  the  executioners 
afterwards  fought. 

1 761  (Sept.  16).  Mrs.  Brownrigg,  for  whipping  her  female  appren- 
tice to  death  in  Fetter  Lane. 

1772.  The  two  Perreaus,  for  forgery. 

1774  (Nov.  30).  John  Rann,  alias  "  Sixtecn-Stringed  Jack,"  a  noted 
highwayman,  for  robbing  the  Princess  Amelia's  chaplain  in  Gunners- 


104  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

bury  Lane.  He  suffered  in  a  pea-green  coat,  with  an  immense  nose- 
gay in  his  hand. 

1777  (June  27).  The  Rev.  Dr.  Dodd,  for  a  forgery  on  the  Earl  of 
Chesterfield  for  ^"4,200. 

1779  (April  19).  The  Rev.  J.  Hackman,  for  the  murder  of  Miss  Reay 
in  the  Piazza  at  Covent  Garden.  He  was  brought  from  Newgate  in  a 
n.ourning-coach  instead  of  a  cart. 

1783  (August  29).  Ryland  the  engraver,  for  a  forgery  on  the  East 
India  Company. 

1783  (Nov.  7).  John  Austen,  the  last  person  hung  at  Tyburn. 

[Tyburn  still  gives  a  name  to  the  white  streets  and  squares 
of  Tybumia,  which  are  wholly  devoid  of  interest  or  beauty. 
Farther  west,  Westbourne  Park  and  Westbourne  Grove 
take  their  name  from  the  West  Bourne,  as  the  Tye  Bourne 
was  called  in  its  later  existence.  The  district  called 
Bayswater  was  Bayard's  Watering  Place,  connected  with 
Bainardus,  a  Norman  follower  of  the  Conqueror,  also 
commemorated  in  Baynard's  Castle.  In  a  burial-ground 
facing  Hyde  Park  (belonging  to  St.  George's,  Hanover 
Square)  was  buried  Laurence  Sterne,  author  of  "  Tristram 
Shandy,"  &c,  1768. 

"  Sterne,  after  being  long  the  idol  of  the  town,  died  in  a  mean  lodg- 
ing, without  a  single  friend  who  felt  interest  in  his  fate,  except  Becket, 
his  bookseller,  who  was  the  only  person  who  attended  his  interment. 
Ife  was  buried  in  a  graveyard  near  Tyburn,  in  the  parish  of  Marylebone, 
and  the  corpse,  having  been  marked  by  some  of  the  resurrection-men 
(as  they  are  called),  was  taken  up  soon  afterwards,  and  carried  to  an 
anatomy  professor  of  Cambridge.  A  gentleman  who  was  present  at 
the  dissection  told  me  (Malone)  he  recognised  Sterne's  face  the  moment 
he  saw  the  body." — Sir  James  Prior's  Life  of  Edmund  Malone,  i860. 

"Sterne  was  a  great  jester,  not  a  great  humourist." — Thackeray. 
The  English  Humourists. 

Sir  Thomas  Picton,  killed  at  Waterloo,  was  buried  here 
in  his  family  vault,  and  in  the  vaults  under  the  chapel  was 


HYDE  PARK.  105 

laid  Mrs.  Anne  Radclifte,  authoress  of  the  "  Mysteries  of 
Udolpho." 

"  Mrs.  Radcliffe  has  a  title  to  be  considered  as  the  first  poetess  of 
romantic  fiction.  .  .  .  She  has  taken  the  lead  in  a  line  of  composition 
appealing  to  those  powerful  and  general  sources  of  interest,  a  latent 
sense  of  supernatural  awe,  and  curiosity  concerning  whatever  is  hidden 
and  mysterious ;  and  if  she  has  been  ever  nearly  approached  in  this 
walk,  it  is  at  least  certain  that  she  has  never  been  excelled,  or  even 
equalled."— Sir  W.  Scott.    Life  of  Mrs.  Radcliffe. 

Elms  Lane  in  Baysvvater  commemorates  the  "  Elms " 
where  Holinshed  says  that  Roger  Mortimer  was  drawn 
and  hanged — "  at  the  Elms,  now  Tilborne."  To  the  north 
of  Kensington  Gardens  stood  the  Bayswater  Conduit  House 
(commemorated  in  Conduit  Passage  and  Spring  Street, 
Paddington),  at  the  back  of  the  houses  in  Craven  Hill, 
which  take  their  name  from  the  Earl  of  Craven,  once  Lord 
of  the  Manor.  This  conduit  was  granted  to  the  citizens  of 
London  by  Gilbert  Sanford  in  1236,  and  was  used  to  supply 
the  famous  conduit  in  Cheapside.  Its  picturesque  building, 
shaded  by  an  old  pollard  elm,  was  in  existence  in  1804, 
when  people  still  came  to  drink  of  its  waters.  Soon  after- 
wards it  was  destroyed  when  the  Craven  Hill  estate  was 
parcelled  out,  and  its  stream  was  diverted  into  the  Serpen- 
tine river,  which  flows  under  the  centre  of  the  roadway  by 
Kensington  Garden  Terrace.] 

Hyde  Park  (open  to  carriages,  not  to  cabs),  the  principal 
recreation  ground  of  London,  takes  its  name  from  the 
manor  of  Hyde,  which  belonged  to  the  Abbey  of  West- 
minster. The  first  Park  was  enclosed  by  Henry  VIII.,  and 
the  French  ambassador  hunted  there  in  1550.  In  the  time 
of  Charles  I.  the  Park  was  thrown  open  to  the  public,  but 
it  was  sold  under  the  Commonwealth,  when   Evelyn  com- 


roG 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


plained  that  "  every  coach  was  made  to  pay  a  shilling,  and 
horse  sixpence,  by  the  sordid  fellow  who  had  purchas'd  it 
of  the  State  as  they  were  cal'd."  Cromwell  was  run  away 
with  here,  as  he  was  ostentatiously  driving  six  horses  which 
the  Duke  of  Oldenburgh  had  given  him,  and  as  he  was 
thrown  from  the  box  of  his  carriage,  his  pistol  went  off  in 
his  pocket,  but  without  hurting  him.  Hyde  Park  has  been 
much   used   of  late   years   for   radical   meetings,  and    on 


Dorchester  House. 


Sundays  numerous  open-air  congregations  on  the  turf 
near  the  Marble  Arch  make  the  air  resound  with  "  revival" 
melodies,  and  recall  the  days  of  Wesley  and  Whitefield. 

In  descending  the  Park  from  Cumberland  Gate  to  Hyde 
Park  Corner,  we  pass  on  the  left  Dudley  House  (Earl  of 
Dudley),  which  contains  a  fine  collection  of  pictures.  Then, 
beyond  Grosvenor  House  and  its  garden,  rises  the  beautiful 
Italian  palace  known  as  Dorcliester  House  (R.  S.  Holford, 


ROTTEN  ROW.  107 

Esq.),  and  built  by  Lewis  Vulliamy  in  1851 — 3.  It  is 
bolder  in  design  than  any  other  building  in  London,  is 
an  imitation,  not,  like  most  English  buildings,  a  caricature, 
of  the  best  Italian  models,  and  has  a  noble  play  of  light 
and  shadow  from  its  roof  and  projecting  stones,  8  feet 
4  inches  square.  The  staircase  is  stately  and  beautiful,  and 
leads  to  broad  galleries  with  open  arcades  and  gilt  back- 
grounds like  those  which  are  familiar  in  the  works  of  Paul 
Veronese.  The  upper  rooms  contain  many  fine  pictures, 
chiefly  Italian. 

Opposite  Hyde  Park  Corner,  apparently  in  the  act  of 
threatening  Apsley  House,  stands  a  Statue  of  Achilles  by 
Westmacoit,  erected  in  1822  in  honour  of  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  and  his  companion  heroes,  from  cannon  taken 
at  Salamanca,  Vittoria,  Toulouse,  and  Waterloo.  It  is 
partially  a  copy  (though  much  altered)  of  one  of  the  statues 
on  the  Monte  Cavallo  at  Rome. 

Between  this  statue  and  the  open  screen  erected  by 
Decimus  Burton  in  1828  is  the  entrance  to  Rotten  Row,  the 
fashionable  ride  of  London,  a  mile  and  a  half  in  length. 
The  first  fragment  of  the  walk  on  its  southern  side  is  the 
fashionable  promenade  during  the  season  from  twelve  to 
two,  as  the  corresponding  walk  towards  the  Queen's  Drive  is 
from  five  to  seven.  At  these  hours  the  walks  are  thronged, 
and  the  chairs  (id.)  and  arm-chairs  (2d.)  along  the  edge  of 
the  garden  are  amply  filled.  Hyde  Park  was  already  a 
fashionable  promenade  two  centuries  ago,  the  "  season " 
then  being  considered  to  begin  with  the  1st  of  May. 
"  Poor  Robin's  Almanack"  for  May,  1698,  remarks— 

"  Now,  at  Hyde  Park,  if  fair  it  be, 
A  show  of  ladies  you  may  see." 


jo8 


WALKS  IN  LONDON: 


People  seldom  suspect  that  the  odd  term  Rotten  Row  is 
a  corruption  of  Route  du  Roi,  yet  so  it  is.  The  old  royal 
route  from  the  palace  of  the  Plantagenet  kings  at  West- 
minster to  the  royal  hunting  forests  was  by  what  are  now 
called  "  Birdcage  Walk,"  "  Constitution  Hill,"  and  "  Rotten 
Row,"  and  this  road  was  kept  sacred  to  royalty,  the  only 
other  person  allowed  to  use  it  being  (from  its  association 
with  the  hunting  grounds)  the  Grand  Falconer  of  England. 
This  privilege  exists  still,  and  every  year  the  Duke  of  St. 
Alban's,  as  Hereditary  Grand  Falconer,  keeps  up  his 
rights  by  driving  once  down  Rotten  Row. 

A  little  to  the  north  of  Rotten  Row  is  the  Serpentine,  an 
artificial  lake  of  fifty  acres,  much  frequented  for  bathing  in 
summer  and  for  skating  in  winter.  There  is  a  delightful 
drive  along  its  northern  bank.  Near  this  are  the  oldest 
trees  in  the  Park,  some  of  them  oaks  said  to  have  been 
planted  by  Charles  II.  In  this  part  of  the  Park  was  the 
"  Ring,"  now  destroyed,  the  fashionable  drive  of  the  last 
century.  The  most  celebrated  of  the  many  duels  in  Hyde 
Park,  that  between  Lord  Mohun  and  the  Duke  of  Hamilton, 
in  which  both  were  killed,  was  fought  (Nov.  15,  1712)  near 
"  Price's  Lodge  "  at  the  north-western  angle  of  the  Park, 
where  it  is  merged  in  Kensington  Gardens. 

[South  of  Hyde  Park  is  the  now  populous  and  popular 
district  of  Be/gravia,  wholly  devoid  of  interest,  and  which 
none  would  think  of  visiting  unless  drawn  thither  by  the 
claims  of  society.  Its  existence  only  dates  from  1825, 
before  which  Mrs.  Gascoigne  describes  it  as — 

"  A  marshv  spot,  where  not  one  patch  of  green, 
No  stunted  shrub,  nor  sickly  flower  is  seen." 

It  occupies,  in  great  part,  the  Ebury  Farm  in  Pimlico, 


APSLEY  HOUSE.  ioq 

which  belonged  to  the  Davies  family  till  July  2,  1665,  when 
Alexander  Davies,  the  last  male  of  the  iamily,  died,  leaving 
it  to  his  only  daughter  Mary,  who  married  Sir  Thomas 
Grosvenor  in  1676.  George  III.  foresaw,  when  Bucking- 
ham Palace  was  acquired  for  the  Crown,  that  it  would 
make  the  locality  fashionable,  and  that  people  would  wish 
to  follow  royalty,  and  he  was  desirous  of  buying  the 
fields  at  the  back  of  the  palace  grounds,  but  George 
Grenville,  the  then  prime  minister,  would  not  sanction  the 
expenditure  of  ^20,000  for  the  purpose.  The  result  was 
the  building  of  Grosvenor  Place  in  1767,  which  overlooks 
the  gardens  of  the  palace. 

But  the  "  Five  Fields  "  behind  Grosvenor  Place,  men- 
tioned in  the  Tatlcr  and  Spectator  as  places  where  robbers 
lay  in  wait,  remained  vacant  till  1825,  when  their  marshy 
ground  was  made  into  a  fiim  basis  by  soil  brought  from 
the  excavations  for  St.  Katherine's  Docks,  and  Messrs. 
Cubitt  and  Smith  built  Belgravia.  Lord  Grosvenor  gave 
^30,000  for  the  "  Five  Fields."  Lord  Cowper  also  wished 
to  buy  them,  and  sent  his  agent  for  the  purpose,  but  he 
came  back  without  doing  so,  and  when  his  master  upbraided 
him  said,  "  Really,  my  lord,  I  could  not  find  it  in  my  heart 
to  give  ^200  more  than  they  were  worth."  Cubitt  after- 
wards offered  a  ground  rent  of  ^,60,000  ! 

The  only  tolerable  feature  of  this  wearily  ugly  part  of 
London  is  Bclgrave  Square  (measuring  684  feet  by  637), 
designed  by  George  Basevi,  and  named  from  the  village  of 
Belgrave  in  Leicestershire,  which  belongs  to  the  Duke  of 
Westminster.] 

Close  to  Hyde  Park  Corner  rises  the  piliared  front  of 
Apsley  House  (Duke    ot    Wellington),  over  which,  on  line 


no 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


afternoons,  the  sun  throws  a  spirit-like  shadow  from  the 
statue  of  the  great  Duke  upon  the  opposite  gateway.* 
The  house,  which  was  built  for  Charles  Bathurst,  Lord 
Apsley,  by  the  brothers  Adam,  was  bought  by  the  Marquis 
Wellesley  in  1828  :  it  will  always  excite  interest,  from  its 
associations  as  the  residence  of  Arthur  Wellesley,  first 
Duke  of  Wellington,  who  died  Sept.  14,  1852.  + 

"  The  peculiar  characteristic  of  this  great  man,  and  which,  though 
far  less  dazzling  than  his  exalted  genius  and  his  marvellous  fortune, 
is  incomparably  more  useful  for  the  contemplation  of  the  statesman,  as 
well  as  the  moralist,  is  that  constant  abnegation  of  all  selfish  feelings, 
that  habitual  sacrifice  of  every  personal,  every  party,  consideration,  to 
the  single  object  of  strict  duty — duty  rigorously  performed  in  what 
station  soever  he  might  be  called  on  to  act." — Lord  Brougham. 
Statesmen  of  George  III. 

On  the  right  of  the  Entrance  Hall  is  a  room  appro- 
priated as  a  kind  of  Museum  of  Relics  of  the  Great  Dukt 
It  is  surrounded  by  glass  cases  containing — an  enormous 
plateau,  candelabra,  &c,  given  by  the  Spanish  and  Portu- 
guese Courts  after  the  Peninsular  War;  a  magnificent 
shield  bearing  the  victories  of  the  Duke  in  relief,  presented, 
with  candelabra,  by  the  Merchants  and  Bankers  of  Lon- 
don in  1822;  and  services  of  china  given  by  the  Russian, 
Prussian,  and  French  Courts.  In  a  number  of  table-cases 
are  preserved  the  swords,  batons,  and  orders  (including  the 
extinct  order  of  the  Saint  Esprit)  which  belonged  to  the 
Duke ;  his  two  field-glasses ;  the  cloak  which  he  wore  at 
Waterloo ;  the  sword  of  Napoleon  I. ;  the  dress  worn  by 
Tippoo  Saib  at  his  capture  :  and  the  magnificent  George  set 
with  emeralds,  originally  given   by  Anne  to  the  Duke  of 

*  See  Quarterly  Review,  clxxxiv. 

♦  Apsley  House  is  not  shown  to  the  public 


APSLEY  HOUSE.  m 

Marlborough,  and  presented  by  George  IV.  to  the  Duke 
of  Wellington. 

At  the  foot  of  the  stairs  is  a  colossal  statue  of  Napoleon  I. 
by  Canova,  presented  by  the  Prince  Regent  in  1817.  The 
collection  of  pictures  includes — 

In  the  Piccadilly  Draiving  Room. 

D.  Tenters,  1655.  A  Peasant's  Wedding — containing  a  number  of 
small  figures,  most  carefully  finished. 

Tenters.    His  own  Country  House  of  Perck. 

In  the  Van  Amburgh  Room  (so  called  from  an  ugly 
picture  of  the  lion-tamer  by  Landseer). 

Landseer.     Highland  Whiskey  Still. 

Ward.     Napoleon  in  Prison  in  his  youth. 

Wdkie.  Chelsea  Pensioners  reading  the  Gazette  of  Waterloo,  painted 
in  1822,  under  the  superintendence  of  the  great  Duke. 

Burnet.  Greenwich  Pensioners  receiving  the  news  of  the  Battle  of 
Trafalgar. 

lloppncr.     Portrait  of  William  Pitt. 

In  the  Waterloo  Gallery  (a  magnificent  room  used  for  the 
Wellington  Banquets  on  the  iSth  of  June  till  the  death  of 
the  great  Duke). 

Vandyke.     Charles  I.     A  replica  of  the  picture  at  Windsor. 

JVouvermans.     The  Return  from  the  Chase. 

Sir  Antonio  More.     Two  noble  Portraits. 

*  Correggio.  Christ  on  the  Mount  of  Olives — one  of  the  most  powerful 
miniature  pictures  in  England,  full  of  intense  expression.  Vasari 
speaks  of  this  work  of  the  master  as  "  la  piu  bella  cosa  che  si  possa 
vedere  di  suo."  It  is  said  to  have  been  given  by  the  painter  to  an 
apothecary,  in  payment  of  a  debt  of  four  scudi.  Having  been  taken  in 
the  carriage  of  Joseph  Buonaparte,  it  was  restored  to  Ferdinand  VII., 
by  whom  it  was  given  back  to  the  Duke. 

"  Here,  as  in  the  Nolte,  the  light  proceeds  from  the  Saviour,  who 
kneels  at  the  left  of  the  picture.  Thus  Christ  and  the  angel  above  him 
appear  in  a  bright  light,  while  the  sleeping  disciples,  and  the  soldiers 
who  approach  with  Judas,  are  thrown  into  dark  shadow  ;  but  it  is  the 


118 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


'  clear  obscure '  of  the  coming  dawn,  and  exquisite  in  colour.  The 
expression  of  heavenly  grief  and  resignation  in  the  countenance  of 
Christ  is  indescribably  beautiful  and  touching;  it  is  impossible  to 
conceive  an  expression  more  deep  and  fervent. "—Kugler. 

Velazquez.     "El  Aguador"— the  Water-seller.     A  very  powerful 
picture. 

In  the  Yellow  Drawing  Rooms. 

Le  Fevre.     Napoleon  I. 
Wilkie  (1833).     William  IV. 
Guardabella.     The  Great  Duke  of  Wellington. 
Sir  W.  Allan.     The  Battle  of  Waterloo. 

Dining  Room. 

Wilkie.     George  IV.  in  a  Highland  dress. 
Portraits  of  the  Allied  Sovereigns. 
.  Statuettes  of  Napoleon  I.  and  the  Duke  of  Wellington  by  Cou*t 
D'Orsay. 

Close  to  Apsley  House  was  the  public-house  known  as 
the  "  Pillars  of  Hercules,"  whither  Squire  Western  is  repre- 
sented as  coming  to  seek  for  Sophia.  Part  of  the  ground 
on  which  the  house  is  built  was  purchased  from  the 
representatives  of  one  Allen,  who,  when  recognised  by 
George  II.  while  holding  an  apple-stall  at  the  entrance  of 
the  Park,  as  an  old  soldier  of  the  Battle  of  Dettingen,  was 
asked  by  the  king  what  he  would  wish  to  have  granted  him, 
and  demanded  and  received  "  the  permission  to  hold  a 
permanent  apple-stall  at  Hyde  Park  Corner." 

Hyde  Park  and  the  Green  Park  were  once  united  by  the 
piece  of  land  now  cut  off  as  the  gardens  behind  Apsley 
House  and  Piccadilly  Terrace.  Their  being  divided  dates 
from  the  time  of  the  Civil  Wars,  when  the  royal  forces  had 
advanced  as  far  as  Brentford,  and  London  was  arming  for  its 
defence.  The  great  bulwark  of  1642  was  then  erected 
just  where  Piccadilly  now  divides  the  Parks,  which  were 


THE   GREEN  PARK.  113 

never  again  united  :  it  was  a  fort  with  four  bastions  :  all 
classes  worked  at  it — 

"  From  ladies  down  to  oyster-wenches, 
Laboured  like  pioneers  in  trenches, 
Fell  to  their  pickaxes  and  tools, 
And  helped  the  men  to  dig  like  moles." 

Butler.     Hudibras. 

The  Corinthian  Arch  opposite  Apsley  House,  built  by 
Decimus  Burton  in  1828,  supports  an  ugly  equestrian  statue 
of  the  Duke  of  Wellington  by  M.  C.  Wyatt  (1846).  It  was 
between  this  gate  and  that  of  Hyde  Park  that  Charles  II., 
on  foot,  attended  only  by  the  Duke  of  Leeds  and  Lord 
Cromarty,  met  the  Duke  of  York  returning  from  hunting. 
The  latter  alighted,  and  expressed  his  disquietude  at  seeing 
the  king  walking  with  two  gentlemen  only  in  attendance. 
"  No  kind  of  danger,  James,"  said  the  king,  "  for  I  am 
sure  no  man  in  England  will  take  away  my  life  to  make 
you  king."  * 

The  road  which  passes  beneath  the  arch  leads  into  the 
Green  Park  (of  fifty  acres),  and  skirts  the  gardens  of  Buck- 
ingham Palace  by  Constitution  Hill,  where  no  less  than 
three  attempts  have  been  made  upon  the  life  of  Queen 
Victoria :  the  first  by  a  lunatic  named  Oxford,  June  10, 
1840;  the  second  by  Francis,  another  lunatic,  May  30, 
1S42  ;  and  the  third  by  an  idiot  named  Hamilton,  May  19, 
1849.  It  was  at  the  top  of  the  hill  that  Sir  Robert  Peel 
was  thrown  from  his  horse,  June  29,  1850,  and  received  the 
injuries  from  which  he  died  on  the  2nd  of  July.  The  prin- 
cipal houses  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Park  are,  Stafford 
House,  Bridgewater  House,  and  Spencer  House. 

*  Dr.  King's  "Anecdotes  of  his  Own  Times." 
VOL.  II.  1 


ii4 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


Constitution  Hill  leads  into  St.  James's  Park  close  to 
Buckingham  Palace,  of  which  the  gardens  occupy  fifty  acres. 
The  northern  part  was  the  famous  "  Mulberry  Garden," 
planned  by  James  I.  in  1609,  mentioned  by  Shadwell  *  and 
Wycherley  f  as  a  popular  place  of  entertainment,  whither 
Dry  den  came  to  eat  tarts  with  his  mistress,  Mrs.  Anne 
Reeve, \  and  which  Evelyn  (1654)  speaks  of  as  "the  only 
place  of  refreshment  about  town  for  persons  of  the  best  qua- 
lity to  be  exceedingly  cheated  at."  On  this  site  Goring  House 
was  built,  called  Arlington  House  after  its  sale  to  Bennet,  Earl 
of  Arlington,  in  1666.  It  was  Lord  Arlington,  says  Timbs,§ 
who  brought  from  Holland  for  60s.  the  first  pound  of  tea 
introduced  into  England,  so  that  probably  tea  was  first 
drunk  on  the  site  of  Buckingham  Palace.  Arlington  House 
was  sold  to  John  Sheffield,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  in  1698, 
and  was  rebuilt  for  him  in  1703  by  a  Dutch  architect  of 
Bergen  under  the  name  of  Buckingham  House,  when  it 
was  adorned  with  mottoes  without,  and  frescoes  within. 
Defoe  ||  calls  it  "  one  of  the  great  beauties  of  London, 
both  by  reason  of  its  situation  and  its  building."  It 
was  here  that  Horace  Walpole  describes  the  Duke's 
third  wife,  daughter  of  James  II.  by  Catherine  Sedley, 
as  receiving  her  company  on  the  anniversary  of  "  the 
martyrdom  of  her  grandfather  (Charles  I.)  seated  in 
a  chair  of  state,  in  deep  mourning,  attended  by  her 
women  in  like  weeds,  in  memory  of  the  royal  martyr.H 
George  II.,  as  Prince  of  Wales,  wished  to  buy  the  house 
from  this  duchess  in  her  widowhood,  but  the  price  she 


*  The  Humourists.  t  Love  in  a  Wood. 

X  Gentleman's  Magazine,  1745,  p.  99.  \  Curiosities  of  London. 

II  Journey  through  England,  1722.  *  Walpole's  "  .Reminiscences.1 


571  JAMES'S  PARK.  115 

asked  was  too  high,  and  it  was  left  for  George  II.  to  pur- 
chase it  from  Sir  Charles  Sheffield,  in  1762,  for  ^2 1,000. 
In  1775  it  was  settled  upon  Queen  Charlotte  instead  ot 
Somerset  House,  and  was  called  the  Queen's  House.  In 
1825 — 37  it  was  rebuilt  by  Nash  for  George  IV.  (being 
always  immediately  over  the  Tye  Brook,  now  a  sewer),  and 
in  1846  the  east  front  (360  feet  long)  was  added  by  Blore.  It 
is  imposing — only  by  its  size.  The  Interior  of  the  palace 
contains  little  that  is  worthy  of  notice  beyond  some  of  the 
collection  of  pictures  formed  by  George  IV.,  chiefly  of  the 
Dutch  school.  The  white  marble  staircase  is  very  hand- 
some. In  the  former  State  Ball  Room  are  Vandyke's 
portraits  of  Charles  I.  and  Henrietta  Maria,  and  Winter- 
halter's  portraits  of  the  Queen  and  Prince  Consort.  In  the 
State  Dining  Room  is  Lawrence's  full-length  portrait  of 
George  IV.  The  Private  Apartme?its  contain  many  royal 
portraits  of  great  interest. 

In  the  Gardens  is  a  Lake  of  five  acres.  A  Pavilion  is 
adorned  with  scenes  from  Comns  by  Eastlake,  Maclise, 
Landseer,  Dyce,  Stanfield,  Uwins,  Leslie,  and  Ross.  In  the 
Royal  Mews  (visible  by  an  order  from  the  Master  of  the 
Horse)  the  Queen's  State  Coach  may  be  seen. 

St.  James's  Park  (87  acres)  was  a  bare,  undrained  field 
belonging  to  the  hospital,  afterwards  St.  James's  Palace,  till 
it  was  enclosed  by  Henry  VIII.  Charles  II.,  on  his  return 
from  his  exile,  came  back  imbued  with  the  Dutch  taste  for 
gardening,  and  laid  it  out  with  a  long  straight  canal  and 
regular  avenues  of  elms  and  limes,  such  as  were  the  Green 
Walk  or  Duke  Humphrey's  Waik,  the  Long  Lime  Walk,  and 
the  Close  Walk  or  Jacobite's  Walk.  Evelyn  mentions  the  elms 
in  one  branchy  walk  as  "intermingling  their  reverend  tresses." 


nG 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


The  laying-out  was  probably  due  to  Le  Notre,  who  was 
employed  at  Wrest,  the  best  of  the  trees  which  had  existed 
before  his  time  having  been  blown  down  in  the  great  storm 
which  marked  the  night  of  Oliver  Cromwell's  death.  Near  the 
south-west  corner  was  Rosamund's  Pond,  the  "  Rosamund's 
Lake "  of  Pope,   painted  by  Hogarth,  and  mentioned  by 


'^:'\r^Mr.}:r" 


h  ;'"'••",   /,— 


"4S» 


Wm^* j  IPbP^ 


. . . ' '  '^■^t^Mft 


In  St.  James's  Park. 


Otway,  Congreve,  Addison,  Colley  Cibber,  and  many 
other  authors:  it  was  filled  up  in  1770.  In  1827 — 29  the 
whole  plan  of  the  Park  was  modernised,  and  both  water 
and  walks  were  made  to  wind  and  twist  under  George  IV.  : 
their  rural  character  was,  however,  still  sufficient  to  give 
application  to  the  title  of  Wycherley's  comedy— Love  in  a 
Wood,  or  St.  James's  Park. 


ST.  JAMES'S  rARK.  117 

St.  James's  is  far  the  prettiest  of  the  London  parks,  and 
the  most  frequented  by  the  lower  orders.  On  Sundays 
they  come  by  thousands  to  sit  upon  the  seats  mentioned 
by  Goldsmith,*  where,  "  if  a  man  be  splenetic,  he  may  every 
day  meet  companions,  with  whose  groans  he  may  mix  his 
own,  and  pathetically  talk  of  the  weather,"  and  they  bring 
bread  to  feed  the  water -fowl,  which  are  the  direct  descend- 
ants of  those  introduced  and  fed  by  Charles  II.  Hithei 
Pepys  came  (Aug.  18,  1661)  to  gaze  at  "the  great  variety 
of  fowle  "  which  he  never  saw  before ;  and  here  Charles  II. 
increased  his  popularity  by  coming  unattended  to  look  after 
his  favourite  ducks. 

"  Even  his  indolent  amusement  of  playing  with  his  dogs,  and  feeding 
his  ducks  in  St.  James's  Park  (which  I  have  seen  him  do),  made  the 
common  people  adore  him,  and  consequently  overlook  in  him  what  in 
a  prince  of  a  different  temper  they  might  have  been  out  of  humour  at." 
— Colley  Gibber's  Apology.     1 740. 

At  the  time  the  water-fowl  were  first  introduced,  St. 
James's  Park  became  also  a  kind  of  Zoological  Garden  for 
London. 

"9  February,  1664-5.  I  went  to  St.  James's  Park,  where  I  saw 
various  animals.  .  .  The  Parke  was  at  this  time  stored  with  numerous 
flocks  of  severall  sorts  of  ordinary  and  extraordinary  wild  fowle,  breeding 
about  the  Decoy,  which,  for  being  neere  so  grette  a  City,  and  among 
such  a  concourse  of  souldiers  and  people,  is  a  singular  and  diverting 
thing.  There  were  also  deere  of  severall  countries,  —white ;  spotted 
like  leopards  ;  antelopes ;  an  elk  ;  red  deere  ;  roebucks  ;  staggs  ; 
Guinea  goates;  Arabian  sheepe,  &c.  There  were  withy-potts  or 
nests  for  the  wild  fowle  to  lay  their  eggs  in,  a  little  above  ye  surface  of 
ye  water." — Evelyn. 

The  exiled  Cavaliers  had  brought  back  with  them  the 
habit  of  skating,   and   to   St.    James's  Park  Evelyn   went 

•  Essays. 


u8  WALK'S  IN  LONDON. 

(Dec.  i,  1662)  to  see  them  skate  "after  the  manner  of 
Hollanders;  "  and  Pepys  (Dec.  15,  1662)  followed  the  Duke 
of  York  into  the  Park,  "  where,  though  the  ice  was  broken 
and  dangerous,  yet  he  would  go  slide  upon  his  scates." 
The  exercise,  however,  seems  to  have  passed  out  of  fashion, 
for  in  171 1  Swift  wrote  to  Stella  of  "delicious  walking 
weather,  and  the  canal  and  Rosamund's  Pond  full  of  rabble 
sliding,  and  with  skaitts,  if  you  know  what  it  is." 

The  artificial  water  is  now  crossed  by  an  ugly  iron  bridge, 
from  which,  however,  there  is  a  noble  view  of  the  new 
Foreign  Office.  On  the  peace  of  1814,  a  Chinese  bridge 
and  pagoda  were  erected  here,  and  illuminated  at  night. 
It  was  this  which  caused  Canova,  when  asked  what  struck 
him  most  in  England,  to  answer,  "  that  the  trumpery 
Chinese  bridge  in  St.  James's  Park  should  be  the  produc- 
tion of  the  Government,  while  that  of  Waterloo  was  the 
work  of  a  private  company."  *  One  of  the  most  remarkable 
sinecures  ever  known  was  that  of  the  salaried  Governor  of 
Duck  Island,  which  once  adorned  the  water  near  this  point, 
an  appointment  which  was  bestowed  by  Charles  II.  upon 
St.  Evremond,  and  by  Queen  Caroline  upon  Stephen  Duck, 
"  the  thresher  poet,"  ridiculed  by  Swift.  It  was  while  walk- 
ing in  St.  James's  Park  on  August  12,  1678,  that  Charles  II. 
received  the  first  intimation  of  the  so-called  "  Popish  Plot." 
One  Kirby,  a  chemist,  came  up  to  him  and  said,  "  Sir,  keep 
within  company  ;  your  enemies  have  a  design  upon  your 
life,  and  you  may  be  shot  in  this  very  walk."  \  Prior  and 
Swift  used  constantly  to  walk  round  the  Park  together. 
"  Mr.  Prior,"  said  Swift,  "  walks  to  make  himself  fat,  and  I 
to  keep  myself  down." 

•  Quarterly  Review.  +  Hume. 


.SI".  JAMES'S  PARK.  119 

When  he  laid  out  the  Park,  Charles  II.  removed  the 
Mall,  for  the  game  of  Palle  Malle,  from  the  other  side  of 
St.  James's  Palace  to  the  straight  walk  on  its  north  side, 
upon  which  the  gardens  of  Stafford  House,  the  Palace, 
Marlborough  House,  and  Carlton  Terrace  now  look  down. 
Here  the  fashionable  game  of  striking  a  ball  with  a  mallet 
through  an  iron  ring  down  a  straight  walk  strewn  with 
powdered  cockle-shells  was  played  by  the  cavaliers  of  the 
Court.  Pepys  (April  2,  1661)  mentions  coming  to  see  the 
Duke  of  York  play,  and  Charles  himself  was  fond  of  the 
game.     The  flatterer  Waller  *  says — 

"  Here  a  well-polished  Mall  gives  us  the  joy 
To  see  our  Priuce  his  matchless  force  employ." 

Till  the  present  century,  the  Mall  continued  to  be  the  most 
fashionable  promenade  of  London,  but  the  trees  were  then 
ancient  and  picturesquely  grouped,  and  the  company  did 
not  appear  as  they  do  now  by  Rotten  Row,  for  the  ladies 
were  in  full  dress,  and  gentlemen  carried  their  hats  under 
their  arms. 

"  The  ladies,  gaily  dress'd,  the  Mall  adorn 
"With  various  dyes,  and  paint  the  sunny  mora;' 

Gay.     Trivia. 

"  My  spirits  sunk,  and  a  tear  started  into  my  eyes,  as  I  brought  to 
mind  those  crowds  of  beauty,  rank,  and  fashion,  which,  till  within  these 
few  years,  used  to  be  displayed  in  the  centre  Mall  of  this  Park  on 
Sunday  evenings  during  the  spring  and  summer.  Here  used  to 
promenade,  for  one  or  two  hours  after  dinner,  the  whole  British  world 
of  gaiety,  beauty,  and  splendour.  Here  could  be  seen  in  one  moving 
mass,  extending  the  whole  length  of  the  Mall,  5000  of  the  most  lovely 
women  in  this  country  of  female  beauty,  all  splendidly  attired,  and 
accompanied  by  as  many  well-dressed  men." — Sir  Ricliard  Phillips. 
Morning  Walk  from  London  to  Kew,  1807. 

•  Poem  on  St.  James's  Park,  i56i. 


120  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

While  he  played  at  Palle  Malle  here  in  his  prosperity, 
James  Duke  of  York  must  often  have  remembered  his 
escape  by  this  way  in  his  fifteenth  year,  when,  while  all 
the  young  people  in  the  palace  were  engaged  late  at  night 
in  playing  at  hide-and-seek,  he  slipped  up  to  the  room  of 
his  sister  Elizabeth,  shut  up  there  the  favourite  little  dog 
which  was  sure  to  have  betrayed  him,  and  gliding  down  the 
back  stairs  and  through  the  dark  garden,  let  himself  out 
of  a  postern  door  into  the  Park,  and  so  to  the  river. 

It  was  by  this  road  also  that  Charles  I.  (Jan.  30, 
1648-9)  walked  to  his  execution. 

"  About  10  o'clock  Colonel  Hacker  knocked  at  the  King's  chamber 
door  (in  St.  James's  Palace),  and,  having  been  admitted,  came  in 
trembling,  and  announced  to  the  King  that  it  was  time  to  go  to  White- 
hall ;  and  soon  afterwards  the  King,  taking  the  Bishop  (Juxon)  by  the 
hand,  proposed  to  go.  Charles  then  walked  out  through  the  garden  of 
the  palace  into  the  Park,  where  several  companies  of  loot  waited  as  his 
guard ;  and,  attended  by  the  Bishop  on  one  side,  and  Colonel  Tom- 
linson  on  the  other,  both  bare-headed,  he  walked  fast  down  the  Park, 
sometimes  cheerfully  calling  on  the  guard  to  'march  apace.'  As  he 
went  along,  he  said  '  he  now  went  to  strive  for  a  heavenly  crown,  with 
less  solicitude  than  he  had  often  encouraged  his  soldiers  to  fight  for  an 
earthly  diadem.'  " — Trial  of  Charles  1.     Family  Library,  xxxi. 

Till  a  very  few  years  ago,  when  it  was  blown  down,  there 
existed  in  Sir  John  Lefevre's  garden,  at  the  corner  of 
Spring  Gardens,  a  tree,  which  the  king  on  this  his  last  walk 
lingered  to  point  out,  saying,  "  That  tree  was  planted  by 
my  brother  Henry."  And  there  still  remains,  at  this  corner 
of  the  Park,  a  remnant  of  old  days  coeval  with  the  king's 
execution,  in  Milk  Fair,  as  the  pretty  cow-stalls  which  still 
exist  under  the  elm-trees  used  to  be  called.  The  milk- 
vendors  are  proud  of  the  number  of  generations  through 
which  the  stalls    have   been  held    in  their  families.     We 


ST.   JAMES'S  PARK. 


121 


learn  from  Gay's  "Trivia"  that   asses'   milk   was  formerly 

sold  here — 

"  Before  proud  gates  attending  asses  bray, 
Or  arrogate  with  solemn  pace  the  way  ; 
These  grave  physicians  with  their  milky  cheer, 
The  love-sick  maid  and  dwindling  beau  repair." 

The  houses  behind  Milk  Fair  stand  in  Spring  Gardens, 
the  Spring  (Fountain)  Garden  of  Whitehall  Palace,  which 


Milk  Fair,  St.  James's  Park. 


formerly  had  its  archery  bints,  bathing  pond,  and  bowling- 
green.  Milton  lived  in  a  house  at  Charing  Cross  which 
"  overlooked  the  Spring  Garden  "  before  he  went  to  reside 
in  Scotland  Yard. 

Upon  the  east  end  of  the  Park — on  the  site  formerly  occu- 
pied by  the  vast  buildings  of  Whitehall — the  Admiralty,  the 
Horse  Guards,  the  Treasury,  and  the  Foreign  Office  now 
look  down.     The  wide  open  space  in  front  of  the  Horse 


122 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


Guards  was  once  the  Tilt  Yard  of  the  palace.  Th«  centre 
of  this  space  is  the  only  position  in  London  in  which  the 
Alexandrian  Obelisk  could  be  placed  with  advantage. 
Here  stands  the  mortar  cast  at  Seville  for  Napoleon,  used 
by  Soult  at  Cadiz,  and  captured  after  the  retreat  of  Sala- 
manca. 

The  south  side   of  the  Park  is  bounded  by  Bird~Cagc 


..  .-*> 
A 
OS 

SS.  -*  ■"■ 


The  Salamanca  Gun. 


Walk,  where  an  aviary  was  first  erected  by  James  I.  In 
the  time  of  Charles  II.,  who  had  a  passion  for  birds,  it  was 
lined  with  cages,  and  the  "  Keeper  of  the  King's  Birds  " 
was  a  regular  office.  Till  as  late  as  1828  no  one,  except 
the  Duke  of  St.  Alban's,  as  Hereditary  Grand  Falconer, 
was  permitted  to  drive  down  the  carriage  way  on  this  side 
the  Park,  except  the  royal  family. 


ST.  JAMES'S  PARK.  123 

In  former  days  the  Park  gave  sanctuary.  Timbs  men- 
tions how  serious  an  offence  it  was  to  draw  a  sword  there. 
Congreve  in  his  Old  Bachelor  makes  Bluffe  say,  "  My 
blood  rises  at  that  fellow.  I  can't  stay  where  he  is ;  and  I 
must  not  draw  in  the  Park."  The  Park  has  been  open  to 
the  public  ever  since  the  days  of  Charles  II.  Caroline, 
wife  of  George  II.,  wished  to  make  it  once  more  a  private 
appurtenance  of  the  palace,  and  asked  Sir  Robert  Walpole 
what  it  would  cost.     "  Only  three  crowns,''  was  his  reply.  * 

*  Walpoliana.  i.  9. 


CHAPTER  III. 
REGENT   STREET  AND  REGENT'S   PARK. 

IN  front  of  the  Duke  of  York's  Column,  where  the 
ridiculous  statue,  nicknamed  the  "  Quoit  Player,"  dis* 
graces  Waterloo  Place,  Regent  Street  leads  to  the  north 
from  Pall  Mall.  Nearly  a  mile  in  length,  it  was  built  by 
John  Nash,  and  takes  its  name  from  the  Prince  Regent, 
afterwards  George  IV.  The  portion  known  as  the  Quadrant 
originally  had  colonnades  advancing  the  whole  width  of 
the  pavement  :  these  were  removed  in  1848,  to  the  great 
injury  of  its  effect. 

[From  Regent  Circus,  Coventry  Street  (on  the  right)  leads 
into  Leicester  Square.  Great  Windmill  Street,  to  the  north, 
commemorates  the  rural  state  of  this  district  as  late  .as 
1658,  when  a  windmill  here  gave  its  name  to  the  "Wind- 
mill Fields."  Nollekens  the  sculptor,  who  died  in  1823, 
narrates  that  when  he  was  a  little  boy  his  mother  used  to 
take  him  to  walk  by  a  long  pond  near  this  windmill,  and 
every  one  paid  a  halfpenny  at  the  miller's  hatch  for  the 
privilege  of  walking  in  his  grounds.  In  the  house  of  his 
brother  William  in  Great  Windmill  Street,  the  famous  Dr.  John 
Hunter  died  saying,  "  If  I  had  strength  enough  to  hold  a  pen, 
I  would  write  how  easy  and  pleasant  a  thing  it  is  to  die." 


LEICESTER   SQUARE.  125 

Ever  since  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  when  exiled  gentility 
began  to  congregate  here,  as  exiled  industry  in  Spitalfiel  Is, 
Leicester  Square  has  been  the  most  popular  resort  of 
foreigners  of  the  middle  classes,  especially  of  French 
visitors  to  London.  Few  spots  in  the  metropolis  have 
undergone  more  changes  from  fashion  than  this.  Even  to 
the  present  century  the  square  was  known  as  "  Leicester 
Fields/'  and  until  the  time  of  Charles  II.  it  continued  to 
be  unenclosed  country.  On  what  is  the  north  side  of  the 
square,  Leicester  House,  which  appears  in  Fai thorn e's  map 
of  1658  as  the  only  house  in  this  neighbourhood,  was  then 
built  for  Robert  Sidney,  Earl  of  Leicester,*  from  whom  it 
was  rented  by  Elizabeth,  Queen  of  Bohemia — "  the  Queen 
of  Hearts" — who  died  there  Feb.  13,  1662.  To  this 
house,  in  1668,  Pepys  went  to  visit  Colbert,  the  French 
Ambassador;  and  here  Prince  Eugene  was  residing  in 
17 1 1.  The  house  continued  to  be  the  property  of  the 
Sidneys  till  the  end  of  the  last  century,  when  it  was  sold 
to  the  Tulk  family  for  ^90,000,  which  sum  the  Sidneys  em 
ployed  in  freeing  Penshurst  from  its  encumbrances.  Mean- 
time, the  Sidneys  had  not  lived  here,  and  Leicester  House 
had  become  habitually  "the  pouting-place  of  princes."  t 
George  II.  resided  there  as  Prince  of  Wales  from  1717  to 
1720,  after  he  had  been  turned  out  of  St.  James's  by  his 
father,  for  too  freely  exhibiting  his  indignation  at  the  cruel 
treatment  of  his  mother,  Sophia  Dorothea,  condemned  to 
a  lifelong  imprisonment  in  the  castle  of  Zell.  William, 
Duke  of  Cumberland,  the  hero  of  Culloden,  was  born  there 
in   17  2 1.     Frederick,   Prince   of  Wales,   when  he,   in   his 

*  Sidney  Ailey  still  exists.     Queen  Street,   Hlue  Street,  and  Orange  Street 
record  the  distinguishing  colours  of  the  Earl's  stables, 
t  Pennant. 


<26  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

turn,  quarrelled  with  his  father  in  1737,  came  to  reside  in 
Leicester  Square  with  his  wife  and  children.  It  was  there 
that  he  died  (March  20,  1751),  suddenly  exclaiming,  "  Je 
sens  la  mort,"  and  falling  into  the  arms  of  Desnoyers, 
the  dancing-master,  who  was  performing  upon  the  violin,* 
while  the  royal  family  were  playing  at  cards  in  the  next 
room;  an  event  which  so  little  affected  George  II.,  that 
when  he  received  the  news  as  he  was  playing  at  cards  with 
the  Countess  of  Walmoden,  he  said  simply,  "  Fritz  ist 
todt,"  f  and  went  on  with  the  game. 

As  Leicester  House  was  insufficient  to  contain  his 
numerous  family,  the  Prince  of  Wales  knocked  through  a 
communication  with  Savile  House,  which  adjoined  it  on 
the  west.  Here  George  III.  passed  his  boyhood,  and 
used  to  act  plays  (of  which  the  handbills  still  exist)  with 
his  little  brothers  and  sisters.  It  was  in  front  of  this  house 
that  he  was  first  proclaimed  as  king.  Savile  House  con- 
tinued to  be  the  residence  of  Augusta,  the  Princess- 
Dowager,  till  her  removal  to  Carlton  House  in  1766, 
and  Frederick  William,  youngest  brother  of  George  III., 
died  there  (May  10,  1765)  at  the  age  of  sixteen. 
At  an  earlier  period  Savile  House  was  the  place  where 
the  Marquis  of  Carmarthen  entertained  Peter  the  Great, 
and  where  the  Czar  would  demolish  eight  bottles  of  sack 
in  an  evening,  besides  a  pint  of  brandy  spiced  with  pepper, 
and  a  bottle  of  sherry.  The  house  was  completely  pillaged 
during  Lord  George  Gordon's  riots,  when  the  people  tore 
up  the  rails  of  the  square  and  used  them  as  weapons. 

In  the  last  century  Leicester    Square  was  the  especial 

*  Horace  Walpole  says  of  Pavonarius,  his  German  valet  de  chambre. 
+  Walpole. 


LEICESTER   SQUARE.  127 

square  of  painters.  Sir  James  Thornhill  lived  there  and 
died  there  (Oct.  25,  1764),  and  his  far  more  illustrious  son- 
in-law,  William  Hogarth,  came  up  almost  at  the  same  time 
from  Chiswick  to  die  in  his  London  house,  which  was  at 
the  southeast  corner  where  Archbishop  Tenison's  school 
now  stands. 

"  Here  closed  in  death  the  attentive  eyes 
That  saw  the  manners  in  the  face."  * 

Hogarth's  house  was  afterwards  inhabited  by  the  Polish 
patriot,  Thaddeus  Kosciusko,  and  Byron's  Countess  Guic- 
cioli  lived  in  it  during  her  stay  in  England.  In  the  next 
house  (that  adjoining  the  Alhambra),  John  Hunter,  the 
famous  surgeon,  first  began  to  collect  (1785)  his  Museum, 
now  at  the  Surgeons'  Hall. 

In  No.  47,  on  the  west  side  of  the  square,  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds  lived  from  1761  to  1792. 

"  His  study  was  octagonal,  some  twenty  feet  long  by  sixteen  broad, 
and  about  fifteen  feet  high.  The  window  was  small  and  square,  and 
the  sill  nine  feet  from  the  floor.  His  sitter's  chair  moved  on  casters, 
and  stood  above  the  floor  about  a  foot  and  a  half.  He  held  his 
palettes  by  the  handle,  and  the  sticks  of  his  brashes  were  eighteen 
inches  long.  He  wrought  standing,  and  with  great  celerity ;  he  rose 
early,  breakfasted  at  nine,  entered  his  study  at  ten,  examined  designs 
or  touched  unfinished  portraits  till  eleven  brought  a  sitter,  painted  till 
four,  then  dressed,  and  gave  the  evening  to  company." — Allan 
Cunningham.     Lives  of  the  Painters. 

His  dinner  parties,  "  of  a  cordial  intercourse  between  persons  of 
distinguished  pretensions  of  all  kinds :  poets,  physicians,  lawyers, 
deans,  historians,  actors,  temporal  and  spiritual  peers,  House  of 
Commons  men,  men  of  science,  men  of  letters,  painters,  philosophers, 
and  lovers  of  the  arts,  meeting  on  a  ground  of  hearty  ease,  good- 
humour,  and  pleasantry,  exalt  my  respect  for  the  memory  of  Reynolds. 
It  was  no  prim  fine  table  he  set  them  down  to.  Often  the  dinner- 
board  prepared  for  seven  or  eight  required  to  accommodate  itself  to 

*    From  the  epitaph  by  Dr.  Johnson  preserved  by  Mrs.  Piozzi. 


128  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

fifteen  or  sixteen ;  for  often,  on  the  very  eve  of  dinner,  would  Sh 
Joshua  tempt  afternoon  visitors  with  intimation  that  Johnson,  01 
Garrick,  or  Goldsmith,  was  to  dine  there." — Forster's  Life  of  Gold- 
smith. 

It  was  on  the  steps  of  this  house  that  Sir  Joshua  one 
morning  found  the  child  who  was  painted  by  him  in  the 
charming  picture  of  "  Puck,"  cheered  at  the  auction  when 
it  was  sold  to  Rogers  the  poet.  The  mushroom  and 
fawn's  ears  were  added  in  deference  to  the  wish  of  Alder- 
man Boydell,  who  wished  to  introduce  the  beautiful 
portrait  of  the  boy  into  his  Shakspeare.  The  near  neigh- 
bourhood of  Hogarth  and  Reynolds  was  not  conducive 
to  their  harmony. 

"  Never  were  two  great  painters  of  the  same  age  and  country  so 
unlike  each  other ;  and  their  unlikeness  as  artists  was  the  result  of  their 
unlikeness  as  men ;  their  only  resemblance  consisting  in  their  honesty 
and  earnestness  of  purpose.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  they  should 
do  each  other  justice,  and  they  did  not.  .  .  .  '  Study  the  great 
works  of  the  great  masters  for  ever,' said  Reynolds.  'There  is  only 
one  school,'  cried  Hogarth,  '  and  that  is  kept  by  Nature.'  What  was 
uttered  on  one  side  of  Leicester  Square  was  pretty  sure  to  be  contra- 
dicted on  the  other,  and  neither  would  make  the  advance  that  might 
have  reconciled  the  views  of  both." — Leslie  and  Taylors  Life  of  Sir 
J.  Reynolds. 

On  the  south  of  Leicester  Square  is  the  opening  of  an 
ugly  court — St.  Martin's  Court— of  many  associations.  On 
the  left  is  the  chapel — Orange  Street  Chapel— -built  by  sub- 
scription in  1684  for  the  use  of  the  French  Protestants, 
who.  after  long  sufferings  in  their  own  country,  took  refuge 
in  England  on  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes. 
Within  its  walls  they  prayed  for  the  prince  by  whom  they 
had  been  forbidden  to  follow  their  trades  and  professions, 
forbidden  Christian  burial,  and  exiled,  and  whom  yet  they 
respected  as  "  the  Almighty's  scourge." 


LEICESTER  SQUARE.  129 

The  adjoining  house,  ugly  and  poverty-stricken  as  it  looks 
now,  was  that  in  which  Sir  Isaac  Newton  passed  the  latter 
years  of  his  life,  in  an  honoured  old  age,  from  17 10  to 
1725,  two  years  before  his  death  at  Kensington.  He  had 
been  made  Master  of  the  Mint  under  Anne,  and  in  1703 
became  President  of  the  Royal  Society.  Always  frugal  in 
his  own  habits,  he  devoted  his  wealth  to  the  poor,  especially 
to  the  French  refugees  in  his  neighbourhood.  In  the 
observatory  on  the  top  of  his  house  he  was  wont  to  say 
that  the  happiest  years  of  his  life  were  spent.  This  ob- 
servatory, once  used  as  a  Sunday  school,  was  kept  up  till 
1824  for  the  inspection  of  the  foreign  visitors  who  came 
by  thousands  to  visit  it,  and  who  now,  when  they  come  to 
seek  it,  turn  away  disgusted  at  the  treatment  which  the 
shrines  of  their  illustrious  dead  meet  with  at  the  hands  of 
Englishmen,  for  it  was  sold  some  years  since  to  supply 
some  pews  for  the  chapel  next  door. 

The  house  was  afterwards  inhabited  by  Dr.  Burney, 
whose  celebrated  daughter  wrote  her  "  Evelina "  here. 
John  Opie,  the  artist,  who  died  in  1807,  lived  close  by; 
and  Thomas  Holcroft,  the  novelist  and  dramatist,  was 
born  in  St.  Martin's  Street  in  1745,  being  the  son  of  a  shoe- 
maker. 

Leicester  Square  was  formerly  decorated  by  a  statue  of 
George  I.,  brought  from  the  seat  of  the  Duke  of  Bucking- 
ham at  Canons  in  1747.  After  the  square  was  railed  in, 
it  became  a  favourite  site  for  duels,  and  the  duel  between 
Captain  French  and  Captain  Coote  was  fought  here  in 
1699,  in  which  the  latter  was  killed.  In  his  Esmond, 
Thackeray,  true  to  his  picture  of  the  times,  narrates  how 
Lord   Mohun    and   Lord    Castlewood — having    seen  Mrs. 

VOL.  11.  K 


I3o  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Bracegirdle  act,  and  having  supped  at  the  Greyhound  at 
Charing  Cross — quarrelled,  and  took  chairs  to  fight  it  out 
in  Leicester  Square. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  Leicester 
Square  began  to  decline,  and  gradually  presented  that 
aspect  of  ruin  which  is  said  to  have  given  rise  to  Ledru 
Rollin's  work  on  the  decadence  of  England.  In  185 1  its 
area  was  leased,  and  its  miseries  were  concealed  by  the 
erection  of  Wyld's  Globe,  while  the  neighbouring  houses 
were  given  up  to  taverns,  exhibitions  of  waxworks,  acrobatic 
feats,  or  panoramas.  After  the  Globe  was  cleared  away, 
the  area  remained  uncared  for,  and  the  statue  perished 
slowly  under  generations  of  practical  jokes,  till  Mr.  Albert 
Grant  took  pity  upon  the  square  in  1874,  decorated  it  in  the 
centre  with  a  statue  of  Shakspeare  (a  copy  of  that  in  West- 
minster Abbey),  and  at  the  corners  with  busts  of  four  of 
the  most  famous  residents — Hogarth,  Newton,  Hunter,  and 
Reynolds,  and  opened  it  to  the  public. 

From  Leicester  Square,  Princes  Street  and  Wardour 
Street — beloved  by  collectors  of  old  furniture — lead  in  a 
direct  line  to  Oxford  Street.  On  the  right  opens  Gerard 
Sired,  which  derives  its  name  from  the  house  facing 
Macclesfield  Street,  which  was  built  by  Gerard,  Earl  of 
Macclesfield,  who  died  in  1694.  The  profligate  Lord 
Mohun  lived  in  this  house,  and  hither  his  body  was  brought 
home  when  he  was  killed  in  a  duel  by  the  Duke  of  Hamil- 
ton. In  No.  43  of  this  street,  in  a  house  looking  on  the 
gardens  of  Leicester  House  * — "  the  fifth  door  on  the  left 
hand  coming  from  Newport  Street,"  as  he  wrote  to  his 
friend  Elmes  Steward — lived  Dryden,  with  his  wife,  Lady 

*  Dedication  of  Don  Sebastian  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester. 


GERARD  STREET.  131 

Elizabeth  Howard  ;  here  he  died,  May  1,  1701,  and  here,  if 
it  took  place  at  all,  occurred  the  extraordinary  scene  after 
his  death  described  by  Johnson,*  with  the  heartless  prac- 
tical joke  played  at  his  funeral  by  Lord  Jefferies.  The  poet 
"  used  most  commonly  to  write  in  the  ground-room  next  the 
street."  t 

"  Dryden  may  be  properly  considered  as  the  father  of  English  criti- 
cism, as  the  writer  who  first  taught  us  to  determine  upon  principles  the 
merits  of  composition." — Dr.  Johnson. 

"The  matchless  prose  of  Dryden,  rich,  various,  natural,  animated, 
pointed,  lending  itself  to  the  logical  and  the  narrative,  as  well  as  the 
narrative  and  picturesque ;  never  balking,  never  cloying,  never  wean- 
ing. The  vigour,  freedom,  variety,  copiousness,  that  speaks  an  ex- 
haustless  fountain  from  its  source  :  nothing  can  surpass  Dryden." — 
Lord  Brougham. 

"  I  may  venture  to  say  in  general  terms,  that  no  man  hath  written  in 
our  language  so  much,  and  so  various  matters,  and  in  so  various 
manners,  so  well  ....  His  prose  had  all  the  clearness  imaginable, 
together  with  all  the  nobleness  of  expression,  all  the  graces  and  orna- 
ments proper  and  peculiar  to  it,  without  deviating  into  the  language  or 
diction  of  poetry  ....  His  versification  and  his  numbers  he  could 
learn  of  nobody,  for  he  first  possessed  those  talents  in  perfection  in 
our  own  tongue  ;  and  they  who  have  succeeded  in  them  since  his  time 
have  been  indebted  to  his  example  ;  and  the  more  they  have  been  able 
to  imitate  him,  the  better  they  have  succeeded." — Congreve. 

Edmund  Burke  was  living  in  Gerard  Street  at  the  time 
of  the  trial  of  Warren  Hastings,  and  at  the  "Turk's  Head" 
in  this  street  he  united  with  Johnson  and  Reynolds  in  1763 
in  founding  the  "  Literary  Club,"  to  which  the  clever  men  of 
the  day  usually  thought  it  the  greatest  honour  to  belong.! 

"  '  I  believe  Mr.  Fox  will  allow  me  to  say,'  remarked  the  Bishop  of 
St.  Asaph,  '  that  the  honour  of  being  elected  into  the  Turk's  Head 
Club  is  not  inferior  to  that  of  being  the  representative  of  Westminster 
or  Surrey.'  " — Forsier. 

*  Lives  of  the  Poets,  vol.  i.  +  Pope  in  Spence's  "  Anecdote*." 

X   J  he  club  still  exists,  but  is  called  the  "  Johnson." 


1 3a  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

It  was  to  this  society  that  Goldsmith  was  admitted  by 
the  friendship  of  Johnson,  before  his  more  important  works 
were  published,  but  came  unwillingly,  feeling  that  he 
sacrificed  something  for  the  sake  of  good  company,  and 
shut  himself  out  of  several  places  where  he  "  used  to  play 
the  fool  very  agreeably;"  and  here  he  would  entertain  and 
astonish  literary  supper  parties  with  his  favourite  song  about 
"  an  old  woman  tossed  in  a  blanket  seventeen  times  as 
high  as  the  moon." 

In  Macclesfield  Street  is  the  Church  of  St.  Anne,  Soho, 
consecrated  by  Bishop  Compton  in  1685,  and  dedicated 
to  the  mother  of  the  Virgin  out  of  compliment  to  the  Prin- 
cess Anne :  its  tower  is  said  to  have  been  made  as  Danish 
as  possible  to  flatter  her  Danish  husband.  Against  the 
outer  wall  is  a  tablet  erected  by  Horace  Walpole,  and 
inscribed — 

"  Near  this  place  is  interred  Theodore,  King  of  Corsica,  who  died  in 
this  parish,  Dec.  n,  1756,  immediately  after  leaving  the  King's  Bench 
Prison,  by  the  benefit  of  the  Act  of  Insolvency,  in  consequence  of 
which  he  registered  his  kingdom  of  Corsica  for  the  use  of  his  creditors. 

The  grave,  great  teacher  to  a  level  brings 
Heroes  and  beggars,  galley-slaves  and  kings. 
But  Theodore  this  moral  learned  e'er  dead : 
Fate  pour'd  its  lessons  on  his  living  head, 
Bestow'd  a  kingdom,  and  denied  him  bread." 

This  unfortunate  king  was  a  Prussian — Stephen  Theodore, 
Baron  de  Neuhoff.  While  in  the  service  of  Charles  XII.  of 
Sweden,  the  protection  which  he  afforded  to  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Corsica  induced  them,  in  1736,  to  offer  him  their 
crown.  He  ruled  disinterestedly,  but  the  embarrassments 
to  which  he  was  reduced  by  want  of  funds  for  the  payment 
of  his  army  forced  him  to  come  to  seek  them  in  London, 


ST.  ANNE'S,  SOHO.  133 

where  he  was  arrested  for  debt.  Horace  Walpole  tried  to 
raise  a  subscription  for  him,  but  only  fifty  pounds  were 
obtainable.  In  Voltaire's  "  Candide "  Theodore  tells  his 
story — 

"  Je  suis  Theodore  ;  on  m'a  elu  roi  en  Corse ;  on  m'a  appele  votre 
tnajeste ;  et  a  present  a  peine  m'appelle-t-on  monsieur  ;  j'ai  fait  frapper 
de  la  monnaie,  et  je  ne  possede  pas  un  denier;  j'ai  eu  deux  secretaires 
d'etat,  et  j'ai  a  peine  un  valet ;  je  me  suis  vu  sur  un  trone,  et  j'ai  long- 
temps  ete  a  Londres  en  prison  sur  la  paille." — Ch.  XXVI. 

"  King  Theodore  recovered  his  liberty  only  by  giving  up  his  effects 
to  his  creditors  under  the  Act  of  Insolvency ;  all  the  effects,  however, 
that  he  had  to  give  up  were  his  right,  such  as  it  was,  to  the  throne  of 
Corsica,  which  was  registered  accordingly  in  due  form  for  the  benefit 
of  his  creditors.  As  soon  as  Theodore  was  set  at  liberty,  he  took  a 
chair  and  went  to  the  Portuguese  minister ;  but  not  finding  him 
at  home,  and  not  having  a  sixpence  to  pay,  he  desired  the  chairmen  to 
carry  him  to  a  tailor  in  Soho,  whom  he  prevailed  upon  to  harbour  him; 
but  he  fell  sick  the  next  day,  and  died  in  three  more." — Horace  Walpole. 

The  man  who  allowed  King  Theodore  to  die  in  his  house 
was  too  poor  to  pay  for  his  funeral,  and  the  expense  was 
undertaken  by  John  Wright,  an  oilman  in  Compton  Street, 
who  said  that  he  was  "  willing /<?/-  once  to  pay  the  funeral 
expenses  of  a  king." 

One  of  the  first  seat-holders  in  the  church  v/as  Catherine 
Sedley,  mistress  of  James  II.  In  the  vault  beneath  is  buried 
Lord  Camelford,  killed  in  a  duel  at  Kensington  in  1804. 
William  Hazlitt  the  essayist  (1830)  rests  in  the  churchyard.* 

"  In  critical  disquisitions  on  the  leading  characters  and  works  of  the 
drama,  he  is  not  surpassed  in  the  whole  range  of  English  literature." 
Sir  A.  Alison's  Hist,  of  Europe. 

The  brick  wall  of  St.  Anne's  Churchyard  may  recall  the 
familiar  figure  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  who  bought  there — 

•  His  tombstone  has  been  moved  from  liis  grave,  and  stuck  against  the  wal* 
near  that  01  King  Theodore 


1 34  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

from  a  collection  of  ballads  hanging  against  the  wall — a 
rude  woodcut,  the  chiaro-oscuro  of  which  he  used  in  his 
picture  of  Lord  Ligonier  on  horseback. 

From  the  north-east  corner  of  Leicester  Square,  Cra/i- 
bourne  Street,  so  called  from  the  second  title  of  the  Cecils, 
leads  into  Long  Acre,  which,  as  far  back  as  1695,  was  the 
especial  domain  of  coach-builders.  It  derives  its  name 
from  a  narrow  strip  of  ground  which  belonged  to  the  Abbey 
of  Westminster.  Here  Oliver  Cromwell  is  proved  by  the 
rate-books  (in  which  he  is  called  "  Captain  Cromwell ")  to 
have  lived  (on  the  south  side)  from  1637  to  1643. 

Dryden  lived  here,  in  a  house  lacing  Rose  Street 
(No.  137)  from  1682  to  1686,  and  was  attacked  and  wounded 
opposite  his  own  house  by  the  "  Rose- Alley  Ambuscade  " — 
myrmidons  hired  by  Wilmot,  Earl  of  Rochester,  to  punish 
him  for  having  assisted  Lord  Mulgrave  in  his  "  Essay  on 
Satire."  John  Taylor,  the  voluminous  "  Water  Poet,"  who 
published  no  less  than  eighty  volumes  in  the  reigns  of 
James  I.  and  Charles  I.*  also  lived  in  Long  Acre,  where  he 
kept  a  tavern.  Being  forced  to  change  its  s:gn  during  the 
Commonwealth  from  the  "Morning  Crown,"  he  changed 
it  to  that  of  his  own  head.  Whitefield  preached,  in  1756, 
at  the  chapel  in  Long  Acre  amidst  many  petty  persecutions 
and  interruptions.  "The  sons  of  Jubal  and  Cain  continue 
to  serenade  me  at  Long  Acre  Chapel,"  he  wrote  to  Lady 
Huntingdon. 

The  wife  of  a  cobbler  in  Long  Acre  became  celebrated  as 
the  Chloe  of  Prior,  described  by  Pope  as  being  only  "  a 
poor  mean  creature,"  with  whom  "  he  used  to  bury  him- 
self for  whole  days  and  nights  together,"  though  one  of 
Prior's  poems  begins — 


THE  GARRICK  CLUB.  135 

"  When  Chloe's  picture  was  to  Venus  shown, 
Surprised,  the  goddess  took  it  for  her  own." 

Newport   Street,   Long    Acre,   commemorates    the    mansion 
of  Lord  Newport  in  the  time  of  Charles  I. 

From  the  junction  of  Cranbourne  Street  and  Long  Acre, 
Garrick  Street  leads  towards  Covent  Garden.  Here  (right) 
is  the  Ganick  Club,  founded  1831,  "for  the  general  patron- 
age of  the  Drama;  for  the  purpose  of  combining  a  club 
on  economical  principles  with  the  advantages  of  a  Literary 
Society;  for  the  promotion  of  a  Theatrical  Library;  and  for 
bringing  together  the  patrons  of  the  Drama."  The  interest- 
ing Collection  of  Theatrical  Portraits  may  be  seen  on  Wed- 
nesdays (except  in  September)  from  eleven  to  three,  on 
the  personal  introduction  of  a  member.  We  may  especially 
notice — 

Co  fee  Room  {beginning  from  the  left). 

Mrs.  Yates— Coles. 

Mrs.  Siddons— Harlowe. 

"  Venice  Preserved  " — Garrick  and  Mrs.  Cibber — Zoffany. 

Sheridan —  Tredcroft. 

Foote — Sir  J.  Reynolds. 

Barton  Booth — Vanderbank. 

Garrick  and  Mrs.  Pritchard  in  "Macbeth  " — Zoffany. 

Mrs.  Pope— Sir  M.  A.  Shee. 

Woodward  as  "  Petrucchio  " — Vandergucht. 

Mrs.  Give  as  "Fine  Lady  " — Hogarth. 

"Lock  and  Key" — Munden,  E.  Knight,  Mrs.  Orgftr,  and  Miss 
Cubitt— Clint. 

Mrs.  Pritchard,  the  "Inspired  Idiot  "  of  Dr.  Johnson— Hay  man. 

Nathaniel  Lee — Dobson. 

Colley  Cibber  as  "  Lord  Foppington  " — Grisoni. 

Garrick — Pine. 

Quia— Hogarth  (?). 

"  Love,  Law,  and  Physic " — Mathews,  Liston,  Blanchard,  and 
Emery — Clint. 


136  WALKS  IN  LONDON, 

m 

Strangers'  Dining  Room. 

Charles  Bannister — Zoffany, 
Cjuin — Hogarth. 

Smoking  Room. 

Lugger  coming  out  of  Monnikendam  —  Stanfield. 
Exterior  and  Interior  of  a  Flemish  Inn— Louis  Haghe. 
Halt  of  a  Caravan  at  Baalbec — D.  Roberts. 

Private  Dining  Room. 

A   number   of    Water-colour    portraits   by  Dewilde,   and   ofiginal 

sketches  by  John  Leech. 

Staircase. 

Mrs.  Bracegirdle. 

Charles  Kemble  as  "Macbeth" — Morton. 

Henderson  and  Wilson  as  "  Hamlet  "  and  "  Polonius." 

The  Arch  of  Ancona — Stanfield. 

Miss  O  Xeil — G.  F.  Joseph. 

Madame  Catalani — Lonsdale. 

Henderson  as  "Macbeth  " — Romney{f). 

Henry  Johnston  as  "  Norval " — Sir  W.  Allan. 

Charles  Kean  as  Louis  XL — H.  W.  Phillips. 

Mrs.  Hartley— Angelica  Kauffmann. 

Master  Betty  as  "  Douglas" — Opie. 

Morning  Room. 

Miss  Lydia  Kelly — Harlowe. 

Kemble  as  "  Cato  " — Sir  T.  Lawrence. 

Mrs.  Stirling  as  "Peg  Woffington "— H.  W.  Phillips. 

Garrick — Zoffany. 

Weston  as  "Billy  Button  "—Zoffany. 

Pope—  Sir  M.  A.  Shee. 

King  and  Mrs.  Baddeley  in  the  "Clandestine  Marriage  "—Zoffany. 
T.  King — -Wilson. 

Mathews  as  "  Monsieur  Malet " — Clint. 
Mrs.  Oldfield— Sir  G.  Kneller. 

Bannister  ("honest  Jack,  whom  even  footpads  could  not  find  in  theii 
hearts  to  injure  ")*  and  Parsons  in  "  The  Village  Lawyer  "—Dewilde. 

•  Sir  W.  Scott  n  the  Quarterly. 


GOLDEN  SQUARE.  137 

Mrs.  Woffington — Merrier, 
Mrs.  Abington  as  "  Lady  Bab  " — Hkkey. 
Mrs.  Woffington — Hogarth. 
Miss  Farren—  Gainsborough  (?). 
Rich  and  Family  —  Hogarth. 
King  as  "  Touchstone  " — Zoffany. 
W.  M.  Thackeray—  John  Gilbert. 

Garrick    and    Mrs.   Pritchard    in    the    "  Suspicious    Husband " — 
Hay  man. 
Macklin  at  ninety-three — Opie. 
Young  as  King  John — Landseer. 
Mathews  in  various  characters — Harlowe.-] 

Returning  to  Regent  Street,  a  little  to  the  right  from  the 
Quadrant,  "  not  exactly  in  anybody's  way,  to  or  from  any- 
where," is  Golden  Square,  immortalised  in  "  Humphrey 
Clinker"  and  "Nicholas  Nickleby."  It  contains  a  statue  of 
George  II.  brought  from  Canons.  Lord  Bolingbroke  lived 
in  this  square  while  Secretary  of  War,  1704 — 8,  and  here  the 
artist  Angelica  Kauffmann  married  a  valet  under  the  belief 
that  he  was  his  master,  Count  Horn. 

Golden  Square  is  now  in  a  thickly  populated  district, 
though  it  was  here,  "  as  in  a  place  far  from  the  haunts  of 
men,"  that  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  "  when  the  great 
Plague  was  raging,  a  pit  was  dug  into  which  the  dead  carts 
had  nightly  shot  corpses  by  scores.  No  foundations  were  laid 
there  till  two  generations  had  passed  without  any  return  of 
the  pestilence,  and  till  the  ghastly  spot  had  long  been  sur- 
rounded by  buildings.  It  may  be  added  that  the  "  pest- 
field  may  still  be  seen  marked  in  the  maps  of  London  as 
late  as  the  end  of  the  reign  of  George  III."  * 

At  No.  8,  Argyll  Place,  on  the  right  of  Regent  Street, 
James  Northcote  the  painter  died,  July  13,  1S31.  Haydon,  in 

*  Macaulay,  "History  of  England." 


u8  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

his  "Autobiography,"  gives  a  most  comical  account  of  a  visit 
to  him  here. 

On  the  left,  Hanover  Street  leads  into  Hanover  Square, 
which  received  its  name  instead  of  that  of  Oxford  Square, 
as  was  first  intended,  in  the  days  of  the  early  popularity  of 
George  I.  The  square  was  built  about  1731,  when  the 
place  for  executions  was  removed  from  Tyburn,  lest  the 
inhabitants  of  "  the  new  square "  should  be  annoyed  by 
them.  The  bronze  Statue  of  William  Pitt  on  the  south  side 
of  the  square  is  by  Chantrey ,  and  was  set  up  in  1831. 

""When  convinced  of  the  propriety  of  anything  in  his  works, 
Chantrey  was  not  to  be  moved,  and  he  resisted  all  admonitions,  criti- 
cisms, and  even  threats.  He  persisted  in  raising  the  statue  of  Pitt  in 
Hanover  Square,  on  a  high  pedestal,  against  the  wish  of  the  Com- 
mittee ;  but  he  respectfully  volunteered  to  relinquish  the  commission, 
rather  than  his  intention  of  placing  the  figure  in  its  present  lofty  posi- 
tion."— Jones's  Recollections  of  Chantrey. 

The  neighbouring  church  of  St.  George,  Hanover  Square, 
is  well  known  as  a  Temple  of  Hymen  (also  named  in 
honour  of  George  I.),  and  as  the  goal  of  fashionable  novelists, 
from  its  almost  monopoly  of  marriages  in  high  life.  It 
was  built  by  John  James  in  1724,  being  one  of  Queen 
Anne's  fifty  new  churches.  Its  portico  and  tower  are 
handsome.  Its  marriage  registers  are  a  perfect  library  of 
the  autographs  of  illustrious  persons,  amid  which  the  bold 
signature  of  "  Wellington "  frequently  appears.  In  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century  from  1,100  to  1,200 
couples  were  sometimes  united  here  in  the  course  of  a 
year.  Nelson's  Lady  Hamilton  was  married  here,  Sept.  6, 
1791. 
The  portion  of   Regent  Street    after    Oxford    Street    is 


THE  REGENTS  PARK.  139 

crossed    ends    in    the     Church    of    All    Souls,    Langham 
Place. 

"  Of  all  the  mad  freaks  which  ever  entered  the  brain  of  architect  or 
man  to  devise,  this  church  far  out-Herods  all  the  rest.  It  is  in  the  form 
of  a  circular  temple  of  ihe  Ionic  order,  over  which  is  placed  a  smaller 
kind  of  temple,  also  circular,  with  fourteen  Corinthian  pillars;  from 
this  latter  rises  a  steeple  of  considerable  height,  similar  to  those  which 
we  see  upon  the  towers  of  village  churches  in  Germany.  John  Nash 
was  the  author  of  this  specimen  of  architecture." — Passavant.  A 
German  Artist  in  England. 

Beyond  this,  some  trees  on  the  right  mark  what  was 
once  the  garden  of  Foley  House,  which  was  made  a  free- 
hold by  the  Duke  of  Portland  in  exchange  for  the  permis- 
sion to  build  north  of  it,  such  building  on  the  Portland 
estate  having  been  expressly  forbidden  by  the  stipulations 
of  the  lease.  The  turn  of  the  street  here,  which  places 
Portland  Place  and  Regent  Street  on  a  different  line,  was 
made  to  spite  Sir  James  Langham,  who  had  quarrelled  with 
Nash  as  the  architect  of  his  house.*  The  wide  and  hand- 
some Portland  Place  (built  by  the  brothers  Adam  of  the 
Adelphi,  and  named,  with  Bentinck,  Duke,  and  Duchess 
Streets,  from  the  ground  landlord,  William,  second  Duke  of 
Portland,  and  his  duchess,  Henrietta  Cavendish  Holies) 
leads  to  the  Regent's  Park,  having  at  its  extremity  a 
Statue  of  the  Duke  of  Kent  by  Gahagan. 

The  Regent's  Park,  the  largest  of  the  lungs  of  London, 
occupies  403  acres.  It  was  laid  out,  during  the  Regency, 
from  designs  of  John  Nash  (the  architect  of  Regent  Street), 
who  designed  most  of  the  ugly  terraces  which  surround  it, 
and  exhibit  all  the  worst  follies  of  the  Grecian  archi- 
tectural   mania    which    disgraced    the    beginning    of    this 

•  :~ee  Timbs,  "Romance  of  London." 


140  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

century.  The  outer  and  inner  drive  are  delightful  in 
early  summer  when  the  thorns  and  lilacs  are  in  bloom, 
and  much  more  countrified  than  anything  in  the  other 
parks. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  Park,  near  Gloucester  Gate,  is 
St.  Katherine's  Hospital  for  needy  gentlemen  and  gentle- 
women, removed  from  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Tower, 
when  St.  Katherine's  Docks  were  erected.  There  it  was 
founded  by  Matilda  of  Boulogne,  the  half-Saxon  princess 
who,  being  niece  of  Matilda  the  Good,  stole  the  hearts  of 
the  English  people  from  the  Norman  Matilda  for  her 
Jiusband,  King  Stephen.  Its  inmates  were  perpetually  to 
pray  for  the  souls  of  her  two  dead  eldest  children,  Baldwin 
and  Maud.  Eleanor,  wife  of  Edward  I.,  and  Philippa,  wife 
of  Edward  III.,  did  much  to  enrich  the  hospital.  The 
patronage  has  always  rested  with  the  Queens  of  England, 
and  the  presentations  are  usually  given  to  those  who  have 
been  connected  with  the  Court.  There  are  four  brethren 
and  four  sisters,  who  are  supplied  here  with  incomes, 
houses,  and  small  gardens  of  their  own.  The  modern 
chapel  contains  some  of  the  fittings  of  the  old  one  (in 
which  Katherine  the  Fair,  widow  of  Henry  V.,  lay  in  state 
before  her  burial  at  Westminster),  the  stalls,  and  a  pulpit  of 
wood  given  by  Sir  Julius  Caesar,  who  was  Master  of  the 
Hospital,  and  inscribed  "  Ezra  the  Scribe  stood  upon  a 
pulpit  of  wood,  which  he  had  made  for  the  preachin. 
Neh.  viii.  7." 

Over  the  altar  is  a  copy  from  the  Nativity  of  Rubens.  A 
noble  canopied  tomb  on  the  left  bears  the  effigies  of  John 
Holland,  Duke  of  Exeter,  Lord  High  Admiral  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  VI.,  with  his  first  wife,  Anne,  daughter  of  Edmond, 


ST.  JOHN'S   WOOD.  Ui 

Earl  Stafford,  and  his  sister  Constance,  Lady  Grey  de 
Ruthyn.*  It  was  the  son  of  this  duke  who  married  the  sister 
of  Edward  IV. 

On  the  north-west  of  the  Park  are  the  Zoological  Gardens, 
founded  in  1826  (admission  is. :  on  Mondays  and  holi- 
days 6d.) 

Beyond  the  Park,  on  the  north,  rises  the  turfy  eminence 
called  Primrose  Hill  (206  feet  high),  at  the  foot  of  which 
the  Tye  Bourne  formerly  rose,  and  where  the  body  of  Sir 
Edmund  Berry  Godfrey,  murdered  near  Somerset  House, 
was  found  in  a  ditch,  Oct  17,  167 S.  When  the  wind  and 
smoke  allow,  there  is  a  fine  view  of  London  from  the 
summit  of  the  hill,  where  there  are  seats  and  gravel  walks. 

Chalk  Farm,  on  Primrose  Hill,  commemorated  by  a 
tavern,  was  the  popular  place  for  duels  in  the  first  part  of 
the  present  century.  Here  (1803)  the  duel  was  fought 
between  Colonel  Montgomery  and  Captain  Macnamara,  in 
which  the  former  was  killed  ;  here  (1806)  Tom  Moore  and 
Francis  Jeffrey  were  interrupted  in  that  duel  of  which  Lord 
Byron  made  fun  in  his  "  English  Bards  and  Scotch 
Reviewers ; "  and  here  another  lamentable  literary  duel, 
which  grew  out  of  articles  in  Blackwood  resulted  in  the 
death  of  the  Editor  of  the  LoJidon  Magazine.  The  last 
fatal  duel  at  Chalk  Farm  was  that  between  Lieutenant  Monro 
and  Colonel  Fawcett,  July  1,  1843. 

On  the  west  of  the  Park  is  St.  John's  Wood,  a.  vast  colony 
of  second-rate  villas.  The  district  belonged  to  the  Prior  of 
St.  John's,  Clerkenwell,  who  had  his  country  manor  at 
Tollentun  (Tollington  Road),  Highbury.     The  rural  state 

*  The  Duke's  second  wife,  Anne,  daughter  of  John  Montacute,  Ear]  of  Saliv 
bury,  was  buried  in  the  same  tomb,  but  without  an  effigy 


142 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


of  the  neighbourhood  is  commemorated  in  Lisson  (formerly 
Listen)  Grove,  whose  public-house  is  the  "  Nightingale." 
At  St.  John's  Wood  is  Lord's  Cricket  Ground  (admission 
6d.,  or,  when  a  first-class  match  is  played,  is.).  The  great 
gathering  here  is  for  the  Eton  and  Harrow  match  in  July. 

Before  leaving  the  Regent's  Park  we  may  notice  that  at 
St.  Dunstan's  Villa  are  preserved  the  giants  noticed  by 
Cowper,  which  struck  the  hours  on  the  old  clock  of  St. 
Dunstan's  in  Fleet  Street  (see  Ch.  III.),  and  which  were 
purchased  by  the  fourth  Marquis  of  Hertford  on  the 
demolition  of  the  church. 

The  land  now  called  the  Regent's  Park  was  once  Maryle- 
bone  Park,  a  royal  hunting  ground  from  the  time  of 
Elizabeth  to  the  Protectorate,  when  Cromwell  sold  the  deer 
and  cut  down  the  timber.  A  little  to  the  south  of  the 
present  Park  the  Marylebone  Road  now  leads  towards  the 
hideous  and  populous  district  of  Paddington.  It  passes  the 
Church  of  St.  Mary,  which  about  1400  gave  the  name 
Mary  at  the  Bourne  to  a  village  previously  called  Tyborne, 
from  the  brook  which  flowed  through  it  towards  Brook 
Street,  &c.  The  interior  of  the  old  church  is  shown  in  the 
marriage  picture  of  Hogarth's  "  Rake's  Progress."  It  was 
rebuilt  in  1741.  The  burials  here  include  Gibbs  the 
architect,  Rysbracrwthe  sculptor,  and  Allan  Kamsay  the 
portrait  painter. 

Behind  the  manor-house  of  Marylebone,  which  stood  on 
the  site  of  Devonshire  Mews,  Devonshire  Street,  was  the 
bowling-green  which  was  the  "  Prince's  "  of  the  last  century. 
Here  John  Sheffield,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  loved  to  besport 
himself,  and  led  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu  to  write — 
••  Some  Dukes  at  Marylebone  bowl  time  away." 


ST.  PANCRAS  IN  THE   FIELDS. 


'43 


It  was  in  Marylebone  Gardens  that  Mrs.  Fountain,  the 
famous  beauty  of  the  day,  was  saluted  by  Dick  Turpin,  who 
said,  "  Don't  be  alarmed ;  you  may  now  boast  that  you 
have  been  kissed  by  Turpin." 

Two  miles  and  a  half  beyond  Paddington,  on  the  Harrow 
Road,  is  Kcnsal  Green  Cemetery,  whither  most  of  the 
funerals,  which  are  so  unnecessarily  dismal  a  London  sight, 
are  wending  their  way.  Here,  in  the  labyrinths  of  monu- 
ments, we  notice  those  of  the  Duke  of  Sussex,  1843, 
Piincess  Sophia,  1848;  Rev.  Sydney  Smith,  1841;  Allan 
Cunningham,  1842  ;  Sir  Augustus  Callcott  the  artist,  1844, 
John  Liston  the  actor,  1846  ;  and  Sir  Charles  Eastlake, 
1865.  In  the  Roman  Catholic  Cemetery  beyond  is  the 
tomb  of  Cardinal  Wiseman. 

On  the  east  the  Marylebone  Road  falls  into  the  Euston 
Road  or  New  Road,  where  we  may  notice  the  Church  of 
St.  Pancras,  built  by  Sir  John  Soane,  who  is  described  by 
Fergusson  as  "  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  successful 
architects  of  the  revival."  In  this  case,  however,  his  work 
is  an  utter  failure,  though  it  cost  ,£76,679.  The  slight 
portico  is  quite  crushed  by  a  ludicrous  tower  which  presents 
two  copies  of  the  Temple  of  the  Winds  at  Athens,  the 
smaller  on  the  top  of  the  larger.  The  interior  is  taken 
from  the  Erechtheion.  The  side  porticos  are  adorned 
with  Canephorse  from  the  Pandroseion. 

On  the  north  of  the  road  leading  from  King's  Cross  to 
Kentish  Town  is  the  old  Church  0/  St.  Pancras  in  the  Fields* 
built  c.  1 180.  The  Speculum  Britannia  of  1593  says, 
"Pancras  Church  standeth  all  alone,  utterly  forsaken,  old  and 

•  It  is  best  reached  by  turning  to  the  left  immediately  before  entering  the  Mid- 
land Railway  Station. 


144  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

wetherbeten,  which  for  the  antiquitie  thereof,  is  thought  not 
to  yield  to  Paul's  in  London.  About  this  church  have  bin 
manie  buildings,  now  decaied,  leaving  poorePancras  without 
companie  or  comfort."  It  is  understood  that  this  church 
was  the  last  whose  bell  tolled  in  England  for  mass,  and 
in  which  any  rites  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  were 
celebrated  before  the  Reformation.*  The  church,  which 
was  like  the  humble  church  of  a  country  village,  is  now 
hemmed  in  by  railways,  and  was  for  the  most  part  rebuilt 
in  1848,  though  it  has  still  a  look  of  antiquity.  Its  church- 
yard was  deeply  interesting,  but  its  interest  and  its  pic- 
turesqueness  have  been  alike  annihilated  in  1876-77,  many 
of  its  graves  being  covered  up  by  hideous  asphalt  walks,  and 
as  many  as  five  thousand  gravestones  being  torn  from  their 
graves  and  either  made  away  with  altogether,  or  set  up  in 
meaningless  rows  against  the  railway  wall,  their  places  being 
occupied  by  silly  rockwork.  Other  monuments,  some  very 
handsome,  have  been  robbed  of  all  but  the  flat  stones  which 
covered  them,  which  have  been  laid  upon  the  earth.  The 
ground  itself  has  been  levelled  where  it  was  possible, 
instead  of  having  advantage  taken  of  its  undulations ;  and 
the  new  walks,  instead  of  being  made  to  wind  amongst  the 
tombs,  are  arranged  in  stupid  symmetrical  lines,  everything 
in  the  way  being  sacrificed  and  cut  away  for  them.  In  fact, 
the  whole  place  is  desecrated  and  ruined. 

Entering  the  church,  we  may  notice  on  the  north  wall, 
under  the  gallery,  an  unknown  monument  of  Purbeck 
marble,  with  recesses  for  brasses.  In  the  north  gallery  is 
a  monument  to  Thomas  Doughty,  1691,  first  owner  of  the 
Doughty  estate,  of  which  the  name  became  so  familiar  in 

•  Timbs,  "  Curiosities  of  London." 


ST.  PANCRAS  IN  THE  FIELDS.  145 

the  Tichborne  trial.  On  the  south  wall  is  a  tablet  to 
Samuel  Cooper,  the  miniature-painter,  the  "Apelles  of 
England''  1672.  Near  the  chancel  door  is  a  monument 
to  William  Piatt  and  his  wife,  1637,  removed  from  Highgate. 
The  neighbourhood  of  St.  Pancras  was  peopled  at  the  end 
of  the  last  century  by  noble  fugitives  from  the  great  French 
Revolution,  and  for  the  most  part  they  are  buried  in  this 
churchyard,  which  is  crowded  with  remarkable  memorials  of 
the  dead.  On  the  right  of  the  church  door  is  the  grave- 
stone of  William  Woollett,  the  famous  engraver  (1785),  which 
bore  the  lines — 

"  Here  Woollett  rests,  expecting  to  be  sav'd  ; 
He  graved  well,  but  is  not  well  engraved :" 

an  inscription  which  is  supposed  to  have  led  to  the  after 
erection  of  a  tablet  in  the  cloisters  of  Westminster  Abbey. 
On  the  north  of  the  churchyard  is  the  tomb  of  William 
Godwin  (1S36),  described  on  his  tombstone  as  "Author  of 
Political  Justice,"  known  chiefly  by  his  novel  of  "  Caleb 
Williams,"  "  the  cream  of  his  mind,  while  the  rest  (of  his 
works)  are  the  skimmed  milk."*  With  him  rest  his  two 
wives,  of  whom  the  first  was  the  notorious  Mary  Wolstone- 
craft,  author  of  the  "Vindication  of  the  Rights  of  Women,"  f 
whose  daughter  Mary  promised  to  become  the  wife  of  the 
poet  Shelley  by  her  mother's  grave.  Close  by  once  lay  the 
remains  of  Pasquale  Paoli,  the  Corsican  patriot,  with  a 
eulogistic. Latin  epitaph  upon  his  gravestone. 

Amongst  the  other  graves  of  interest  we  may  notice  those 
of  the  exiled  Archbishop  Dillon  of  Narbonne;    of  Giabe 

•  Allan  Cunningham,  "  Hiojr.  andCrit.  Hist." 

+  Their  remains  are  said  to  have  been  removed  to  Bournemouth. 

VOL.  II.  L 


,46  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

(171 1),  trained  a  Lutheran,  but  who  took  orders  in   the 
Church  of  England,  and  espoused  the   cause  of  the  non- 
jurors;   of   Jeremy   Collier  (1726),  the  famous   nonjuring 
bishop,  who  is  simply  described  in  the  register  as  "  Jeremiah 
Collier,  clerk  ;"  of  Francis  Danby  the  musician,  famed  "by 
playful  catch,  by  serious  glee;"  of  Abraham  Woodhead,  the 
Roman  Catholic  controversialist  (1678),  who  did  not  allow 
his  name  to  be  affixed  to  any  of  his  books — "quos  permultos 
et  utilissimos  et  piissimos  doctissimosque  edidit,"  erected 
by  Cuthbert  Constable  of  Yorkshire,  who  shared  his  faith. 
Near  Woodhead,  to  whom  he  was  united  in  friendship  "per 
bonam  famam  et  infamiam,"  lies  Obadiah  Walker  (1699), 
the   ejected    Master  of  University  College    at    Oxford,  a 
native  of  Yorkshire,  and  also  a  convert  to  Roman   Catho- 
licism in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  :  his  initials  appear  in 
an  anagram.     Dr.  Bonaventura  Giffard,  Bishop  of  Madura 
in  partibus  infideiiian,  the  second  Vicar  Apostolic  of  the 
district  of  London  after  England  had  been  partitioned  into 
four  ecclesiastical  districts  by  Innocent  XL,  was  buried  here 
in  1733.     The  tomb  of  Arthur   O'Leary  (1S02),  the  Irish 
Franciscan  monk  who  wrote  against  Wesley,  who  "prayed, 
wept,  and  felt  for  all,"  was  erected  by  Lord  Moira.     The 
epitaph  of  Charles  Butler  (1832),  the  learned  Roman  Catholic 
lawyer,  who  was  the  antagonist  of  Southey,  is  a  mere  dry 
chronicle  of  his  age  and  death.*     This  is  the  burial-ground 
where  Norden  said  that  a  corpse  lay  "  as  secure  against  the 
day  of  resurrection  as  in  stately  St.  Paul's,"  yet  Parliament 
has  lately  allowed  the  engineers  of  the  Midland  Railway  to 
make  a  cutting  through  it,  and  to  build  a  viaduct  over  it. 

*  For  further  details  see  "  Fpitapbs  of  the  Ancient  Church  and  Burial  Grounds 
of  St-  Pancras,"  by  Frederick  league  Carsick. 


GRAVES   OF  SOANE   AND   FLAX  MAX.  [47 

In  a  further  cemetery  adjoining,  which  belongs  to  St. 
Giles's  in  the  Fields,is  the  tomb  erected  by  Sir  John  Soane, 
the  architect  and  founder  of  the  Soane  Museum,  to  his 
wife,  whose  loss  "left  him  nothing  but  the  dregs- of  lingering 
time."  He  was  himself  laid  beside  her  in  1837.  The 
tomb  is  a  kind  of  temple,  with  an  odd  railing  decorated  with 
Cupids  mourning  over  their  extinguished  torches.  Near 
the  centre  of  the  burial-ground  are  the  massy  tombs  of 
John  Flaxman  (1826),  his  wife,  and  his  sister  Mary  Anne. 
The  great  sculptor's  epitaph  truly  tells  that  "  his  life  was 
a  constant  preparation  for  a  blessed  immortality." 

"  Flaxman  was  one  of  the  few — the  very  few — who  confer  real  and 
permanent  glory  on  the  country  to  which  they  belong.  .  .  ..  Not  even 
in  Raffaelle  have  the  gentler  feelings  and  sorrows  of  human  nature 
been  traced  with  more  touching  pathos  than  in  the  various  designs  and 
models  of  this  estimable  man." — Sir  Thomas  Lawrence. 

"The  greatest  of  modern  sculptors  was  our  illustrious  countryman, 
John  Flaxman.  Though  Canova  was  his  superior  in  the  manual  part, 
high  finishing,  yet  in  the  higher  qualities,  poetical  feeling  and  inven- 
tion, Flaxman  was  as  superior  to  Canova  as  Shakspeare  to  the 
dramatists  of  his  day." — Sir  R.  Westmacott. 

Canova  nobly  Coincided  with  this  opinion  when  he  said — 

"  You  come  to  Rome  to  admire  my  works,  while  you  possess,  in 
your  own  country,  in  Flaxman,  an  artist  whose  designs  excel  in  classical 
grace  all  that  I  am  acquainted  with  in  modern  art.' 


CHAPTER  IV. 
BY   OXFORD   STREET  TO  THE  CITY. 

RETURNING  to  Oxford  Circus,  let  us  now  turn  to 
the  east  down  Oxford  Street.  The  second  street 
on  the  left  leads  into  Oxford  Market,  built  for  Edward, 
Earl  of  Oxford,  in  1731.  A  little  behind  it,  in  Margaret 
Street,  is  the  Church  of  All  Saints,  a  brick  building  with  a 
tall  spire,  built  1850 — 59,  in  the  Gothic  style  of  1300,  from 
designs  of  W.  Butterfield.  The  interior  is  the  richest  in 
London,  with  every  adornment  of  stained  windows,  encaus- 
tic pavements,  and  sculptured  capitals,  the  latter  being 
real  works  of  art.  Very  pleasing  contrasts  of  colour  are 
obtained  in  this  church  by  the  use  of  simple  materials, — 
brick,  chalk,  alabaster,  granite,  and  marble — and  the  effect 
is  most  delicate  and  harmonious.  In  the  chancel,  the  place 
usually  occupied  by  the  east  window  is  filled  with  fresco 
paintings  by  W.  R.  Dyce,  R.A. 

On  the  upper  floor  of  a  carpenter's  shop  in  36,  Castle 
Street,  Oxford  Market,  was  the  poverty-stricken  home  and 
studio  of  James  Barry  the  artist. 

"Between  the  great  room  of  the  Society  of  Arts  and  that  carpenter's 
shop,  night  after  night,  and  morning  after  morning,  for  years,  plodded 
James  Barry.    In  the  golden  glow  of  the  summer  sunsets,  and  in  the 


WARDOUR   STREET.  149 

thick  darkness  of  winter  nights,  when  the  glow-worm  oil-lamps,  faintly 
glimmering  here  and  there,  scarcely  served  to  shov  his  way.  Through 
hail  and  rain,  heat  and  cold,  mud  and  snow,  the  little  shabby,  pock- 
marked man  went  werrily  homewards  from  his  daily  work.  Now 
brooding  over  colossal  figures  of  heathen  divinities,  over  grace,  light, 
and  shade  ;  now  surlily  growling  curses  upon  the  contemptible  mean- 
ness which  deprived  him  of  both  models  and  materials.  At  one  time 
angry  and  peevishly  fierce,  having  been  insulted  by  the  acting  secretary 
of  the  society ;  at  another  hungry  and  perplexed,  calculating  the  sum 
he  dared  venture  to  expend  upon  a  supper. 

"  Picture  him  to  yourself  in  an  old  dirty  baize  coat,  which  was  once 
green,  and  is  now  incrusted  with  'paint  and  dirt,  with  a  scarecrow  wig, 
from  beneath  which  creeps  a  fringe  of  his  own  grey  hair.  .  .  .  Pro- 
tected by  his  appearance  of  extreme  poverty  from  the  footpads  abound- 
ing in  every  thoroughfare,  his  dreary  walk  at  last  ends  at  the  desolate 
house  in  Castle  Street.  The  door  being  opened  with  some  difficulty, 
for  the  lock  is  not  in  order,  he  gropes  his  way  along  the  dark  passage 
into  his  painting-room.  The  lamp  outside,  penetrating  the  thick  dirt 
on  the  windows,  enables  him  to  find  the  tinder-box,  flint,  steel,  and 
matches.  Patiently  he  proceeds  to  strike  a  shower  of  sparks  over  the 
tinder  until  it  ignites,  when,  carefully  puffing  to  keep  it  burning,  he 
applies  the  pointed  or  brimstone  end  of  the  flat  match  to  it,  and  pre- 
sently contrives  to  light  his  old  tin  lamp.  Then  we  see  the  painting- 
room,  dimly  but  with  sufficient  clearness  to  note  the  two  old  chairs, 
the  deal  table,  the  tapestry-like  cobwebs,  a  huge  painting  on  the 
clumsy  easel,  old  straining  frames,  dirt-concealed  sketches  in  chalk  and 
oil,  a  copper-plate  printing-press,  and,  on  the  walls,  the  six  sketches 
for  his  £,Teat  paintings  in  the  Adelphi." — The  Builder,  Sept.  25,  1875. 

In  Wells  Street,  which  opens  out  of  Oxford  Street  a  little 
lower  down,  is  the  Church  of  St.  Andrew,  a  perpendicular 
building,  erected  1845 — 7  Dv  Daulzs  arid  Hamilton.  Rath- 
bone  Place,  called  Rawbone  Place  in  Sutton  Nicholl's  view 
of  1720,  is  the  great  centre  for  artists'  materials. 

On  the  right  of  Oxford  Street  we  pass  Wardour  Street 
(which,  with  Arundel  Street,  commemorates  Henry,  third 
Lord  Arundel  of  Wardour,  who  died  in  1726),  celebrated 
for  its  curiosity-shops,  amid  which  John  Bacon,  the  sculptor, 
had  his  first  studio.     Flaxman  lived  at  No.  27  from  1781  to 


i5<> 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


1787,  and,  being  chosen  a  parish  officer,  "used  to  collect 
the  watch-rate,  with  an  ink-bottle  at  his  button -hole."* 
The  name  of  Dean  Street  and  that  of  Compton  Street,  which 
crosses  it,  commemorate  Bishop  Compton,  then  Dean  of  the 
Chapel  Royal.  The  father  of  Nollekens  the  sculptor  lived 
in  Dean  .Street.  No.  43  belonged  to  Francis  Hayman,  the 
artist,  known  by  his  Illustrations  of  "  Don  Quixote."  No.  74 
was  the  house  of  Sir  James  Thornhill :  it  has  a  noble 
frescoed  staircase,  on  the  walls  of  which  Jane  Thornhill, 
who  eloped  with  Hogarth  in  i72Q*is  said  to  be  represented. 
At  No.  83  died  George  Harlow  the  portrait-painter  in 
18 19.  Compton  Street  leads  into  Greek  Street,  where 
a  rich  ironmonger  lived  in  the  last  century,  whose  handsome 
son,  "Young  Buttall,"  was  the  "Blue  Boy"  of  Gains- 
borough. 

The  district  of  So/10,  to  the  south  of  Oxford  Street,  is 
chiefly  due  to  the  enterprise  of  a  builder  whose  name  is 
commemorated  in  Frith  Street.  It  came  into  fashion  in  the 
time  of  the  Stuarts,  and  failed  under  the  earlier  Georges. 
Charles  Street  leads  from  Oxford  Street  into  Soho  Square, 
sometimes  -called  King's  Square  in  old  times,  not  from 
Charles  II.,  in  whose  reign  it  was  built,  but  from  Gregory 
King,  its  surveyor  and  architect.  The  Duke  of  Mon- 
mouth,! the  King's  son  by  Lucy  Walters,  lived  in  Monmouth 
House,  which  was  built  by  Wren,  on  the  south  side  ot 
the  square,  and  hence  he  came  to  appoint  So  Hoe,  a 
name  which  had  belonged  to  the  district  around  his  home 
as  -early  as  1632,  for  his  watchword  on  the  battle-field  ot 
Sedgemoor.     After  die  Duke  of  Monmouth's  execution  the 


•  J.  T.  Smith,  "  Life  of  Nollekens." 

♦  Commemorated  in  .Monmouth  Street. 


SO  HO   SQUARE.  i5I 

house  was  bought  by  Lord  Bateman  (commemorated  in 
Bateman's  Buildings),  of  whom  Horace  Walpole  narrates 
that  George  I.  made  him  an  Irish  peer  to  prevent  having  to 
make  him  a  knight  of  the  Bath,  "  for,"  he  said,  "  I  can 
make  him  a  lord,  but  I  cannot  make  him  a  gentleman." 
Monmouth  House  was  pulled  down  in  1773. 

On  the  east  of  the  square,  at  the  corner  of  Sutton  Street, 
was  Carlisle  House,  the  town  house  of  the  Earls  of  Carlisle, 
built  in  the  time  of  James  II.  It  became  celebrated  at  the 
end  of  the  last  century  for  the  masked  balls  and  concerts  of 
the  extraordinary  Mrs.  Teresa  Cornelys,  at  which,  though 
they  were  far  from  immaculate,  the  fashionable  world  of  the 
time  loved  to  congregate.*  They  were  supplanted  by 
Al mack's,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  house  was  pulled 
down  in  1804.  The  Music  Room  is  now  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  of  St.  Patrick,  Soho,  which  Nollekens  the 
sculptor  attended  "  on  fine  Sunday  mornings."  It  is 
entered  from  Sutton  Street,  and  contains  a  fine  Crucifixion 
by  Vandyke. 

Sutton  Street  takes  its  name  from  Sutton  Court,  Chiswick, 
the  country  house  of  the  Falconbergs,-  who  resided  in 
Falconberg  House  close  by  (commemorated  in  Falconberg 
Mews).  Here  lived  Mary  Cromwell,  Lady  Falconberg, 
the  Protector's  daughter,  who  died  March  14,  17 12,  leaving 
the  house  and  all  else  that  she  could  away  from  her 
husband's  family.  In  the  same  house  the  shipwrecked 
remains  of  Sir  Cloudesley  Shovel  lay  in  state  before  they 
were  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey.  As  the  "White 
House,"  its  parties  were  afterwards  of  equal  reputation,  but 

*  Mrs.  Cornelys,  afterwards  reduced  to  sell  asses' milk  in  Kniglitsbridge,  died 
in  the  Fleet  Prison  in  1797. 


T52  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

more  disreputable  than  those  of  Mrs.  Cornelys.  The 
house  still  exists  (Nos.  20  and  21)  as  the  offices  of  Messrs. 
Crosse  and  Blackwell,  and  is  the  best  specimen  of  domestic 
architecture  remaining  in  Soho.  One  of  the  rooms  has  a 
grand  chimney-piece  and  beautiful  ceiling.  The  house  next 
door,  inhabited  in  turn  by  a  Duke  of  Argyle,  an  Earl  of 
Bedford,  and  Speaker  Onslow,  has  ceilings  by  A?igelica 
Kauffmann  and  Biagio  Rebecca.  In  the  House  of  Charity 
at  the  corner  of  Greek  Street  are  remains  of  the  fine  old 
mansion  once  occupied  by  Alderman  Beckford.  No.  32, 
now  the  Dental  Hospital,  was  the  house  of  Sir  Joseph 
Banks,  the  great  naturalist,  who  lived  there  with  his  eccentric 
sister,  celebrated  for  her  three  riding-habits — "  Hightum, 
Tightum,  and  Scrub." 

In  the  middle  of  the  square  stood  till  lately' a  much- 
injured  statue,  concerning  which  opinions  differed  as  to 
whether  it  represented  Charles  II.  or  the  Duke  of 
Monmouth.  Surrounded  by  figures  emblematical  of  the 
Thames,  Trent,  Humber,  and  Severn,  it  formed  the  centre 
of  a  handsome  fountain  :  now  it  is  removed  to  a  garden  at 
Harrow  Weald.  Nollekens  narrates  that  he  "  often  stood 
for  hours  together  to  see  the  water  run  out  of  the  jugs  of  the 
old  river  gods,  but  the  water  never  would  run  out  of  their 
jugs,  but  when  the  windmill  was  going  round  at  the  top  of 
Rathbone  Place."  Evelyn  tells  us  that  he  went  in  1690, 
with  his  family,  "  to  winter  in  Soho,  in  the  great  square," 
and  it  will  be  remembered  that  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley  is 
represented  as  residing  in  Soho  Square  "  when  he  is  in 
town."  It  continued  to  be  one  of  the  most  fashionable 
parts  of  London  till  far  into  the  last  century.  Nollekens 
the  sculptor  (born  1737)  records  that  when  he  was  a  little 


SOHO   SQUARE.  I53 

boy,  and  living  in  Dean  Street,  "  there  were  no  fewer  than 
four  ambassadors  in  Soho  Square,  and  at  that  time  it  was 
the  most  fashionable  place  for  the  nobility." 

The  whole  district  of  Soho,  especially  the  southern 
portion  of  it,  has  now  a  French  aspect,  from  the  number  of 
French  refugees  who  have  settled  there  at  different  times, 
especially  the  Huguenots  after  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes,  in  1685,  the  Emigre's  of  the  Reign  of  Terror  in 
1789,  and  the  Communists  of  1871.  Maitland,  writing  in 
the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  says,  "  Many  parts  of  this 
parish  so  abound  with  French,  that  it  is  an  easy  matter  for 
a  stranger  to  imagine  himself  in  France."  Many  are  the 
continental  conspiracies  which  have  been  hatched  in  Soho. 
An  old  pillared  building,  which  stood  on  the  site  of  the 
chapel  in  Moor  Street,  was  called  the  "  French  Change." 
There  are  French  schools,  French  names  over  many  of  the 
shops,  French  restaurants  with  diners  a  la  carte,  and  the 
organ-grinders  of  Soho  find  that  the  Marseillaise  is  the 
most  lucrative  tune  to  play.  Lately  the  London  City 
Mission  has  established  a  Salon  des  Etrangers  in  Greek 
Street,  where  counsel  is  given  to  the  friendless  and 
distressed. 

Returning  to  Oxford  Street,  Crown  Street,  on  the  right 
(so  called  from  the  sign  of  the  "  Rose  and  Crown "  at 
the  corner  of  Rose  Street  and  Crown  Street),  was  formerly 
"Hog  Lane,"  the  scene  of  Hogarth's  "Noon."  The 
Church  of  St.  Alary  the  Virgin  has  usurped  the  site  of  a 
historic  building  which  was  the  first  Greek  Church  in 
London,  having  been  consecrated  in  1677,  "the  most 
serene  Charles  II.  being  king,"  as  was  told  in  an  inscription 
over  the  door.     It  was  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Greek 


154  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Archbishop  of  Samos,  and  was  dedicated  to  the  Virgin 
because  of  her  famous  grotto  in  that  island.  In  1818  the 
church  was  sold  by  the  Greeks,  and  it  was  used  by  French 
Protestant  refugees  till  1822.  Some  almshouses  near  this 
were  founded  by  Nell  Gwynne. 

High  Street  now  leads  into  the  poverty-stricken  district 
of  St.  Giles.  It  is  noteworthy  that  places  dedicated  to 
this  saint,  "  abbot  and  martyr,"  were  almost  always  outside 
some  great  town.  This  was  because  St.  Giles  (St.  Egidius) 
was  the  patron  saint  of  lepers,  and  where  a  place  was  called 
by  his  name  a  lazar-house  always  existed.  From  the 
reign  of  Edward  III.  to  that  of  Henry  VIII.  "the  pleasant 
village  of  St.  Giles"  consisted  of  only  a  few  cottages 
grouped  around  an  old  stone  cross,  with  some  shops  whose 
owners'  names  are  preserved  in  the  hospital  grants  as 
Gervase  le  Lyngedrap  (linendraper),  and  Reginald  le 
Tailleur,  &c.  A  hospital  for  lepers  was  built  here  by 
Matilda,  wife  of  Henry  I.,  about  11 18,  being  attached  to  a 
larger  house  of  the  kind  at  Burton  Lazars  in  Leicestershire. 
It  was  in  front  of  this  hospital  that  the  Lollard  conspirators 
met  under  Sir  John  Oldcastle  in  1413,  and  on  the  same 
spot  he  was  roasted  in  chains  over  a  slow  fire. 

"  1416.  Thys  yere  the  xiij  day  of  December  Sir  John  Oldecastell 
Knyghte  was  drawne  from  the  tower  of  London  unto  sent  Gylles  in 
the  felde  and  there  was  hongyd  and  brent." — Chronicle  of  the  Grey 
Friars  of  London. 

The  Hospital  was  dissolved  at  the  Reformation,  and  the 
property  granted  to  Jchn  Dudley,  Viscount  Lisle  (whence 
Dudley  Street),  but  it  was  not  till  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century  that  the  "verie  pleasant  village"  of 
St.  Giles  began  to  be  built  over  or  connected  with  London. 


ST.  GILES  IN  THE  FIELDS.  155 

The  vine  garden  of  the  Hospital  is  now  known  as  Vinegar 
Yard! 

The  Hospital  and  its  country  surroundings  are  com- 
memorated in  the  name  of  the  Church  of  "  St.  Giles  in  the 
Fields"  built  by  Henry  Flitcroft,  1730 — 34,  with  a  very  hand- 
some spire,  on  the  site  of  a  brick  church  constructed  by 
Laud  in  1623.  Close  to  the  north  door,  removed  from  the 
chancel  and  preserved  from  the  old  church  on  account  of 
her  mother's  benefactions  to  the  parish,  is  the  tomb,  with  a 
recumbent  figure,  of  Lady  Alice  Kniveton.  She  was 
daughter  of  Alice  Leigh,  who  married  and  was  repudiated 
by  Sir  Robert  Dudley  (son  of  Elizabeth's  Earl  of  Leicester), 
and  was  created  Duchess  of  Dudley  by  Charles  I.,  a  title 
which  was  confirmed  by  Charles  II.  The  words  of  her 
daughter's  epitaph  do  not  flatter  her  when  they  say  that 
"  she  lived  and  died  worthy  of  that  honour ; "  she  resided 
close  by  in  that  house  of  Lord  Lisle  which  supplanted  the 
old  hospital,  and  is  buried  at  Stoneleigh.  "  Under  ye 
pewes  in  ye  south  aisle  of  Saint  Giles'  church,"  says  Aubrey, 
was  buried,  in  1678,  Andrew  Marvel  the  poet,  whose  works 
have  been  compared  by  his  admirers  to  those  of  Milton. 

A  lich-gate  of  1658,  bearing  a  curious  carving  in  oak 
representing  the  Resurrection,  forms  the  western  approach 
to  the  churchyard,  which  contains  many  interesting  monu- 
ments. Against  the  south  wall  of  the  church  is  a  tomb  like 
a  Roman  altar,  erected  at  the  expense  of  Inigo  Jones  to 
"George  Chapman,  Poeta,"  the  translator  of  the  "  Iliad  " 
and  of  Hesiod's  "  Works  and  Days."  Pope  speaks  of"  the 
daring,  fiery  spirit  that  animates  his  translation,  which  is 
something  like  what  one  might  imagine  Homer  himself  to 
have  written   before  he   arrived   at   years    of   discretion." 


156  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Warton  says  that  his  eighteen  plays, "  though  now  forgotten, 
must  have  contributed  in  no  considerable  degree  to  enrich 
and  advance  the  English  stage."     Ben  Jonson  writes — 

"  Whose  work  could  this  be,  Chapman,  to  refine 
Old  Hesiod's  lore,  and  give  it  thus,  but  thine 
Who  hadst  before  wrought  in  rich  Homer's  mine  ? 

What  treasure  hast  thou  brought  us,  and  what  store 
Still,  still  thou  dost  arrive  with  at  our  shore, 
To  make  thy  honour  and  our  wealth  the  more  ? 

If  all  the  vulgar  tongues  that  speak  this  day 
Were  asked  of  thy  discoveries,  they  must  say, 
To  the  Greek  coast  thine  only  knew  the  way. 

Such  passage  hast  thou  found,  such  returns  made, 
As  now  of  all  men  it  is  called  the  trade  ; 
And  who  make  thither  else,  rob  or  invade." 

Near  the  east  end  of  the  church  is  the  conspicuous  tomb 
of  Richard  Penderell— "  Trusty  Richard"  (1666),  "the 
preserver  of  the  life  of  King  Charles  II."  after  his  escape 
from  Worcester  fight.     It  bears  the  lines  — 

"  Hold,  passenger,  here's  shrouded  in  his  hearse, 
Unparallel'd  Pendrill  through  the  'universe ; 
Like  whom  the  Eastern  star  from  heaven  gave  light 
To  three  lost  kings,  so  he  in  such  dark  night 
To  Britain's  Monarch,  toss'd  by  adverse  war. 
On  earth  appear'd,  a  second  Eastern  star; 
A  pole,  a  stem  in  her  rebellious  main, 
A  pilot  to  her  royal  sovereign. 
Now  to  triumph  in  heaven's  eternal  sphere     * 
He's  hence  advanced  for  his  just  steerage  here ; 
Whilst  Albion's  chronicles  with  matchless  fams 
Embalm  the  story  of  great  Pendrill's  name." 

On  the  edge  of  the  churchyard  towards  Broad  Street, 
under  a  stone  marked  by  a  coronet,  the  remains  of  James 
Ratcliffe,  Earl  of  Derwentwater,  rested  before  they  were 


ST.  GILES  IN  THE  FIELDS.  157 

removed  to  Dilston,  whence,  in  1874,  they  were  taken  to 
Thorndon.  Other  eminent  persons  buried  in  this  church- 
yard are  Lord  Herbert  of  Cherbury,  1648  ;  Shirley  the 
dramatist,  1666;  Michael  Mohun  the  actor,  1684;  the 
Countess  of  Shrewsbury,  who  is  described  by  Walpole  as 
holding  the  horse  of  her  lover,  George  Villiers,  Duke  of 
Buckingham,  while  he  killed  her  husband  in  a  duel,  1702  ; 
Roger  le  Strange  the  politician/1704;  and  Oliver  Plunkett, 
the  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  who  was  executed  at  Tyburn 
for  high  treason  in  1681,  and  whose  body  was  afterwards 
removed  to  Landsprung  in  Germany. 

It  was  first  in  front  of  the  hospital,  afterwards  at  an  inn 
close  by — "  The  Bow,"  in  later  times  "  The  Angel " 
(destroyed  in  1873) — that,  by  old  custom,  prisoners  on 
their  way  to  execution  at  Tyburn  were  presented  with 
"  the  parting-cup  " — a  bowl  of  ale  (whence  "  Bowl  Alley," 
on  the  south  of  High  Street),  their  last  mortal  sustenance ; 
and  that  Jack  Sheppard,  having  supped  the  wine,  smiled, 
and  said,  "  Give  the  remainder  to  Jonathan  Wild." 


"This custom  gave  a  moral  taint  to  St.  Giles's,  and  made  it  a  retreat 
for  noisome  and  squalid  outcasts.  The  Puritans  made  stout  efforts  to 
reform  its  morals ;  and,  as  the  parish  books  attest,  '  oppressed  tipplers' 
were  fined  for  drinking  on  the  Lord's-day,  and  vintners  for  permitting 
them ;  fines  were  levied  for  swearing  oaths,  travel-ling  and  brewing  on 
a  fast  day,  &c.  Again,  St.  Giles's  was  a  refuge  for  the  persecuted 
tipplers  and  ragamuffins  of  London  in  those  days ;  and  its  black- 
guardism was  increased  by  harsh  treatment.  It  next  became  the  abode 
of  hosts  of  disaffected  foreigners,  chiefly  Frenchmen,  of  whom  a  club 
was  held  in  Seven  Dials.  Smollett  speaks,  in  1740,  of  two  tatterde- 
malions from  the  purlieus  of  St.  Giles's,  and  between  them  both  there 
was  but  one  shirt  and  a  pair  of  breeches.  Hogarth  painted  his 
moralities  from  St.  Giles's  :  his  '  Gin  Lane '  has  for  its  background  St. 
George's  Church,  jBloomsbury,  date  175 r  :  'when,'  says  Hogarth, 
•  these  two  prints  ("  Gin  Lane  "  and  "  Beer  Street ")  were  designed  ami 


158  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

engraved,  the  dreadful  consequences  of  gin-drinking  appeared  in  every 
house  in  Gin-lane ;  every  circumstance  of  its  horrid  effects  is  brought 
into  view  in  terrorem — not  a  house  in  tolerable  condition  but  the  pawn- 
broker's and  the  gin-shop — the  coffin-makers  in  the  distance.'  Again 
the  scene  of  Hogarth's  '  Harlot's  Progress '  is  in  Drury  Lane ;  Tom 
Nero,  in  his  'Four  Stages  of  Cruelty,'  is  a  St.  Giles's  charity-boy  ;  and 
in  a  night  cellar  here  the  '  Idle  Apprentice  '  is  taken  up  for  murder." — 
Timbs.      Curiosities  of  London. 

From  an  early  date  St.  Giles's  seems  to  have  had  a  bad 
reputation.  Even  the  little  village  had  its  cage,  watch- 
house,  round-house,  pest-house,  stocks,  gallows,  and  whip- 
ping-post. Its  pound,  only  cleared  away  in  1765,  was  a 
landmark — 

"  At  Newgate  steps  Jack  Chance  was  found, 
And  bred  up  near  St.  Giles's  pound."* 

Under  the  Tudors  the  character  of  St.  Giles's  was  changed 
from  a  country  village  to  that  of  one  of  the  poorest  parishes 
in  London.  "  A  cellar  in  St.  Giles's "  has  long  been  an 
epithet  to  denote  the  lowest  grade  of  poverty.  In  1665, 
during  the  Great  Plague,  3,216  persons  died  in  St.  Giles's 
alone.  But  the  dense  mass  of  houses  called  the  "  Rookery," 
which  was  once  the  worst  part  of  the  parish,  has  been 
cleared  away  in  the  formation  of  New  Oxford  Street,  and 
the  condition  of  the  whole  neighbourhood  is  improving, 
though  it  still  continues  one  of  the  poorest  in  London. 
Much  harm  has  been  done  by  the  ill-judged  benevolence  of 
writers  of  little  religious  books,  and  the  exaggerated  pictures 
they  have  drawn  of  the  poverty  of  this  district,  resulting  in 
unnecessarily  large  subscriptions,  which  destroy  the  habit  of 
self-dependence  amongst  the  inhabitants.  There  is  seldom 
absolute    destitution    except    amongst    those   who,   having 

•  See  The  Builder,  Oct.  4,  1873. 


SEVEN  DIALS.  159 

fallen  from  better  days,  have  never  been  able  to  acquire  the 
habit  of  work.  Old-clothes-men,  bird-fanciers,  bird-cage 
makers,  and  ballad-mongers  drive  the  most  flourishing 
trades.  Apropos  of  the  latter,  Walford's  "  Old  and  New 
London  "  gives  an  amusing  account  of  the  origin  of  the 
expression  "  Catchpenny,"  in  the  displeasure  of  the  people 
at  being  taken  in  by  the  ingenuity  of  James  Catnach,  a 
popular  ballad  printer  in  Monmouth  Court,  who,  after  the 
murder  of  Weare  by  Thurtell,  obtained  a  great  sale  for  a 
broadside,  which  he  headed,  "WE  ARE  ALIVE  AGAIN," 
which  the  public  read  as  WEARE.  Of  the  ballads  which 
told  the  story  of  Rush  and  the  Mannings,  no  less  than 
2,500,000  copies  were  sold. 

A  number  of  wretched  streets  run  southwards  from  High 
Street  and  Broad  Street.  Dickens*  calls  Dudley  Street, 
formerly  Monmouth  Street,  "  the  burial-place  of  the 
fashions,"  from  its  old-clothes  shops.  St.  Andrew's  Street 
leads  (at  the  junction  of  St.  Martin's  Lane  and  Long  Acre) 
to  the  famous  Seven  Dials,  so  called  because,  at  the  con- 
junction of  seven  streets,  there  formerly  stood  here  a  pillar 
bearing  a  dial  with  seven  faces.     Evelyn  says — 

"I  went  to  see  the  building  near  St.  Giles's,  where  seven  streets 
made  a  star,  from  a  Doric  pillar  placed  in  the  centre  of  a  circular  area, 
saul  to  be  built  by  Mr.  Neale,  introducer  of  the  late  lotteries,  hi  imi- 
tation of  those  at  Venice." — Diary. 

"  Where  famed  St.  Giles's  ancient  limits  spread, 
An  in-rail'd  column  nears  its  lofty  head  ; 
Here  to  seven  streets  seven  dials  count  their  day, 
And  from  each  other  catch  the  circling  ray." 

Gay.     Trivia,  bk.  ii. 

The  pdlar  was  removed  in  1773,  and,  long  afterwards, 

•  .Sketches  by  Box 


l6o  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

being  surmounted  with  a  ducal  coronet,  was  set  up  on 
Weybridge  Green  in  memory  of  the  Duchess  of  York,  who 
died  at  Oatlands  in  1820. 

Returning  to  Broad  Street,  one  of  the  next  openings  on 
the  right  is  Endell  Street.  Some  way  down  it  (on  the  right, 
under  No.  3)  was  a  curious  hath,  surrounded  by  Dutch 
tiles  and  supplied  by  an  abundant  mineral  spring.  It  was 
called  Queen  Anne's  Bath,  and  small  rooms  were  shown 
as  her  toilette  and  dressing-room,  though  there  was  no 
proof  of  its  having  been  used  by  her.  About  1868  the 
springs  overflowed  so  much,  that  it  was  found  necessary  to 
cut  them  off,  and  the  bath  has  now  been  filled  up.  Only 
its  marble  paving  slabs  remain. 

Then  Drury  Lane  opens  on  the  right.  The  first  turning 
on  the  left  of  it  is  Coal  Yard,  where  Nell  Gwynne  was  born. 
At  the  end  of  this  street  stood  the  Round  House,  where 
Jack  Sheppard  was  imprisoned  at  night,  and  found  to  have 
escaped  in  the  morning.  The  next  turn  out  of  Drury 
Lane,  Charles  Street,  was  formerly  Lewknor's  Lane  (from 
Sir  Lewis  Lewknor,  the  proprietor).  Its  morality  is  alluded 
to  by  Butler — 

"  The  nymphs  of  chaste  Diana's  train, 
The  same  with  those  of  Lewknor's  lane." 

It  was  close  to  this  that  the  Great  Plague  of  1665  began. 

Opposite  to  the  entrance  of  High  Street,  Tottenham  Court 
Road  forms  a  main  artery,  running  north-west  towards 
Hampstead.  It  derives  its  name  from  the  manor  of 
Tottenham  Court,  which  belonged  to  the  Chapter  of  St. 
Paul's,  whose  pleasant  fields  were  a  favourite  summer- 
evening  resort  of  ancient  Londoners. 


WHITEFIELD'S   TABERNACLE.  161 

"  And  Hogsdone,  Islington,  and  Tothnam  Court, 
For  cakes  and  creame,  had  then  no  small  resort." 

George  Wither,  1628. 

Tottenham  Court  Manor  House  was  afterwards  the 
"  Adam  and  Eve  "  public-house,  surrounded  by  gardens,  in 
front  of  which  Hogarth  has  laid  the  scene  of  his  "  March 
to  Finchley."  The  gardens  existed  till  the  end  of  the  last 
century. 

"  When  the  sweet-breathing  spring  unfolds  the  buds, 
Love  flies  the  dusty  town  for  shady  woods. 
Then  Tottenham-fields  with  roving  beauty  swarm, 
And  Hampstead  balls  the  city  virgins  warm." 

Gay  to  Pulteney. 

Tottenham  Court  Road  is  famous  for  its  furniture  shops. 
On  the  right  is  Meux's  Brewery.  On  the  left  is  WhitefiehVs 
Tabernacle*  built  by  George  Whitefield  in  1756,  when  it 
became  known  as  "Whitefield's  Soul  Trap;"  an  octangular 
front,  which  was  a  later  addition  due  to  the  liberality  of 
Queen  Caroline,  being  called  the  "  Oven."  Whitefield's 
pulpit  is  preserved,  and  is  that  in  which  he  preached  his 
last  sermon  (Sept.  2,  1769)  before  leaving  for  America, 
where  he  died  at  Boston  in  1770.  Wesley  used  it,  iri 
accordance  with  Whitefield's  dying  desire,  when  he  preached 
his  funeral  sermon.  Here,  also,  Dr.  Henry  Peckwell 
preached  his  own  funeral  sermon  on  Heb.  xiii.  7,  8, 
after  he  knew  that  mortification  had  set  in  from  the  prick 
of  a  needle,  of  which  he  died  a  few  days  after.  Whitefield 
is  commemorated  here  on  the  monument  of  his  wife.  His 
portrait  is  in  the  vestry,  with  those  of  all  his  successors  in 
the  ministry  of  this  chapel. 

*  The  name  of  Tabernacle  was  first  applied  to  the  churches  of  boards  hastily 
raised  after  the  Great  1  ire. 

VOL.  II.  M 


162  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

"  Neither  energy,  nor  eloquence,  nor  histrionic  talents,  nor  any  arti- 
fices of  style,  nor  the  most  genuine  sincerity  and  self-devotedness, 
nor  all  these  united,  would  have  enabled  Whitefield  to  mould  the  reli- 
gious character  of  millions  in  his  own  and  future  generations.  The 
secret  lies  deeper,  though  not  very  deep.  It  consisted  in  the  nature  of 
the  theology  he  taught — in  its  perfect  simplicity  and  universal  applica- 
tion. His  thirty  or  forty  thousand  sermons  were  but  so  many  varia- 
tions on  two  key-notes.  Man  is  guilty  and  must  obtain  forgiveness ; 
he  is  immortal,  and  must  ripen  here  for  endless  weal  or  woe  hereafter. 
Expanded  into  innumerable  forms,  these  two  cardinal  principles  were 
ever  in  his  heart  and  on  his  tongue." — Sir  James  Stephen.  The 
Evangelical  Succession. 

A  tablet  under  the  north  -gallery,  to  John  Bacon,  R.A., 
the  sculptor  of  numerous  monuments  in  St.  Paul's  and  else- 
where in  London,  has,  from  his  own  hand,  the  epitaph — 
"  What  I  was  as  an  artist  seemed  to  me  of  some  importance 
while  I  lived  ;  but  what  I  really  was  as  a  Believer  in  Christ 
Jesus  is  the  only  thing  of  importance  to  me  now." 

"  The  site  of  Whitefield's  new  chapel  was  surrounded  by  fields  and 
gardens.  On  the  north  side  of  it  there  were  but  two  houses.  The 
next  after  them,  half  a  mile  further,  was  the  'Adam  and  Eve'  public- 
house  ;  and  thence,  to  Hampstead,  there  were  only  the  inns  of  '  Mother 
Red  Cap '  and  '  Black  Cap.'  The  chapel,  when  first  erected,  was 
seventy  feet  square  within  the  walls.  Two  years  after  it  was  opened, 
twelve  almshouses  and  a  minister's  house  were  added.  About  a  year 
after  that,  the  chapel  was  found  to  be  too  small,  and  it  was  enlarged  to 
its  present  dimensions  of  a  hundred  and  twenty-seven  feet  long  and 
seventy  feet  broad,  with  a  dome  of  a  hundred  and  fourteen  feet  in 
height.  Beneath  it  were  vaults  for  the  burial  of  the  dead  ;  and  in 
which  Whitefield  intended  that  himself  and  his  friends,  John  and 
Charles  Wesley,  should  be  interred.  '  I  have  prepared  a  vault  in  this 
chapel,'  Whitefield  used  to  say  to  his  somewhat  bigoted  congregation, 
'  where  I  intend  to  be  buried,  and  Messrs.  John  and  Charles  Wesley 
shall  also  be  buried  there.  We  will  all  lie  together.  You  will  not 
let  them  enter  your  chapel  while  they  are  alive.  They  can  do  you  no 
harm  when  they  are  dead.'  The  lease  of  the  ground  was  granted  to 
Whitefield  by  General  George  Fitzroy,  and,  on  its  expiration  in  182S, 
the  freehold  was  purchased  for  ^19,000.  The  foundation-stone  of  the 
chapel  was  laid  in  the  beginning  of  June,  1756.     It  was  opened 'for 


BLOOMSBURY.  163 

divine  worship  on  November  7,  1756,  when  Whitcfield  selected,  as  his 
text,  the  words,  '  Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that  is  laid, 
which  is  Jesus  Christ '  (1  Cor.  iii.  11). 

Tottenham  Court  Chapel  has  a  history  well  worthy  of  being  written. 
From  this  venerable  sanctuary  sprang  separate  congregations  in  Shep- 
herd's Market,  Kentish  Town,  Paddington,  Tonbridge  Chapel,  Robert 
Street,  Crown  Street,  and  Craven  Chapel.  Much  might  also  be  said  of 
the  distinguished  preachers  who,  in  olden  days,  occupied  its  pulpit  :  Dr. 
Peckwell ;  De  Courcy  ;  Berridge  ;  Walter  Shirley  ;  Piercy,  Chaplain  to 
General  Washington  ;  Rowland  Hill ;  Torial  Joss;  West ;  Kinsman  ; 
Beck;  Medley;  Edward  Parsons;  Matthew  Wilks ;  Joel  Knight; 
John  Hyatt,  and  many  others.  Whitefield's  Tabernacle  in  Moorfields  has 
been  demolished,  and  a  Gothic  church  erected  on  its  site.  Whitefield's 
Tottenham  Court  Chapel  is  now  his  only  erection  in  the  great  metro- 
polis ;  and  long  may  it  stand  as  a  grand  old  monument,  in  memory  of 
the  man  who  founded  it !  Thousands  have  been  converted  within  its 
walls,  and  never  was  it  more  greatly  needed  than  at  the  present  day." 
—  lyerman's  Life  of  the  Rev.  G.  Whitefield.     1877. 

Tottenham  Court  Road  leads  into  the  Hampstead  Road, 
on  which  the  name  of  Bcllsize  Park  records  the  site  of 
the  quaint  old  mansion  called  Bellsize  House,  which 
was  popular  as  a  tea-garden  and  place  of  fashionable 
resort  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century,  though,  as  late 
as  1720,  its  advertisements  set  forth,  "For  the  security  ot 
the  guests  there  are  twelve  stout  fellows,  completely  armed, 
to  patrol  between  London  and  Bellsize,  to  prevent  the 
insults  of  highwaymen  and  footpads  that  may  infest  the 
roads." 

Beyond  this,  the  district  to  the  north  of  Oxford  Street 
is  called  Bloomsbury,  the  name  being  a  corruption  of 
Blemundsbury,  the  manor  of  the  De  Blemontes,  Blemunds, 
Or  Blemmots,  in  the  reigns  of  Henry  III.  and  Edward  I.* 

*  The  manors  of  Pt.  Giles  and  Bloomsbury  were  divide.]  by  Blemund's  Dyke, 
afterwards  Bloomsbury  Great  Ditch.  The  manor-house  of  the  Blemunds  stood 
OB  the  site  of  Bedford  Place,  and  is  d   in  the  St.  Giles's  rlu5r>ital  grant 

as  "  the  capital  messuage  oi  William  Blcmund." 


164  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

When  the  changeable  tide  of  fashion  in  the  last  century 
flowed  north  from  the  neighbourhood  of  St.  Clement 
Danes  and  Whitehall,  it  settled  with  a  deceptive  grasp, 
which  seemed  likely  to  be  permanent,  on  the  estate  of  the 
Duke  of  Bedford.  Everything  here  commemorates  the 
glories  of  that  great  ducal  family.  Bloomsbury  Street  and 
Square,  Chenies  Street,  Francis  Street,  Tavistock  Square, 
Russell  Square,  Bedford  Square,  and  many  places  less  im- 
portant, have  their  names  and  titles.  Howland  Street  and 
Streatham  Street  record  the  marriage  of  the  second  duke 
with  the  daughter  of  John  Howland  of  Streatham  in  1696. 
Gower  Street  and  Keppel  Street,  built  1778 — 86,  comme- 
morate his  son,  who  was  made  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Ireland 
in  1756;  and  two  other  marriages  of  the  family  have  left 
their  mark  in  Toirington  Square  and  Gordon  Square. 

On  the  left  of  Oxford  Street,  Bloomsbury  Street  now 
leads  into  Bedford  Square,  decorated  with  a  statue  of 
Francis,  Duke  of  Bedford,  by  Westmacott.  No.  6  was  the 
residence  of  Lord  Eldon  from  1S09  to  181 5,  and  it  was 
here  that  the  Prince  Regent,  by  his  insistence  at  the  Chan- 
cellor's sick-bed,  wrung  from  him  the  appointment  to  the 
vacant  post  of  Master  in  Chancery  for  his  friend  Jekyll  the 
wit. 

In  Gower  Street,  which  leads  north  from  Bedford 
Square,  is  University  College,  built  by  Wilkins,  1827-28. 
Under  the  central  cupola  is  the  Flax?nan  Hall,  containing 
models  of  the  principal  works  of  John  Flaxman,  presented 
by  his  sister-in-law,  Miss  Denman. 

On  the  east  of  Bedford  Square  rose  the  magnificent 
Montague  House.  Writing  of  the  year  1685,  Macaulay 
says — 


THE  BRITISH  MUSEUM.  165 

"A  little  way  from  Holborn,  and  on  the  verge  of  pastures  and  corn- 
fields, rose  two  celebrated  palaces,  each  with  an  ample  garden.  One 
of  them,  then  called  Southampton  House,  and  subsequently  Bedford 
House,  was  removed  early  in  the  present  century  to  make  room  for  a 
new  city  which  now  covers,  with  its  squares,  streets,  and  churches,  a 
vast  area  renowned  in  the  seventeenth  century  for  peaches  and  snipes. 
The  other,  known  as  Montague  House,  celebrated  for  its  furniture  and 
frescoes,  was,  a  few  months  after  the  death  of  King  Charles  II.,  burned 
to  the  ground,  and  was  speedily  succeeded  by  a  more  magnificent 
Montague  House,  which,  having  long  been  the  repository  of  such 
various  and  precious  treasures  of  art,  science,  and  learning  as  were 
scarce  ever  before  assembled  under  a  single  roof,  has  since  given  place 
to  an  edifice  more  magnificent  still." — Hist,  of  England. 

Museum  Street  leads  from  Oxford  Street  to  the  British 
Museum,  which  was  built  on  the  site  of  Montague  House, 
1823 — 1847,  from  designs  of  Sir  Robert  Smirke,  continued 
under  his  brother  Sydney.  Otherwise  handsome,  it  is 
dwarfed  and  spoilt  by  having  no  suitable  base.  Its  collec- 
tions originated  in  the  purchase  of  those  of  Sir  Hans  Sloane 
in  1753.  The  most  important  gifts  have  been  those  of  the 
Royal  Library  by  George  II.,  and  of  George  III.'s  library 
by  George  IV. ;  the  most  important  purchases  those  of  Sir 
William  Hamilton's  collections,  the  Townley,  Phigalian,  and 
Elgin  Marbles,  Dr.  Burney's  MSS.,  and  the  Lansdowne  and 

Arundel  MSS. 

The  British  Museum  is  open  to  the  Public  (Free  admission) 

From  10  to  4.  From  10  to  5  From  10  to  6. 

Mondays.  (      J""1"*  *"?'  ¥** 

Wednesdays.     )      Fcbrllar>''  APn]'  June' 

,,  . ,  3        \      November,  September,  July, 

^  '  I      December,  October,  August. 

Saturdays,  from  12  till  the  hour  of  closing  throughout  the  year, 
except  as  stated  below. 

Evenings  of  Monday  and  Saturday  till  8  o'clock,  from  May  8  to  the 
middle  of  August. 

Closed— January  I  to  7.  May  I  to  7,  September  I  to  7  inclusive;  and 
ou  Sundays,  Christinas  Day,  Ash  Wednesday,  and  Good  Friday. 


1 66  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

In  the  Hall  are  three  statues— 

Hon.  Mrs.  Seymour  Damer,  the  sculptress,  by  herself! 

Shakspeare  by  Roubiliac. 

Sir  Joseph  Banks  by  Chantrey. 

Turning  to  the  left,  we  enter  the  Raman  Gallery,  lined  on 
the  left  by  Anglo-Roman  antiquities,  and  on  the  right  by 
Roman  statues  and  busts.     In  the  centre  is — 

*43.  A  Barbarian — a  noble  haughty  bust,  the  deeply  overshadowing 
hair  descending  close  to  the  eyebrows.  Found  in  the  Forum  of  Trajan, 
and  probably  representing  the  German  chieftain  Arminius,  conquered 
by  Germanicus. 

Deserving  notice  on  the  right  are — 

103.  Head  of  Minerva — found  in  the  Temple  of  Apollo  at  Cyrene. 

37.  Bust  of  Caracalla— found  in  Rome  at  the  Quattro  Fontane. 

30.  Bust  of  Lucius  Verus — from'  the  Mattei  Collection. 

29.  Bust  of  Lucius  .ZElius,  the  colleague  of  M.  Aurelius. 

27.  Bust  of  Marcus  Aurelius — from  Cyrene. 

26.  Curious  Bust  of  Marcus  Aurelius  as  one  of  the  Fratres  Arvales 
— from  the  Mattei  Collection. 

24.  Bust  of  Antoninus  Pius — from  Cyrene. 

19.  Statue  of  Hadrian. 

*  20.  Bust  of  Antinous — found  near  the  Villa  Pamfili  at  Rome. 

15.  Bust  of  Trajan — found  in  the  Roman  Campagna. 

4.  Bust  of  Augustus. 

3.  Beautiful  Head  of  the  young  Augustus — from  the  Castellani 
Collection. 

2.  Head  of  Julius  Caesar. 

I.  Head  supposed  to  represent  Cnaeus  L.L.  Marcellinus,  Propraetor 
of  Cyrene — found  in  the  Temple  of  Apollo  at  Cyrene. 

In  the  First  Grtzco-Roman  Room  we  may  notice — 

109.  Satyr  with  the  Infant  Bacchus — from  the  Farnese  Collection. 

1 10.  Bacchus — from  the  Temple  of  Bacchus  at  Cyrene. 

111.  Bust  of  Juno— found  at  Rome. 

112.  Statue  of  Diana—  found  at  La  Storta,  much  restored. 

114.  Apollo  Citharcedus— from  his  temple  at  Cyrene. 

115.  Bust  of  Apollo-  from  the  Albani  Collection. 


THE  GRJECO-ROMAN  ROOMS.  10; 

Il6.  Sfatue  of  Venus  preparing  for  the  bath— given  by  William  IV 

*  117.  Bust  of  Homer — in  old  age  and  blind.     From  Baiae. 

118.  The  Satyr  called  the  " Rondinini  Faun" — greatly  restored. 
From  the  Palazzo  Rondinini  at  Rome. 

126.  Canephora— found  on  the  Via  Appia. 

128.  Bust  of  Minerva— from  the  Villa  Casali  at  Rome.  Much 
restored,  and  the  bronze  helmet  and  breast  modern. 

The  Second  Grceco-Roman  Room  contains — 

(Left)  139.  A  Male  Head  from  the  Villa  of  Hadrian  called 
Pantanella. 

*  136.  The  Townley  Venus — a  beautiful  statue,  found  in  the  Baths 
of  Claudius  at  Ostia. 

*  (Right)  135.  The  Discobolus,  or  Quoit-thrower — an  early  copy  of 
the  famous  bronze  statue  by  Myron,  found  in  the  Villa  Adriana  at 
Tivoli. 

*  138.  A  noble  Head  of  Apollo — from  the  Giustiniani  Collection. 

The  Third  Grceco- Roman  Room  contains,  beginning  on 
the  right  wall — 

144.  Relief  of  Hercules  seizing  the  Keryneian  Stag. 

145.  Cupid  bending  his  Bow. 

146.  A  beautiful  statuette  of  Cupid  bending  a  Bow — found  1776  at 
Castello  di  Guido  (Lonum).     It  has  no  restorations. 

147.  Relief  of  a  Youth  holding  a  Horse— from  Hadrian's  Villa  at 
Tivoli. 

*  149.  Beautiful  Female  Bust  resting  on  the  calyx  of  a  flower.  This 
was  formerly  called  "  Clytie,"  and  was  the  most  cherished  possession  of 
Mr.  Townley,  who  escaped  with  it  in  his  arms  when  he  was  expecting 
his  house  to  be  sacked  and  burnt  during  the  Gordon  riots. 

151.  A  noble  Heroic  Bust — restored  by  Flaxmau.  From  the  collec- 
tion of  Mr.  Rogers. 

154.  Beautiful  Head  of  a  Youth — found  near  Rome. 

155.  Statue  of  Thalia  (the  Muse  of  Comedy)  crowned  with  ivy — 
from  Ostia. 

157.  Relief  of  a  Female  carried  off  by  a  Centaur — from  the  Villa 
Verospi. 

158.  Noble  Head  of  a  Muse— from  Frascati. 

*  159.  A  very  curious  Relief  representing  the  Apotheosis  of  Homer, 
found  at  Bovillae  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  probably  executed  in 
the  time  of  the  Emperor  Tiberius. 


168  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

160.  Female  Head  in  a  Phrygian  Hood— from  the  Villa  Montalto 
at  Rome. 

161.  Iconic  Bust. 

103.  Mithras  sacrificing  a  Bull— much  restored.  The  worship  of 
Mithras,  the  Persian  Sun-god,  was  introduced  under  the  Empire.  He 
is  represented  here,  in  a  Persian  cap  and  tunic,  pressing  a  bull  to  the 
ground,  and  stabbing  him  with  a  dagger.  A  dog  and  serpent  lick 
the  blood  which  trickles  from  the  wound,  and  a  scorpion  fastens  on 
the  bull  beneath. 

165.  Actzeon  devoured  by  his  Hounds  on  Mount  Cith<eron— from 
Civita  Lavinia. 

166.  Female  Head— from  the  Pourtales  Collection. 
*  171.  The  Farnese  Mercury —purchased  1865. 

176.  Relief  of  the  Visit  of  Bacchus  to  Icarius,  whom  he  instructed 
in  the  art  of  making  wine — from  the  collection  of  Sixtus  V.  in  the 
Villa  Montalto. 

178.  Recumbent  Satyr. 

179.  A  beautiful  Bacchic  Relief— from  Gabii. 

188.  Youthful  Satyr — from  the  Palazzo  Maccarani  at  Rome. 

184.  Youthful  Satyr— from  Antium. 

185.  Venus— from  Ostia. 

186.  Remains  of  a  group  of  two  Boys  lighting  over  a  game  of 
Astragali  (knuckle-bones) — from  the  Baths  of  Titus  at  Rome. 

189.  Bacchus,  and  his  beloved  Ampelus,  who  is  being  transformed 
into  a  vine,  to  which  his  affection  was  thenceforth  transferred — a  very 
beautiful  group  found  at  La  Storta,  on  the  Via  Cassia. 

190.  Paniskos,  or  Youthful  Pan.  The  name  of  the  artist,  Marcus 
Cossutius  Cerdo,  is  inscribed. 

196.  A  Nymph  of  Diana  seated  on  the  ground. 
1 99.  Head  of  the  Young  Hercules — from  Genzano. 
204.  Head  of  the  Young  Hercules — from  the  Barberini  Collection. 
In  this  room  is  placed  provisionally  a  fine  Etruscan  sarcophagus, 
with  two  reclining  figures — from  Cervetri. 


Behind  the  statue  of  Mercury  a  staircase  leads  to  the 
Grceco-Roman  Basement^  where  we  may  notice — 

54.  Two  Greyhounds — from  Monte  Cagnolo.     A  beautiful  group. 

56.  Mithraic  Group,  with  an  inscription  which  says,  "  Alcimus,  tlie 
slave  bailiff  of  Titus  Claudius  Livianus,  dedicates  this  to  the  Sun-god, 
Mithras,  in  fulfilment  of  a  vow.,f 


LYCIAN  SALOON,  MAUSOLEUM  ROOM.  169 

From  the  Third  Grceco-Roman  Room  we  enter  the  Lycian 
Saloon,  filled  with  sculptures  and  casts  of  sculptures, 
brought  1841—44  by  Sir  Charles  Fellows  from  the  ruins 
of  Xanthus,  the  most  important  city  of  Lycia,  which  was 
twice  destroyed — first  in  the  reign  of  Cyrus,  when  it  was 
besieged  by  Harpagus  with  a  Persian  army,  and  the 
Xanthians  buried  themselves  and  all  their  possessions 
beneath  the  ruins  of  their  city;  and,  secondly,  by  the  army 
of- Brutus,  who  took  the  city  by  stratagem,  when  the  inha- 
bitants again  destroyed  themselves,  with  their  wives  and 
children.  On  the  right  of  the  entrance  of  the  room  is  a 
model  of  the  principal  temple  at  Xanthus,  to  which  most  of 
the  sculptures  in  this  room  (No.  34 — 140)  belong,  and 
where  they  are  marked  at  the  appropriate  points  in  the 
model.  Three  tombs  from  Xanthus,  or  portions  of  them, 
are  likewise  preserved  here. 

Left.  The  Harpy  Tomb  —  supposed  to  have  been  raised  for  a 
Prince  of  Lycia,  who  claimed  descent  from  the  mythical  hero  Pandarus. 
In  its  relief  the  Harpies  are  represented  carrying  oft  the  daughters  of 
Pandarus. 

The  House  Tomb.  On  the  roof  is  a  chariot  with  four  horses,  and 
beneath  it  a  relief  of  Bellerophon  attacking  the  Chimsera. 

Right.     Tomb  of  the  Satrap  Piafa,  with  a  roof  and  reliefs. 

A  Pillar  covered  with  inscriptions  in  the  ancient  Lycian  language. 

The  Mausoleum  Room  contains  the  remains  of  the  famous 
Mausoleum  of  Halicarnassus,  on  the  coast  of  Asia  Minor, 
one  of  the  "Seven  Wonders  of  the  World,"  erected  b.c.  352 
by  Artemisia,  Princess  of  Caria,  who  during  her  short  reign 
destroyed  the  fleet  of  Rhodes,  and  became  mistress  of  the 
island.  She  is  chiefly  celebrated,  however,  for  her  violent 
grief  for  the  ioss  of  her  husband  (who  was  also  her  brother), 
whose  ashes  she   mixed  daily  with  her  drink,  of  whom  she 


170  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

induced  the  most  eminent  Greek  rhetoricians  to  proclaim 
the  praises,  and  for  whose  loss  she  died  in  two  years  of  a 
broken  heart,  having  erected  to  his  memory  a  mausoleum 
which  surpassed  in  splendour  all  the  monuments  of  the 
ancient  world.  It  was  an  edifice  like  an  Ionic  temple,  raised 
on  a  lofty  basement,  and  surmounted  by  a  pyramid,  with  a 
chariot  group  on  the  summit.  The  whole  was  of  Parian 
marble.  It-;  architects  were  Satyros  and  Pythios.  Four  great 
sculptors — Scopas,  Leochares,  Bryaxis,  and  Timotheos — 
were  employed  on  its  decorations  ;  a  fifth,  probably  Pythios, 
made  the  crowning  chariot  group.  From  its  beauty  the 
name  of  mausoleum  came  to  be  applied  to  all  similar  monu- 
ments. The  Mausoleum  of  Halicarnassus  is  mentioned  by 
Vitruvius,  Pliny,  and  Lucian,  and  is  alluded  to  as  a  still- 
existing  wonder  by  Eustathius,  who  wrote  in  the  twelfth 
century.  After  this  it  ceased  to  excite  attention  till,  in 
1846,  thirteen  sculptured  slabs  were  sent  to  England  by 
Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliffe  from  the  Castle  of  Budrum, 
which  had  been  built  by  the  Knights  of  St.  John  in  the  ruins 
of  Halicarnassus.  In  1855  Mr.  C.  J.  Newton,  Keeper  of 
the  Greek  and  Roman  antiquities  of  the  British  Museum, 
visited  Budrum,  and  his  discovery  of  the  colossal  lions 
inserted  in  the  walls  of  the  castle  and  other  evident  remains 
of  the  Mausoleum  Jed  the  Government,  in  Nov.  1856,  to 
send  out  the  steam  corvette  Gorgon,  with  workmen,  and  a 
firman  permitting  them  to  excavate. 

The  most  remarkable  of  the  remains  brought  over  are  the 
Lions,  guardians  of  the  tomb,  with  the  expression  varied  in 
each ;  and  the  colossal  statue  believed  to  represent  the 
despotic  and  unscrupulous  satrap  Mausolus  himself  (B.C. 
377 — 353),  which   was  found   broken  into    sixty-five   frag- 


THE  ELGIN  MARBLES.  i7j 

ments,  but  is  now  nearly  complete,  wanting  only  the  arms 
and  one  foot. 

"The  aspect  of  the  figure  accords  well  with  the  description  which 
Mausolus  is  made  to  give  of  himself  in  Lucian's  Dialogue.  'I  was,' 
he  says,  addressing  Diogenes,  « a  tall,  handsome  man,  and  formidable 
in  war.'  "— C .  J.  Newton. 

A  female  figure  either  represents  the  goddess  who  acted 
as  charioteer  to  Mausolus,  or  Artemisia  herself  when 
deified. 

"  In  this  statue  and  that  of  Mausolus  great  skill  has  been  shown  in 
the  treatment  of  the  drapery.  Each  fold  is  traced  home  to  its  origin, 
and  wrought  to  its  full  depth ;  a  master  hand  has  passed  over  the  whola 
surface,  leaving  no  sign  of  that  slurred  and  careless  treatment  which 
characterizes  the  meretricious  art  of  a  later  period.  One  foot  of  this 
statue  has  been  preserved,  and  is  an  exquisite  specimen  of  sculpture, 
the  more  precious  because  we  possess  so  few  examples  of  extremities 
finished  by  the  hands  of  the  great  masters  of  the  earlier  Greek  schools." 
—C.  jf.  New  Ion. 

In  this  room  is  placed,  provisionally,  a  noble  Head  of 
..Esculapius  from  the  Isle  of  Melos. 

The  Elgin  Room  is  almost  entirely  devoted  to  the 
precious  marbles  removed  by  Lord  Elgin  from  the  Parthe- 
non in  1801,  lost  by  shipwreck,  recovered  by  divers,  and 
purchased  by  Government,  after  long  controversy,  in  18 16. 
It  is  almost  forgotten  now  with  what  vituperation  the 
marbles  were  assailed  on  their  arrival  in  England — they 
were  "not  originals,"  they  were  "of  the  time  of  Hadrian," 
they  were  the  "  works  of  journeymen,  not  deserving  the 
name  of  artists,"  they  were  "  too  much  broken  to  be  of  any 
value."  The  sum  paid  to  Lord  Elgin  was  less  than  he 
had  expended  upon  the  marbles,  and  far  less  than  Napo- 
leon   was    willing   to   pay   for    them.      Yet    now   they   are 


172  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

recognised  as  the  greatest  masterpieces  of  Greek  art  in 
this  or  any  other  country.  A  model  of  the  Parthenon 
(the  Temple  of  Athene)  here  shows  their  original  position. 
Around  the  room  are  the  glorious  frieze  and  metopes  of  the 
temple  (their  subjects  are  described  beneath) :  we  must 
remember  that  here  they  are,  as  it  were,  turned  inside  out. 
The  frieze  represents  the  procession  which  took  place  every 
five  years  in  honour  of  the  goddess.  The  south  side  is  the 
least  perfect,  having  been  injured  by  the  winds  from  the  sea  : 
it  is  chiefly  occupied  by  the  victims,  who  made  this  proces- 
sion a  kind  of  cattle-show,  as  each  of  the  Athenian  colonies 
contributed,  and,  by  their  anxiety  to  shine  in  this,  Athens 
knew  the  disposition  of  her  colonies.  Here  also  we  see  the 
maidens  carrying  the  sacrificial  vessels,  the  flat  vessels  being 
used  for  libations.  To  meet  this  procession  comes  from 
the  north  side  a  long  cavalcade  of  chariots  and  horsemen, 
many  of  the  latter  most  glorious.  From  the  east  end  of  the 
temple,  where  the  processions  united,  are  representations 
of  the  gods,  without  whose  presence  no  Greek  festival  was 
considered  complete,  and  of.  the  delivery  of  the  pefllos,  the 
embroidered  veil  of  Athene,  given  every  five  years. 

"  The  Temple  of  Minerva  in  the  Acropolis  of  Athens,  erected  by 
Ictinus  and  Callicrates,  was  under  the  direction  of  Phidias,  and  to  him 
we  probably  owe  the  composition,  style,  and  character  of  the  sculpture, 
in  addition  to  much  assistance  in  drawing,  modelling,  choice  of  the 
naked,  and  draperies,  as  well  as  occasional  execution  of  parts  in  the 
marble. 

"The  emulators  of  Phidias  were  Alcamenes,  Critias,  Nestocles,  and 
Hegias ;  twenty  years  after,  Agelades,  Callon,  Polycletus,  Phragmon, 
(lorgias,  Lacon,  Myron,  Scopas,  Pythagoras,  and  Perelius. 

****** 

"It  is  the  peculiar  character  and  praise  of  Phidias's  style  that  ho 
represented  gods  better  than  men.     As  this  sculptor  determined  th<* 


THE  ELGIN  MARBLES.  1 73 

visible  idea  of  Jupiter,  his  successors  employed  a  hundred  years  on  the 
forms  of  the  inferior  divinities.    This  must,  therefore,  be  denominated 

the  sublime  era  of  sculpture. 

*  •    '  *  *  *  * 

"  We  possess  in  England  the  most  precious  examples  of  Grecian 
power  in  the  sculpture  of  animals.  The  horses  of  the  frieze  in  the 
Elgin  Collection  appear  to  live  and  move,  to  roll  their  eyes,  to  gallop, 
prance,  and  curvet ;  the  veins  of  their  faces  and  legs  seem  distended 
with  circulation ;  in  them  are  distinguished  the  hardness  and  decision 
of  bony  forms,  from  the  elasticity  of  tendon  and  the  softness  of  flesh. 
The  beholder  is  charmed  with  the  doer-like  lightness  and  elegance  of 
their  make,  and  although  the  relief  is  not  above  an  inch  from  the  back- 
ground, and  they  are  so  much  smaller  than  nature,  we  can  scarcely 
suffer  reason  to  persuade  us  they  are  not  alive." — Flaxman.  Lectures 
on  Sculpture. 

"It  is  the  union  of  nature  with  ideal  beauty,  the  probabilities  and 
accidents  of  bone,  flesh,  and  tendon,  from  extension,  flexion,  compres- 
sion, gravitation,  action,  or  repose,  that  rank  at  once  the  Elgin 
Marbles  above  all  other  works  of  art  in  the  world.  The  finest  form 
that  man  ever  imagined,  or  God  ever  created,  must  have  been  formed 
on  these  eternal  principles.  .  .  .  Every  truth  of  shape,  the  result 
of  the  inherent  organization  of  man  as  an  intellectual  being;  every 
variation  of  that  shape,  produced  by  the  slightest  variation  of  motion, 
in  consequence  of  the  slightest  variation  of  intention,  acting  on  it  ; 
every  result  of  repose  on  flesh  as  a  soft  substance,  and  on  bone  as  a 
hard— both  being  influenced  by  the  common  principles  of  life  and 
gravitation  ;  every  harmony  of  line  in  composition,  from  geometrical 
principle,— all  proving  the  science  of  the  artist ;  every  beauty  of  con- 
ception proving  his  genius ;  and  every  grace  of  execution  proving  that 
practice  has  given  his  hand  power,  can  be  shown  to  exist  in  the  Elgin 
Marbles.  .  .  .  Were  the  Elgin  Marbles  hist,  there  would  be  as 
great  a  gap  in  art  as  there  would  be  in  philosophy  if  Newton  had 
never  existed." — B.  R.  Hay  don. 

On  the  left  of  the  room  are  the  sculptures  from  the 
eastern  pediment  of  the  temple,  at  which  they  occupied 
platforms  at  the  two  ends,  a  much  larger  space  in  the 
middle  than  is  seen  here  having  been  filled  by  figures  which 
are  lost.  The  subject  of  the  whole  is  the  Birth  of  Athene 
from  the  brain  of  Zeus.     The  father  of  the  gods  complaining 


i;4  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

of  a  violent  pain  in  his  head,  Hephaestus  split  it  open 
with  his  axe,  when  Athene  sprang  forth  in  full  armour. 
The  central  figures  are  wanting :  those  of  which  we  see 
the  lemnants  represent  the  gods  and  goddesses  who  were 
present  at  the  event,  which  is  supposed  to  have  taken  place 
on  Olympus.  At  the  south  end  of  the  pediment  the  horres 
of  Helios,  or  the  Sun,  are  rising  from  the  waves  ;  at  the 
north  end  Selene,  or  Night,  is  going  down.  Of  the  inter- 
mediate figures  only  one  in  rapid  movement  can,  with  some 
probability,  be  identified  as  Iris,  the  messenger  of  the  gods, 
going  to  announce  the  event.  The  noble  male  figure 
reclining  on  a  rock  covered  with  a  lion's  skin  (No.  7)  has 
generally,  but  without  reason,  been  called  Theseus. 

"  I  prefer  the  Theseus  to  the  Apollo  Belvidere,  which  I  believe  to 
be  only  a  copy.  It  has  more  ideal  beauty  than  any  male  statue  I 
know." — Flaxman. 

On  the  right  are  the  remains  of  the  western  pediment, 
of  which  the  missing  portions  are  better  known  than 
those  of  the  eastern  pediment,  owing  to  the  existence  of 
drawings  taken  in  1670.  The  subject  is  the  Contest  of 
Athene,  tutelary  goddess  of  Athens,  with  Poseidon,  or 
Neptune,  who  had  inundated  Attica. 

"  1810.  I  used  to  go  down  in  the  evening  with  a  little  portfolio  and 
bribe  the  porter  at  Burlington  House,  to  which  the  Elgin  Marbles 
were  now  removed,  to  lend  me  a  lantern,  and  then,  locking  myself  in, 
take  the  candle  out  and  make  different  sketches,  till  the  cold  damp 
would  almost  put  the  candle  out.  As  the  light  streamed  across  the 
room  and  died  away  into  obscurity,  there  was  something  awful  and 
solemn  in  the  grand  forms  and  heads  and  trunks  and  fragments  of 
mighty  temples  and  columns  that  lay  scattered  about  in  sublime  insen- 
sibility,— the  remains,  the  only  actual  remains,  of  a  mighty  people. 
The  grand  back  of  the  Theseus  would  come  towering  close  to  my  eye, 
and  his  broad   shadow  spread  over  the  place  a  depth  of  mystery  and 


THE  HELLENIC  ROOM.  175 

awe.  Why  were  such  beautiful  productions  ever  suffered  to  be 
destroyed  ?  Why  in  a  succession  of  ages  has  '.he  world  again  to 
begin  ?  Why  is  knowledge  ever  suffered  to  ebb  ?  And  why  not 
allowed  to  proceed  from  where  it  left  off  to  an  endless  perfection  ? 
.  .  .  .  These  questions  would  occur  to  me  in  the  intervals  ol 
drawing,  and  perplex  my  mind  to  an  endless  musing."—  Haydon,<s 
A  utobiography* 

At  the  northern  end  of  the  room  are  some  noble  frag- 
ments from  the  Temple  of  Diana  at  Ephesus,  and  a  colossal 
lion  brought  from  a  Doric  tomb  on  a  promontory  at  Cnidus 
in  1858. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  room  is  one  of  the  Canephorae 
of  the  Erectheum,  a  temple  at  Athens  dedicated  jointly 
to  Athene  Polias  and  Pandrosos,  daughter  of  Kekrops. 
The  portico  of  this  temple,  called  the  Pandroseion,  and 
its  Canephorse,  have  been  imitated  at  St.  Pancras  Church  in 
the  New  Road. 

The  Hellenic  Room  (entered  from  the  east  of  the  Elgin 
Room)  is  surrounded  by  reliefs  from  the  Temple  of  Apollo 
Epicurius  (or  the  Deliverer),  discovered  in  1S12  on  the  site 
of  Phigalia  in  Arcadia  ;  they  represent  contests  between  the 
Lapithse  and  Centaurs,  and  between  the  Greeks  and  Amazons. 
Though  beautiful  in  composition,  they  are  full  of  gross  dis- 
proportions and  mannerisms,  and  are  immeasurably  inferior 
to  the  Elgin  Marbles,  though,  at  the  time  of  their  arrival  in 
England  (18 16),  they  were  attributed  to  the  hand  of  Phidias, 
an  honour  which  was  denied  to  the  great  marbles  of  the 
Parthenon. 

Here  are  two  statues  of  an  Athlete  binding  his  head  with  a  fillet 
»-from  the  Farnese  Collection. 

From  the  east   side  of  the    Hellenic   Room    we   enter 


i;6  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

the  Assyrian  Galleries,  filled  with  the  sculptures  brought 
by  Mr.  Layard  from  the  Assyrian  ruins  of  Nimroud, 
Kouyunjik,  and  Khorsabad  in  1847 — 5©.  Taking  the 
later  monuments  first,  we  enter,  by  a  door  on  the  left,  the 
Kouyunjik  Gallery,  lined  with  sculptures  brought  from  an 
Assyrian  edifice  at  Kouyunjik  (opposite  Mosul,  on  the 
Tigris),  supposed  to  have  been  the  palace  of  Sennacherib. 
Kouyunjik  is  believed  to  have  been  Nineveh  itself,  while 
the  mound  now  called  Nimroud,  which  is  twenty  miles 
below  the  modern  Mosul,  is  believed  to  have  been  the 
Calah  of  Scripture  (Gen.  x.  8 — 11). 

The  first  series  of  slabs  (Nos.  2  to  44)  in  the  Kouyunjik  Gallery 
represent  events  in  the  history  of  Sennacherib,  especially  his  expedi- 
tion against  Merodach  Baladan  (Jeremiah  1.  2),  the  king  who  sent 
letters  to  Hezekiah  (Isaiah  xxxix.  1),  and  to  whose  messenger  the 
Jewish  monarch  exhibited  all  the  treasures  of  his  house. 

The  second  series,  of  later  date  (Nos.  45  to  50),  exhibit  the  vic- 
tories of  Assurbanipal,  grandson  of  Sennacherib,  over  the  Elamites. 

The  remaining  slabs  are  of  the  period  of  Sennacherib  (Isaiah 
xxxvii.  37),  and  illustrate  his  conquests  and  the  employment  of  his 
prisoners  in  his  architectural  works.  In  Nos.  51,  52,  and  53  they 
are  represented  dragging  to  their  sites  the  human-headed  bulls  which 
may  be  seen  in  the  next  room. 

No.  1  is  a  cast  from  a  Relief  of  Esarhaddon,  son  of  Sennacherib 
(2  Kings  xix.  37  ;  Ezra  iv.  2),  on  a  rock  at  the  mouth  of  the  Nahr  el 
Kelb  River,  near  Beyrout  in  Syria. 

Returning  to  the  Nimroud  Central  Saloon,  we  find — 

Left.  Reliefs  from  the  Palace  of  Nimroud  (Calah),  supposed  to 
have  been  constructed  by  Esarhaddon.  An  inscription  on  one  of 
these  records  the  payment  of  tribute  by  Menahem,  King  of  Israel 
(2  Kings  xv.  20),  and  so  indicates  that  the  sculpture  was  made 
for  Tiglath  Pileser  II.,  and  transferred  by  Esarhaddon  to  his  own 
palace. 

Right.  A  ( olossal  head  of  a  human-headed  bull,  the  largest  yet 
found,  believed  to  be  of  the  time  of  Esarhaddon. 


ASSYRIAN  GALLERIES.  177 

(Beyond  the  door  to  the  Hellenic  Room)  Reliefs  representing  a 
siege.  On  one  of  these  are  two  heads,  shown  by  an  inscription  to 
represent  Tiglath  Pileser  II.  and  an  attendant  (2  Kings  xiv.  29, 
xvi.  7  ;   1  Chron.  v.  6,  26;  2  Chron.  xxviii.  20). 

In  the  centre  of  the  room,  a  black  marble  Obelisk,  found  near  the 
centre  of  the  great  mound  of  Nimroud.  Its  reliefs  record  the  annals 
of  Shalmaneser  (2  Kings  xvii.  3)  for  thirty-one  years,  beginning  c.  B.C. 
860.  They  exhibit  various  tributary  kings  bringing  offerings, 
amongst  whom  the  inscriptions  mention  "  Jehu  of  the  House  of  Oniri," 
King  of  Israel,  and  Hazael,  King  of  Syria. 

Opposite  are  two  round-headed  tablets,  with  reliefs  and  inscriptions 
of  Shalmaneser  and  Assur-izir-pal ;  on  one  of  them  Ahab  is  men- 
tioned. 

The  colossal  lion  at  the  door  of  the  Kouyunjik  Gallery  decorated  a 
doorway  in  a  small  temple  in  the  north-west  quarter  of  Nimroud.  By 
its  side  was  the  small  statue  which  stands  near  it  (on  its  original 
pedestal),  representing  Assur-izir-pal. 

Opposite  are  a  colossal  winged  and  human-headed  lion  and  a  bull, 
from  the  north-western  edifice  of  Nimroud.  Those  who  look  upon 
these  gigantic  remains  will  read  with  interest  Mr.  Layard's  thrilling 
account  of  their  discovery  beneath  the  green  mounds  which  now  alone 
mark  the  great  cities  of  Assyria  (Isaiah  xxv.  2) : — 

"  What  more  noble  forms  could  have  ushered  the  people  into  the 
temples  of  their  gods  ?  What  more  sublime  images  could  have  been 
borrowed  from  nature,  by  men  who  sought,  unaided  by  the  light  of 
revealed  religion,  to  embody  their  conception  of  the  wisdom,  power, 
and  ubiquity  of  a  Supreme  Being  ?  They  could  find  no  better  type  of 
intellect  and  modesty  than  the  head  of  the  man  ;  of  strength,  than  the 
body  of  the  lion ;  of  rapidity  of  motion,  than  the  wings  of  the  bird. 
These  winged  human-headed  lions  were  not  idle  creations,  the  off- 
spring of  mere  fancy  :  their  meaning  was  written  upon  them.  They 
had  awed  and  instructed  races  which  flourished  3,000  years  ago. 
Through  the  portals  which  they  guarded,  kings,  priests,  and  warriors 
had  borne  sacrifices  to  their  altars,  long  before  the  wisdom  of  the  East 
had  penetrated  to  Greece,  and  had  furnished  its  mythology  with  sym  • 
bols  long  recognised  by  the  Assyrian  votaries.  They  may  have  been 
buried  and  their  existence  may  have  been  unknown  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  eternal  city.  For  twenty-five  centuries  they  have  been 
hidden  from  the  eye  of  man." — Layard's  Nineveh. 

The  Nimroud  Gallery  is  filled  with  slabs  which  continue 
the   history  of  Assur-izir-pal  (b.c.  880),  the  earliest  Assyrian 
VOL.  u.  N 


r?8  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

monarch  of  whom  any  large  monuments  have  been  found. 
We  may  especially  notice — 

No.  20,  as  representing  the  King,  in  a  rich  dress  with  a  royal  cap,  and 
a  sword. 

No.  29,  as  representing  Dagon,  or  the  Fish-god.  (See  Judges  xvi. 
23 ;   1  Samuel  v.  2,  3,  4,  7  ;    1  Chron.  x.  10.) 

No.  33,  an  eagle-headed  god,  supposed  to  represent  Nisroch,  in  whose 
temple  Sennacherib  was  murdered  by  Adrammelech  and  Sharezer 
(2  Kings  xix.  37). 

At  the  north-west  angle  of  the  Nimroud  Gallery  is  the 
door  leading  to  the  Assyrian  Side  Room,  containing — 

A  four-sided  stela  of  limestone  with  a  relief  of  King  Simsivul,  son 
of  Shalmaneser — from  the  south-eastern  edifice  of  Nimroud. 

(In  the  cases)  Curious  cylinders  of  terra-cotta.  One  of  them  is  in- 
scribed with  the  history  of  the  first  eight  expeditions  of  Sennacherib, 
including  that  against  Judaea  (2  Kings  xviii.  13). 

Hence  a  staircase  leads  to  the  Assyrian  Basement  Room, 
surrounded  with  reliefs  which  portray  the  history  of  Assur- 
banipal  (Sardanapalus),  grandson  of  Sennacherib,  and  his 
wars  with  the  Arabians. 

"  She  doted  upon  the  Assyrians  her  neighbours,  captains  and  rulers 
clothed  most  gorgeously,  horsemen  riding  upon  horses.  .  .  .  She 
saw  men  portrayed  upon  the  wall,  the  images  of  the  Chaldeans  por- 
trayed with  vermilion,  girded  with  girdles  upon  their  loins,  exceeding 
in  dyed  attire  upon  their  heads,  all  of  them  princes  to  look  to,  after 
the  manner  of  the  Babylonians  of  Chaldea,  the  land  of  their  nativity." 
— Ezekiel  xxiii.  12,  14,  15. 

We  must  now  return  through  the  Nimroud  Gallery  and 
the  Assyrian  Transept,  whencj  we  enter  the  Egyptian 
Galleries.  The  larger  monuments  here  are,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, arranged  chronologically,  and,  ascending  to  at  least 
2,oco  years  before  the  Christian  era,  close  with  the  Mahom- 


EGYPTIAN  GALLERIES.  ryq 

medan  invasion  of  Egypt,  a.d.  640.     We  may  especially 
notice — 

Southern  Gallery.    ■ 

In  the  centre.  The  famous  Rosetta  Stone.  Its  three  inscriptions 
are  to  the  same  purport — i.e.  a  decree  of  the  priesthood  at  Memphis 
c.  B.C.  196  in  honour  of  Ptolemy  Epiphanes.  This  has  furnished  the 
key  to  the  knowledge  of  Egyptian  characters,  as  one  inscription  is  in 
Greek,  while  the  others  are  in  Hieroglyphic  and  Enchorial,  the  two 
forms  of  the  Egyptian  language.  The  stone  was  found  amongst  the 
remains  of  a  temple  dedicated  by  Pharaoh-Necho  to  the  god  Necho, 
near  the  Rosetta  mouth  of  the  Nile. 

The  splendid  black  Sarcophagus  of  Ankhsenpiraneferhat,  daughter 
of  Sammeticus  II.,  and  Queen  of  Amasis  II.,  B.C.  538 — 527. 

Statue  of  Sekhet  (Pasht),  inscribed  with  the  name  of  Sheshonk  I. 
(Shishak)— from  Carnac.     (See  I  Kings  xiv.  25;  2  Cliron.  xii.  5,  7.) 

Sarcophagus  of  Nekhterhebi  (Nectanabes),  B.C.  378 — 360 — from 
Alexandria. 

Statue  of  Rameses  II. — from  the  tombs  of  the  kings  at  Thebes. 

The  Cefitral  Saloon  contains — 

Monuments  of  the  age  of  Rameses  II.,  the  Sesostris  of  the  Greeks, 
especially  the  upper  part  of  a  gigantic  statue  of  that  king  from  the 
Memnonium  of  Thebes. 

In  the  Northern  Gallery  are — 

Two  granite  lions  dedicated  by  Amenophis  III.  (Memnon),  and 
inscriptions  and  statues  in  honour  of  that  king,  under  whose  rule  Egypt 
was  especially  prosperous. 

Colossal  Head  and  Relief  of  Thothmes  HI. — from  Karnak. 

At  the  end  of  the  Northern  Gallery  a  staircase  (lined 
with  Egyptian  papyri,  showing  the  three  forms  of  writing 
— Hieroglyphic,  Hieratic,  and  Enchorial),  leads  to  the 
Egyptian  Ante-Room,  lined  with  reliefs.  In  this  and  the 
succeeding  rooms  it  is  unnecessary  to  notice  the  contents 
in  detail.  Each  object  is  admirably  described  on  a  label 
placed  beneath  it,  and  its  position  will  probably  be  changed 


180  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

in  a  short  lime.  The  Zoological  Collections  will  be  removed 
to  South  Kensington  as  soon  as  the  galleries  intended  for 
their  reception  are  completed.  The  present  order  of  the 
Rooms  (1877)  is — 

The  First  Egyptian  Room. 

The  Second  Egyptian  Room,  which  also  contains  the  collections  of 
ancient  Glass. 

The  First  Vase  Room.  The  vases  are  chiefly  of  Greek  fabric,  and 
are  decorated  with  subjects  from  the  divine  or  heroic  legends  of  the 
Greeks.  Notice  especially  in  the  last  table-case  on  the  right  a  vase 
with  Aphrodite  on  a  wild  swan  painted  on  a  white  ground. 

The  Second  Vase  Room. 

(Notice  especially)  Right.  Wall  Cases.  The  black  Vases  with  gilt 
ornaments  found  by  Castellani  at  Capua. 

Right.  1st  7 able  Case.  A  Duck  as  a  toilet  ornament,  of  an  exqui- 
site enamel,  adopted  by  the  Greeks  from  Egypt. 

Left.  1st  Table  Case.  A  number  of  Curses  on  those  who  had 
offended  the  writers,  fixed  in  the  temple  of  the  infernal  deities  (Pluto, 
Demeter,  Persephone).  The  usual  form  is  "  May  they  never  find 
Proserpine  propitious."  Sometimes  the  saving  clause,  "  but  with  me 
may  it  be  well,"  is  added. 

An  Urn  for  bones,  with  the  fee  for  Charon,  which  was  placed  in  the 
mouth  of  the  dead. 

A  number  of  powerful  little  figures  from  Tanagora  in  Bceotia. 
One  of  an  old  nurse  is  very  amusing. 

Left.  Table  Case  L.  I.  An  Amphora  with  the  surprise  of  Helen 
by  Peleus  from  Causicus  in  Rhodes.  Secured  for  the  Museum  after  a 
sharp  competition  with  the  Empress  Eugenie. 

Left.  Wall  Cases.  29 — 31.  Specimens  of  Pompeian  art — good, 
though  few.  The  dawn  of  the  Venetian  style  of  colouring  may  be  seen 
here. 

The  Bronze  Room. 

Central  Table.  The  glorious  head  of  Artemis  found  in  Armenia — 
from  the  Castellani  Collection. 

Left.  Table  Case  E.  Winged  head  of  Hypnos,  the  god  of  sleep, 
found  at  Perugia. 

Icoric  bust,  from  Cyrene,  with  enamelled  eyes. 

The  Payne  Knight  Mercury,  on  its  original  base  inlaid  with  silver. 
The  Satyr  Marsyas  in  the  act  of  stepping  back  as  Athena  threw 
down  the  flute.     The  subiect  is  known  from  a  relief. 


THE  KING'S  LIBRARY.  i8r 

Beautiful  lamp  representing  a  Greyhound's  head  with  a  Hare's  head 
in  its  mouth — from  Nocera. 

Wall  Case,  left.     A  Philosopher — from  the  harbour  of  Rhodes. 

The  British  and  Alediceval  Room. 

Right.  Wall  Case  70.  Bust  of  the  Emperor  Hadrian,  found  in 
the  Thames. 

Helmet  like  a  mask,  found  at  Ribchester  in  Lancashire,  the  hair 
waving  into  the  battlements  of  a  city. 

Right.  1st  Table  Case.  Bronze  statuette  of  the  Emperor  Severus, 
with  an  enamel  breast-plate. 

The  Collection  of  Gems  and  Gold  Ornaments.  Here  the  famous 
Portland  Vase  is  preserved,  which  was  found  early  in  the  seventeenth 
century  in  the  Monte  del  Grano  near  Rome,  and  placed  in  the  Bar- 
berini  Palace.  Hence  it  was  purchased  by  Sir  W.  Hamilton,  and  sold 
to  the  Duchess  of  Portland.  It  is  still  the  property  of  the  Portland 
family.  It  was  smashed  to  pieces  by  a  madman  in  1845,  but  has  been 
wonderfully  well  restored. 

The  Ethnographical  Room. 

The  Central  Saloon  (Zoological — two  small  rooms  on  the  east  of  this 
are  devoted  to  the  Botanical  Collections). 

The  Southern  Zoological  Gallery. 

The  Mammalia  Saloon. 

The  Eastern  Zoological  Gallery.  (Here,  above  the  cases,  are  a 
series  of  Portraits,  including  several  of  much  interest,  but,  in  their 
present  position,  they  are  almost  invisible.) 

The  Northern  Zoological  Gallery. 

The  North  Gallery  (of  Minerals  and  Fossils),  entered  from  the  lobby 
at  the  end  of  the  Eastern  Zoological  Gallery. 

Descending  the  staircase  at  the  end  of  the  Eastern 
Zoological  Gallery,  we  come  to  the  King's  Library, 
devoted  to  the  books  collected  by  George  III.,  and 
acquired  by  the  nation  under  George  IV.  The  glass  cases 
in  this  room  are  devoted  to  Specimens  of  the  Arts  of  Print- 
ing and  Illustration,  from  the  earliest  times  in  England 
and  other  countries,  and  Books  containing  Historic  Auto- 
graphs. 

The  Manuscript  Saloon  has  a  Number  of  cases  which 
exhibit,  among  other  curiosities — 


1 8a  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

The  MS.  Prayer-book  used  by  Lady  Jane  Grey  on  the  scafloM. 

The  Draft  of  the/ Will  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  written  by  her  at 
Sheffield,  1577. 

The  Agreement  signed  by  Milton  for  the  sale  of  "  Paradise  Lost," 
April  27,  1667. 

An  autograph  sketch  by  Lord  Nelson,  describing  the  Battle  of 
the  Nile. 

An  autograph  note  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington  written  on  the  Field 
of  Waterloo. 

MS.  works  of  Ben  Jonson,  John  Locke,  Rousseau,  Walter 
Scott,  &c. 

Autograph  Letters  of  Ariosto,  Galileo,  Calvin,  Luther,  Erasmus, 
Melancthon,  More,  Sidney,  Raleigh,  Knox,  Bacon,  Hampden,  Peun, 
Newton,  Addison,  Dryden,  Prior,  Swift  Racine,  Voltaire,  Johnson, 
Byron,  Southey,  Washington,  Franklin,  &c. 

The  Grenville  Library  contains  the  valuable  collection  of 
books  bequeathed  to  the  nation  by  the  Right  Hon.  Thomas 
Grenville  in  1847. 

The  Medal  and  Print  Rooms  are  only  shown  by  especial 
permission.  In  the  Print  Room  is  an  exquisite  collection 
of  Drawings  and  Sketches  by  the  Great  Masters.  From  the 
centre  of  the  Entrance  Hall  we  enter  (with  a  ticket 
obtained  on  the  right  of  the  main  entrance)  the  magnificent 
circular  Reading  Room  of  the  Library. 

Open  daily  except  Sundays,  Christmas  Day,  Ash  Wednesday,  and 
Good  Friday — and  between  the  1st  and  "th  of  January,  the  1st  and 
7th  of  May,  and  the  1st  and  7th  of  September,  inclusive. 

A  printed  ticket  giving  permission  to  read  for  six  months  is  granted 
on  presenting  a  written  application,  with  a  recommendation  from  a 
London  householder,  to  the  principal  Librarian.  This  ticket  is 
renewed  on  application.  Persons  under  twenty-one  years  of  age  are 
not  admitted. 

The  Reading  Room,  built  from  designs  of  Sydney  Smirke, 
occupies  the  central  court  of  the  Museum,  and  is  one  hundred 


BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE.  183 

and  forty  feet  in  diameter,  and  one  hundred  and  six  feet  high. 
The  reading-tables  converge  to  a  common  centre  occupied 
by  the  circular  tables  containing  the  catalogue. 


Returning  to  Oxford  Street,  on  the  left,  at  the  corner  of 
Hart  Street,  is  the  Church  of  St.  George,  Bioomsbury, 
built  by  Nicholas  Hawksmoor,  1731.  It  has  a  very  hand- 
some portico,  but  a  most  ridiculous  steeple,  planned  from 
the  description  in  Pliny  of  the  tomb  of  King  Mausolus  in 
Caria,  and  surmounted  by  a  statue  of  George  I.,  whence 
the  epigram — 

"  When  Harry  the  Eighth  left  the  Pope  in  the  lurch, 
The  Protestants  made  him  the  head  of  the  Church  ; 
But  George's  good  subjects,  the  Bioomsbury  people, 
Instead  of  the  church,  made  him  head  of  the  steeple."  • 

There  is  a  tablet  here  to  the  great  Earl  of  Mansfield,  who 
lived  hard  by  in  Bioomsbury  Square,  where  his  house  and 
library  were  destroyed  in  the  Gordon  riots  of  1780.  In  the 
porch  is  a  monument,  with  lines  by  Sir  John  Hawkins,  to 
the  popular  and  benevolent  Justice  Welch,  the  friend  of 
Dr.  Johnson,  who  at  one  time  thought  of  proposing  to 
his  sister  Mary,  afterwards  married  to  Nollekens,  the 
sculptor. 

[Southampton  Street  leads  from  Oxford  Street  (left)  into 
Bioomsbury  Square,  called  Southampton  Square  when  it  was 
first  built,  in  1665,  by  Thomas  Wriothesley,  Earl  of  South- 
ampton, father  of  Lady  Rachel  Russell.  His  house — 
Southampton  House — occupied  the  whole  north  side  of  the 
square  till    1S00.      In   its    early  days    this   square  was  so 

*  This  sUeple  is  seen  in  tho  back  of  Hogarth's  "  Gin  Lane." 


1 84  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

fashionable   that    "foreign    princes    were   carried   to    see 
Bloomsbury  Square  as  one  of  the  wonders  of  England." 

"  In  Palace-yard,  at  nine,  you'll  find  me  there, 
At  ten,  for  certain,  sir,  in  Bloomsbury  Square." — Pope. 

Among  the  residents  in  the  square  were  the  Earl  of 
Chesterfield,  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  Lord  Mansfield,  and  Dr. 
Radcliffe.  Disraeli's  "Curiosities  of  Literature"  were 
written  in  No.  6.  Richard  Baxter  lived  in  the  square,  and 
here  his  wife  died,  June  14,  16S1.  On  the  north  side  is 
a  seated  statue  (bronze)  of  Charles  James  Fox,  by  West- 
macott. 

Opposite  this,  Bedford  Place  (occupying  the  site  of  the 
old  house  of  the  Dukes  of  Bedford,  pulled  down  in  1800) 
leads  into  Russell  Square,  a  name  which  will  recall  to  many 
minds  the  homes  of  the  Selbys  and  Osbornes  in  Thackeray's 
"  Vanity  Fair."  On  its  north  side  is  a  seated  statue  of 
Francis  Russell,  Duke  of  Bedford,  by  Westmacott.  It  was 
in  No.  21  that  Sir  Samuel  Romilly  died  by  his  own  hand 
in  1818.  In  No.  66,  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  who  had  lived 
and  painted  in  that  house  for  twenty-five  years,  died 
January  7,  1830.  Cossacks,  "  mounted  on  their  small 
white  horses,  with  their  long  spears  grounded,"*  stood 
sentinels  at  its  door  while  he  was  painting  their  general, 
Platoff.  From  the  north-west  angle  of  Bedford  Square  we 
may  proceed,  through  Woburn  Square,  to  Gordon  Square, 
containing  the  modern  Catholic  Apostolic  (Irvingite)  Church, 
a  very  handsome  building  in  the  Early  English  style,  by 
Brandon  and  Ritchie. 

Parallel  with  Bedford  Place  was  Upper  Montague  Street, 

•  Rev.  J.  Mitford  in  the  Gent.  Mag.,  Jan.,  1818. 


THE  FOUNDLING  HOSPITAL.  85 

behind  which  was  "  the  Field  of  Forty  Footsteps."  Leg  jnd 
tells  that  two  brothers  were  in  love  with  one  lady,  who 
would  not  declare  which  she  preferred,  but  sate  in  the  field 
to  watch  the  duel  which  was  fatal  to  both  j  and  that  the 
bank  where  she  sate,  and  the  footprints  of  the  brothers, 
never  bore  grass  again. 

On  the  east  side  of  Russell  Square  opens  Guildford  Street, 
which  leads  to  the  Foundlitig  Hospital,  founded  in  1739  by 
the  benevolent  Thomas  Coram,  captain  of  a  trading  vessel, 
for  "  the  reception,  maintenance,  and  education  of  exposed 
and  deserted  young  children."  In  1760,  the  Institution 
ceased  to  be  a  "  Foundling  "  Hospital  except  in  name,  but 
is  still  applied  to  the  reception  of  illegitimate  children. 
The  girls  wear  brown  dresses  with  white  caps,  tuckers,  and 
aprons  :  the  boys  have  red  sashes  and  cap-bands. 

A  characteristic  statue  of  Coram  by  Calder  Marshall 
stands  on  the  gates  leading  into  the  wide  open  space  in 
front  of  the  Hospital.  On  Mondays,  between  ten  and  four, 
visitors  are  admitted  to  see  the  collection  of  pictures,  for 
the  most  part  presented  to  the  Hospital  by  their  artists. 
The  works  of  Hogarth,  who  was  a  great  benefactor  to  the 
charity,  were  first  publicly  exhibited  here,  and  the  interest 
they  excited  may  be  considered  to  have  suggested  the  first 
exhibition  of  the  Royal  Academy,  The  collection  is  im- 
portant as  containing  two  great  works  of  Hogarth,  and 
interesting  as  being  generally  illustrative  of  the  works  of  the 
earlier  British  artists,  and  for  its  views  of  the  charitable  insti- 
tutions of  London  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

First  Room. 

P.  van  Schendel.     A  Poulterer's  Shop. 

A.  Tidanand.     A  Mother  teaching  her  Boy  to  read. 


itib  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

*  Hogarth.  1 750.  The  March  to  Finchley.  This  famous  picture 
was  disposed  of  by  a  lottery  of  2,000  tickets.  Hogarth  sold  1,843 
chances,  and  gave  the  remaining  157  to  the  Hospital,  which  drew  the 
prize. 

Sir  G.  Kneller.    Portrait  of  Handel. 

Second  Room. 

Wale.     Greenwich  Hospital.     1746. 

Highmore.     Hagar  and  Ishmael.     Gen.  xxi.  17. 

Haytley.     Bethlem  Hospital.     1746. 

Gainsborough.     The  Charter-House.     1746. 

Wale.     Christ's  Hospital.     1746. 

Haytley.     Chelsea  Hospital.     1746. 

Hayman.     Pharaoh's  daughter  giving  Moses  to  nurse.     Ex.  ii.  9. 

Wale.     St.  Thomas's  Hospital.     1746. 

Wilson.     St.  George's  Hospital.     1746. 

Hogarth.     Moses  brought  to  Pharaoh's  daughter.     Ex.  ii.  10. 

Wilson.     The  Foundling  Hospital.     1740. 

Fourth  Room. 

Raffaelle.  Cartoon  of  the  Massacre  of  the  Innocents— bequeathed 
by  Prince  Hoare. 

Collet.     The  Press  Gang. 

Hudson.     Portrait  of  John  Miluer. 

Allan  Ramsay.     Portrait  of  Dr.  Mead.     1746. 

Sir  J.  Reynolds.     Portrait  of  Lord  Dartmouth. 

Highmore.     Portrait  of  Thomas  Emerson.     1746. 

Shackleton.     Portrait  of  George  II.     X758. 

Wilson.     Portrait  of  the  Earl  of  Macclesfield.     1760. 

*  Hogarth.     Portrait  of  Captain  Thomas  Coram.     1740. 

"The  portrait  I  painted  with  most  pleasure,  and  in  which  I  par- 
ticularly wished  to  excel,  was  that  of  Captain  Coram  for  the  Foundling 
Hospital ;  and  if  I  am  so  wretched  an  artist  as  my  enemies  assert,  it  is 
somewhat  strange  that  this,  which  was  one  of  the  first  I  painted  the 
size  of  life,  should  stand  the  test  of  twenty  years'  competition,  and  be 
generally  thought  the  best  portrait  in  the  place,  notwithstanding  the 
first  painters  in  the  kingdom  exerted  all  their  talents  to  vie  with  it." — 
Hogarth. 

Wilson.  Portrait  of  Francis  Fauquier,  Lieut. -Governor  of  Virginia, 
1760. 


HO  L  BORN.  I«7 

In  this  room  are  preserved  a  sketch  for  the  Arms  of  the  Hospital. 
presented  by  Hogarth;  the  pocket-book  of  Captain  Coram,  1729;  and 
the  MS.  of  the  Messiah — the  score  and  all  the  parts— bequeathed  »  • 
the  Hospital  by  the  will  of  the  great  composer.  A  line  bust  of  Ilandtl 
is  by  Roubiliac. 


In  the  Chapel  Handel  performed  his  oratorio  of  the 
Messiah  in  aid  of  the  funds  of  the  Hospital  with  a  result 
of  ^7,000.  The  existing  organ  was  given  by  Handel.  The 
altar-piece  of  Christ  blessing  little  children  is  by  West. 
At  the  suggestion  of  Handel,  the  singing  has  been  kept 
up,  with  a  view  to  the  contributions  at  the  doors  after 
the  services.  Tenterden,  the  Canterbury  barber's  boy  who 
rose  to  become  Chief  Justice  of  England  {pb.  1832),  is  buried 
in  the  chapel.  The  Founder  was  the  first  person  buried  in 
the  vaults. 

Behind  the  Hospital  is  the  Cemetery  of  St.  George  the 
Martyr,  where  Robert  Nelson,  the  friend  of  the  Nonjurors, 
is  buried,  with  an  epitaph  of  eighty  lines  on  his  gravestone. 
Here  also  are  the  graves  of  Jonathan  Richardson,  the 
painter,  1771  ;  John  Campbell,  author  of  the  "  Lives  of  the 
Admirals,"  1775;  an(^  Zachary  Macaulay,  father  of  the 
historian,  1838.] 

Beyond  the  opening  of  Southampton  Street,  the  name  of 
the  street  along  which  we  have  been  walking  so  longis  changed. 
It  is  no  longer  Oxford  Street.  In  other  parts  of  London 
we  have  already  seen  how  great  a  feature  of  the  London  of 
the  Henrys  and  Edwards  were  the  numerous  streams  which 
rose  on  the  different  hill-sides,  and  flowed  towards  the 
Thames  or  the  Fleet,  and  which  are  now  either  swallowed 
up  or  arched  over,  though  they  sometimes  leave  the  associa- 
tion of  their  name  to  a  street  which  marks  their  rise  or  theu 


1 88  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

course.  One  of  the  most  important  of  these  streamlets,  one 
which  flowed  down  the  steep  hill-side  to  join  the  Turnmill 
Brook  where  Faningdon  Street  row  stands,  was  the  Old 
Bourne  or  Hill  Bourne,  which  broke  out  at  the  point  now 
called  Holborn  Bars,  and  which,  though  it  has  totally  dis- 
appeared now,  still  gives  a  name  to  the  Old  Bourne  or 
Holborn  Hill.  Till  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  this 
hill  was  almost  in  the  open  country,  and,  in  the  old  maps  of 
1560,  only  a  single  row  of  houses  will  be  seen  on  the  north 
side  of  the  thoroughfare.  The  street  called  Field  Lane 
was  a  path  between  open  fields,  and  Saffron  Hill  was  an 
open  park  attached  to  the  gardens  of  Ely  House,  and  famous 
for  its  saffron.  To  the  south  were  the  broad  acres  of 
pasturage  called  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  and  barriers  were 
erected  to  prevent  the  cattle  which  fed  there  from  straying 
into  the  neighbouring  highway,  which  are  still  commemo- 
rated in  the  openings  called  Great,  Little,  and  New  Turn- 
stile. Gerard  the  herbalist,  writing  in  1597,  mentions  the 
large  garden  behind  his  house  in  Holborn,  and  the  number 
of  rare  plants  which  grew  there. 

Holborn,  which  escaped  the  Great  Fire,  still  contains 
many  old  houses  anterior  to  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  those 
beyond  Holborn  Bars  to  the  west  being  outside  the  liberties 
of  the  City.  Milton  lived  here  from  1647  to  I649,  and  here 
wrote  his  "Tenure  of  Kings  and  Magistrates,"  "Eicono- 
clastes,"  and  the  "  Defence  of  the  People  of  England  against 
Salmasius."  The  hill  of  Holborn  was  called  the  "  Heavy 
Hill,"  for  by  it  the  condemned  were  driven  to  Tyburn  from 
Newgate  and  the  Tower,  wearing  on  their  breasts  the  nosegays 
which,  by  old  custom,  were  always  presented  to  them  as 
they  reached  St.  Sepulchre's  Church.     Often  their  progress 


HOLBORN.  189 

was  almost  triumphal  as  they  passed  between  the  crowded 
windows  on  either  side  the  way.  Gay  in  the  Edgars' 
Opera  makes  one  of  his  characters,  Polly,  say  of  Captain 
Macheath,  "  Methinks  I  see  him  already  in  the  cart,  sweeter 
and  more  lovely  than  the  nosegay  in  his  hand  !  I  hear 
the  crowd  extolling  his  resolution  and  intrepidity!  What 
volleys  of  sighs  are  sent  from  the  windows  of  Holborn  that 
so  comely  a  youth  should  be  brought  to  the  sack  ! "  And 
Swift,  describing  the  last  hours  of  Tom  Clinch,  says — 

"As  clever  Tom  Clinch,  while  the  rabble  was  bawling, 
Rode  stately  through  Holborn  to  die  at  his  calling, 
He  stopt  at  the  George  for  a  bottle  of  sack, 
And  promised  to  pay  for  it  when  he  came  back. 
His  waistcoat,  and  stockings,  and  breeches  were  white; 
His  cap  had  a  new  cherry-ribbon  to  tie  't. 
The  maids  to  the  doors  and  the  balconies  ran, 
And  said  '  Lack-a-day,  he's  a  proper  young  man  ! ' 
And  as  from  the  windows  the  ladies  he  spied, 
Like  a  beau  in  a  box  he  bow'd  low  on  each  side ! 
•  ****• 

Then  follow  the  practice  of  clever  Tom  Clinch, 
Who  hung  like  a  hero,  and  never  would  ilinch." 

Opening  from  Holborn  on  the  left  is  Kingsgate  Street, 
leading  into  Theobald 's  Road,  which  marks  the  private  road 
of  James  I.  to  his  palace  at  Theobald's.  Pepys  describes 
Charles  II.  as  being  upset  in  his  coach  in  Kingsgate  Street, 
with  the  Duke  of  York,  Duke  of  Monmouth,  and  Prince 
Rupert.  The  next  street,  Dean  Street,  leads  into  Red  Lion 
Square,  so  called  from  the  Red  Lion  Inn,  whither  the  bodies 
of  Cromwell,  Ireton,  and  Bradshaw  were  brought  when 
exhumed  from  Westminster  Abbey,  to  be  dragged  the  next 
day  on  sledges  to  Tyburn.  In  No.  13  lived  and  died 
Jonas  Hanway,  the   traveller,  who  was  the  first  person   in 


igo  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

England  who  carried  an  umbrella,  and  he  only  died  in 
1786  !  The  handsome  brick  Church  of  St.  John  the  Evan- 
gelist, on  the  west  of  the  square,  was  built  1876 — 78.  On 
the  right  of  Holborn,  between  it  and  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  is 
Whetstone  Park,  of  immoral  reputation,  constantly  alluded 
to  by  the  dramatists  and  satirists  of  the  last  century. 
Houses  were  first  built  here,  in  the  time  of  Charles  I.,  by 
W.  Whetstone,  vestryman  of  St.  Giles's.  On  the  left  is 
Fulwood's  Rents,  where  Squire's  Coffee  House  stood,  whence 
several  numbers  of  the  Spectator  are  dated.  It  is  now  a 
most  miserable  court,  but  there  is  a  curious  old  house  on  its 
east  side.  On  the  south  side  of  Holborn  (opposite  the 
opening  of  Red  Lion  Street),  where  the  Inns  of  Court 
Hotel  now  stands,  No.  270  was  the  Blue  Boar  Inn  (now 
removed  to  285),  where  the  famous  letter  of  Charles  I.  to 
Henrietta  Maria  was  intercepted  by  Cromwell  and  Iieton. 

"  There  came  a  letter  from  one  of  our  spies,  who  was  of  the  king's 
bedchamber,  which  acquainted  us  that  on  that  day  our  final  doom  was 
decreed ;  that  he  could  not  possibly  tell  what  it  was,  but  that  we 
might  find  it  out,  if  we  could  intercept  a  letter  sent  from  the  king  to 
the  queen,  wherein  he  declared  what  he  would  do.  The  letter,  he 
said,  was  sewed  up  in  the  skirt  of  a  saddle,  and  the  bearer  of  it  would 
come  with  the  saddle  upon  his  head,  about  ten  of  the  clock  that  night, 
to  the  Blue  Boar  Inn  in  Holborn  ;  for  there  he  was  to  take  horse  and 
go  to  Dover  with  it.  This  messenger  knew  nothing  of  the  letter  in 
the  saddle,  but  some  persons  at  Dover  did.  We  were  at  Windsor 
when  we  received  this  letter,  and  immediately  upon  the  receipt  of  it 
Ireton  and  I  resolved  to  take  one  trusty  fellow  with  us,  and  with 
trooper's  habits  to  go  to  the  Inn  in  Holborn  ;  which  accordingly  we 
did,  and  set  our  man  at  the  gate  of  the  Inn,  where  the  wicket  only  was 
open  to  let  people  in  and  out.  Our  man  was  to  give  us  notice  when 
anyone  came  with  a  saddle,  whilst  we  in  the  disguise  of  common 
troopers  called  for  cans  of  beer,  and  continued  drinking  till  about  ten 
o'clock.  The  sentinel  at  the  gate  then  gave  notice  that  the  man  with 
the  saddle  was  come  in.     Upon  this  we  immediately  arose,  and,  as  the 


GRAY'S  INN  LANE.  I9I 

man  was  leading  out  his  horse  saddled,  came  un  to  him  with  drawn 
swords  and  told  him  that  we  were  to  search  his  saddle  and  so  dismiss 
him.  Upon  that  we  ungirt  the  saddle  and  carried  it  into  the  stall 
where  we  had  been  drinking,  and  left  the  horseman  with  our  sentinel : 
then,  ripping  up  one  of  the  skirts  of  the  saddle,  we  there  found  the 
letter  of  which  we  had  been  informed,  and  having  got  it  into  our 
own  hands,  we  delivered  the  saddle  again  to  the  man,  telling  him  he 
was  an  honest  man,  and  bid  him  go  about  his  business.  The  man, 
not  knowing  what  had  been  done,  went  away  to  Dover.  As  soon  as 
we  had  the  letter  we  opened  it  ;  in  which  we  found  the  king  had 
acquainted  the  queen  that  he  was  now  courted  by  both  the  factions — 
the  Scotch  Presbyterians  and  the  Army ;  and  which  bid  fairest  for  him 
should  have  him ;  but  he  thought  he  should  close  with  the  Scots, 
sooner  than  the  other.  Upon  this,"  added  Cromwell,  "we  took  horse, 
and  went  to  Windsor,  and  finding  that  we  were  not  likely  to  have  any 
tolerable  terms  from  ihe  king,  we  immediately  from  that  time  forward 
resolved  his  ruin." — Earl  of  Orrery' 's  State  Papers,  fol.  1742,  p.  15. 

On  the  right,  beyond  the  opening  of  Chancery  Lane, 
Southampton  Buildings  mark  the  site  of  Southampton 
House.  It  was  only  in  1S76  that  (in  No.  322,  Holborn)  the 
last  remains  of  the  old  building  were  destroyed,  where  the 
Earl  of  Southampton,  father  of  Lady  Rachel  Russell,  died. 
Some  of  Lady  Rachel's  letters  are  dated  from  this  house, 
and  it  was  in  passing  its  windows  that  Lord  William 
Russell's  fortitude  forsook  him  for  a  single  instant  as  he 
gazed  upon  the  house  where  the  love  of  his  life  began ;  then 
he  went  on  his  way  to  execution  saying,  "  The  bitterness  of 
death  is  now  past." 

On  the  left  is  Gray's  Inn  Lane,  by  which  Tom  Jones  is 
described  as  entering  London  to  put  up  at  the  "  Bull  and 
Gate  "  in  Holborn.  Here  are  the  great  Offices  of  Messrs. 
Cubitt  the  builders,  who  give  work  to  800  men  upon  the 
premises,  the  numbers  employed  by  the  firm  altogether 
amounting  to  3,000. 

It  was  in  Fox  Court,  the  first  turning  on  the  right,  that 


192  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

the  Countess  of  Macclesfield  gave  birth  to  Richard  Savage 
the  poet,  Jan.  10,  1697.  On  the  left,  opposite  the  wonder- 
fully picturesque  Staples  Inn  (see  Ch.  III.),  is  the  entrance 
of  Brooke  Street,  named  from  Fulke  Greville,  Lord  Brooke, 
who  felt  it  an  honour  to  record  in  his  epitaph  that  he  had 
been  "servant  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  counsellor  to  King  James, 
and  friend  to  Sir  Philip  Sidney."  He  was  murdered  (1628) 
in  Brooke  House,  which  stood  on  the  site  of  Greville 
Street  (which,  with  Warwick  Market  and  Street  and  Beau- 
champ  Street,  is  also  named  from  him),  by  one  Ralph 
Haywood,  a  dependant  with  whom  he  had  quarrelled.  In 
the  garret  of  one  of  the  houses  (No.  38)  pulled  down  in 
1875-6,  the  unhappy  poet  Thomas  Chatterton  died,  August 

25.  1770— 

"  the  marvellous  boy, 

The  sleepless  soul  that  perished  in  his  pride." 

At  sixteen  he  had  published  the  "  Poems  of  Thomas  Rowley" 
forged  on  parchment,  which  he  pretended  to  have  found  in 
the  muniment-room  of  St.  Mary  Redciiffe,  at  Bristol,  and 
that  they  had  lain  there  for  four  hundred  years,  in  the  iron- 
bound  chest  of  William  Canynge,  a  merchant,  afterwards 
Dean  of  Westbury.  In  the  April  preceding  his  death  he 
came  up  from  Bristol  to  London,  filled  with  hope  and 
ambition,  but,  before  four  months  were  over,  often  found 
himself  on  the  verge  of  starvation,  simply  because  his 
pride  was  such  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  show  him 
kindness,  and,  in  his  eighteenth  year,  probably  in  a  fit  of 
the  insanity  which  also  showed  itself  in  his  sister,  he  ended 
his  days  by  poison.  His  death  passed  almost  unnoticed, 
and  he  received  a  pauper's  funeral.  In  the  words  of  his 
epitaph  at   Bristol — "Reader,   judge   not;   if  thou    art  a 


ST.  ANDREW'S,  HOLBORN.  193 

Christian,  believe  that  he  shall  be  judge!  by  a  superior 
Power;  to  that  Power  alone  he  is  answerable."  Let  him 
rather  be  remembered  by  the  noble  lines  in  his  "  Resig- 
nation"— 

"  Oh  God,  whose  thunder  shakes  the  sky, 
Whose  eye  this  atom  globe  surveys, 
To  thee,  my  only  rock,  I  fly ; 
Thy  mercy  in  thy  justice  praise. 

*  *  *  *  • 

The  gloomy  mantle  of  the  night, 

Which  on  my  sinking  spirit  steals, 
Will  vanish  at  the  morning  light 

Which  God,  my  East,  my  Sun,  reveals." 

Brooke  Street  ends,  in  Baldwin's  Gardens,*  in  the  arched 
gate  of  the  Church  of  St.  Albans,  Holborn,  opened  in  1S65. 
It  is  a  handsome  brick  church,  designed  by  Buiterfield, 
with  stone,  terra-cotta,  and  alabaster  decorations,  and  has 
become  celebrated  from  its  ritualistic  services,  with  incense 
and  vestments.  The  peculiarly  bad  character  once  attached 
to  Baldwin's  Gardens  and  Fulwood's  Rents  may  be  owing  to 
the  fact  that  these  were  amongst  the  places — Cities  of 
Refuge  insulated  in  the  midst  of  London — which,  by  royal 
charter,  once  gave  sanctuary  to  criminals  and  debtors. 

Now,  on  the  left  of  Holborn,  is  Furnival's  Inn,  and  on 
the  right  Barnard's  Inn  (see  Ch.  II.).  No.  123,  the  Old 
Bell  Inn,  is  an  old  hostelrie  with  balconies  round  a  cour- 
yard.  Just  at  the  opening  of  the  Holborn  Viaduct — ■ 
which  annihilated  the  "  Heavy  Hill,"  and  was  con- 
structed in  1866-69,  to  the  great  convenience  of  traffic, 
and  destruction  of  the  picturesque — is  St.  Andrew's  Church, 

*  Named  after  Baldwin,  one  ot  the  royal  gardeners  of  Elizabeth. 
VOL.  II.  O 


194  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

which  escaped  the  Fire,  but  was  nevertheless  rebuilt  by 
Wren  in  1686.  Internally  it  is  a  bad  likeness  of  St.  James's, 
Piccadilly,  with  encircling  galleries,  a  waggon-headed 
ceiling,  and  some  good  stained  glass  of  17 10,  by  Price,  of 
York.  The  organ  is  that,  made  by  Harris,  which  was  dis- 
carded at  the  Temple  on  the  judgment  of  Judge  Jeffreys. 
The  monuments  formerly  in  the  church  are  removed  to  the 
ante-chapel  under  the  tower:  they  include  a  tablet  to  John 
Emery  the  comedian,  1822.     His  epitaph  narrates  that — 

"  Each  part  he  shone  in,  but  excelled  in  none 
So  well  as  husband,  father,  friend,  and  son." 

The  register  commemorates  the  marriage,  in  the  old  church, 
of  Col.  Hutchinson,  with  the  charming  Lucy,  second  daughter 
of  Sir  Allan  Apsley,  late  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower  of  London, 
July  3,  1638.  Other  interesting  entries  record  the  burial  (in 
the  cemetery  of  Shoe  Lane  workhouse)  of  the  unfortunate 
Chatterton,  August  28,  1770,  and  the  baptism  here  of  the 
almost  more  unfortunate  Richard  Savage,  son  of  Lord  Rivers 
and  the  Countess  of  Macclesfield,  who  was  treated  with  the 
utmost  cruelty  by  his  mother,  who  disowned  him,  aban- 
doned him,  and  used  all  efforts  to  have  him  hung  for  the 
death  of  a  Mr.  Sinclair,  killed  in  a  fray  at  Charing  Cross. 
The  principal  poems  of  Savage  were  the  "Wanderer"  and 
the  "  Bastard,"  in  which  he  exposed  his  mother's  unnatural 
conduct.  He  died  in  Newgate,  where  he  was  imprisoned 
for  debt,  and  he  was  buried  in  St.  Peter's  Churchyard. 
Another  poet,  Henry  Neele,  author  of  the  "  Romance  of 
English  History,"  was  buried  in  St.  Andrew's  Churchyard, 
in  his  father's  grave,  on  which  he  had  inscribed  the 
lines — 


ST.  ANDREW'S,  HOLBORN.  195 

««  Good  night,  good  night,  sweet  spirit !  thou  hast  cast 
Thy  bonds  of  clay  away  from  thee  at  last ; 
Broke  the  vile  earthly  fetters  which  alone 
field  thee  at  distance  from  thy  Maker's  throne: 
But  oh  !  those  fetters  to  th'  immortal  mind, 
Were  links  of  love  to  those  thou'st  left  behind ; 
For  thee  we  mourn  not :  as  th'  apostle  prcst 
His  dungeon  pillow,  till  the  angel  guest 
Drew  nigh,  and  when  the  light  that  round  him  shone 
Beamed  on  the  prisoner,  his  bands  were  gone  : 
So  wert  thou  captive  to  disease  and  pain 
Till  Death,  the  brightest  of  the  angelic  train, 
Pour'd  Heaven's  own  radiance  by  Divine  decree 
Around  thy  suffering  soul — and  it  was  free." 

In  this  churchyard  also  was  buried  Thomas  Wriothesley, 
the  violent  Chancellor  of  Hei.ry  VIII.,  who  impeached 
Queen  Catherine  Parr  for  heresy,  and  also,  not  content  with 
sitting  in  judgment,  himself  lent  a  hand  to  turn  the  rack  by 
which  Anne  Askew  was  being  tortured.  Joseph  Strutt, 
author  of  "  Sports  and  Pastimes  of  the  People  of  England," 
was  buried  here  in  1802.  Against  the  north  outside  wall  of 
the  church,  opposite  the  handsome  steps  leading  to  the 
Viaduct,  is  a  curious  relief  of  the  Day  of  Judgment— the 
Saviour  appearing  in  the  clouds  above  ;  and  below,  the  dead 
bursting  open  their  coffins. 

Racket,  Bishop  of  Lichfield,  had  been  previously  rector  of 
St.  Andrew's.  One  day  while  he  was  reading  prayers  here  in 
church,  a  soldier  of  the  Earl  of  Essex  came  in,  and  pointing  a 
pistol  at  his  breast,  commanded  him  to  read  no  further. 
Hacket  calmly  replied,  "I  shall  do  my  duty  as  a  clergyman, 
you  may  do  yours  as  a  soldier," — and  proceeded  with  the 
service.  Stillingfleet,  Bishop  of  Worcester,  was  also 
rector  of  St.  Andrew's  (presented  1665).  In  the  chancel  is 
the  grave  of  another  eminent  rector,  Dr.  Henry  Sacheverel 


196  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

(ob.  1724),  presented  to  the  living  by  Bolingbroke  in 
gratitude  for  a  good  story  told  him  by  Swift,  and  im- 
peached before  the  House  of  Commons  for  his  political 
sermons,  1709-10.  He  was,  says  Bishop  Burnet  "a  bold 
insolent  man,  with  a  very  small  measure  of  religion,  virtue, 
learning,  or  good  sense  ;  but  he  resolved  to  force  himself 
into  popularity  and  preferment,  by  the  most  petulant  rail- 
ings at  dissenters  and  low  churchmen,  in  several  sermons  and 
libels,  written  without  either  chasteness  of  style  or  liveliness 
of  expression."  The  Duchess  ol  Marlborough  describes 
him  as  "  an  ignorant  impudent  incendiary ;  a  man  who  was 
the  scorn  even  of  those  who  made  use  of  him  as  a  tool." 

Almost  opposite  St.  Andrew's  Church,  on  the  left,  is  the 
entrance  oiEly  Place,  marking  the  site  of  the  grand  old 
palace  of  the  Bishops  of  Ely,  once  entered  by  a  great  gate- 
way, built  by  Bishop  Arundel  in  13S8.  The  palace  was 
bequeathed  to  the  see  by  Bishop  John  de  Kirkeby,  who  died 
in  1290.  Here,  in  1399,  died  "  Old  John  of  Gaunt,  time- 
honoured  Lancaster,"  his  own  palace  of  the  Savoy  having 
been  burnt  by  the  rebels  under  Wat  Tyler.  "  It  fell,  about 
the  feast  of  Christmas,"  says  Froissart,  "  that  Duke  John  of 
Lancaster — who  lived  in  great  displeasure,  what  because  the 
king  had  banished  his  son  out  of  the  realm  for  so  little 
cause,  and  also  because  of  the  evil  governing  of  the  realm 
by  his  nephew,  King  Richard — (for  he  saw  well,  if  he 
long  persevered,  and  were  suffered  to  continue,  the  realm 
was  likely  to  be  utterly  lost) — with  these  imaginations  and 
others,  the  duke  fell  sick,  whereon  he  died  ;  whose  death 
was  greatly  sorrowed  by  all  his  friends  and  lovers."  It  is 
here  that,  according  to  Shakspeare,  Richard's  dying  uncle 
thus  addressed  him  : — 


ELY  PLACE.  1 97 

**  A  thousand  flatterers  sit  within  thy  crown, 
Whose  compass  is  no  bigger  than  thy  head; 
And  yet,  incaged  in  so  small  a  verge, 
The  waste  is  no  whit  lesser  than  thy  land. 
Oh,  had  thy  grandsire,  with  a  prophet's  eye, 
Seen  how  his  son's  son  would  destroy  his  sons, 
From  forth  thy  reach  he  would  have  laid  thy  shame, 
Deposing  thee  before  thou  wcrt  possessed, 
"Which  art  possessed  now  to  depose  thyself. 
Why,  cousin,  wert  thou  regent  of  the  world, 
It  were  a  shame  to  let  this  land  by  lease : 
But,  for  thy  world,  enjoying  but  this  land, 
I-  it  not  move  than  shame  to  shame  it  so  ? 
Landlord  of  Eugland  art  thou,  and  not  king." 

The  garden  of  Ely  House  was  great  and  famous.  Saffron 
Hill  still  bears  witness  to  the  saffron  which  grew  there,  and 
Vine  Street  to  its  adjacent  vineyard,  while  its  roses  and  its 
strawberries  are  both  matters  of  history.  Holinshed  de- 
scribes how  (on  the  13th  of  June,  1483),  while  the  lords 
were  sitting  in  council  at  the  Tower,  "  devising  the  honour- 
able solemnity  of  the  young  King  (Edward  V.'s)  corona- 
tion," the  Protector  came  in.  and  requested  the  Bishop  of 
Ely  to  send  for  some  of  his  strawberries  from  his  garden  in 
Holbom.  The  scene  is  given  by  Shakspcare. 
Gloucester  comes  in  and  says — 

"  My  lord  of  Ely,  when  I  was  last  in  Holborn, 
I  saw  good  strawberries  in  y<  j  n  there; 

I  do  beseech  you,  send  for  some  of  them  !  " 

and  the  Bishop  replies — 

"  Marry,  I  will,  my  lord,  with  all  my  heart.' 

The  Bishop  then   goes  out  to  send  for  the  strawberries, 
and,  on  his  return,  finds  Gloucester  gone,  and  exclaims — 

"  Where  is  my  lord  of  Gloucester  ?  I  have  sent  for  those  strawberries;" 


»08  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

and  Lord  Hastings  replies — 

"  His  grace  looks  cheerfully  and  smooth  this  morning. 
There's  some  conceit  or  other  likes  him  well, 
When  that  he  bids  good-morrow  with  such  spirit." 

But  a  few  minutes  after  Gloucester,  returning,  accuses 
Hastings  of  witchcraft,  and  he  is  hurried  off  to  be  beheaded 
in  the  Tower  courtyard  below. 

Another  record  of  the  fertility  of  the  Ely  Place  garden 
will  be  found  in  the  fact  that  when,  to  please  Elizabeth, 
Bishop  Cox  leased  the  gatehouse  and  garden  to  her 
favourite,  Sir  Christopher  Hatton,  for  a  quit-rent  of  a  red 
rose,  ten  loads  of  hay,  and  ^10  yearly,  he  retained  the 
right  not  only  of  walking  in  the  gardens,  but  of  gathering 
cwenty  bushels  of  roses  yearly  !  Sir  Christopher  Hatton 
expended  a  large  sum  upon  Ely  Place,  and  petitioned 
Elizabeth  to  alienate  to  him  the  whole  of  the  house  and 
gardens.  She  immediately  desired  Bishop  Cox  to  do  so, 
but  he  refused,  saying  that  "  in  his  conscience  he  could  not 
do  it,  being  a  piece  of  sacrilege;"  that  he  was  intrusted  with 
the  property  of  the  see  "  to  be  a  steward,  and  not  a  scatterer." 
The  Bishop  was,  however,  eventually  obliged  to  consent  to 
the  alienation  of  the  property  to  Sir  Christopher  till  all  the 
money  he  had  expended  upon  Ely  Place  should  be  repaid 
by  the  see.  It  was  when  the  Queen  found  his  successor, 
Dr.  Martin  Heton,  unwilling  to  fulfil  these  terms,  that  she 
addressed  to  him  her  characteristic  note — 

"  Proud  Prelate !  I  understand  you  are  backward  in  complying  with 
your  agreement :  but  I  would  have  you  know  that  I,  who  made  you 
what  you  are,  can  unmake  you  ;  and  if  you  do  not  forthwith  fulfil 
your  engagement,  by  God  I  will  immediately  unfrock  you.  Eliza- 
beth." 

The  money  which  Sir  Christopher  had  expended  upon  Ely 


ELY  PLACE.  199 

Place  was  borrowed  from  the  Queen,  and  it  was  her  demand- 
ing a  settlement  of  their  accounts  which  caused  his  death. 
"  It  broke  his  heart,"  says  Fuller,  "  that  the  queen,  which 
seldom  gave  loans,  and  never  forgave  due  debts,  rigorously 
demanded  the  payment  of  some  arrears  which  Sir  Chris 
topher  did  not  hope  to  have  remitted,  and  did  only  desire 
to  have  forborne  :  failing  herein  in  his  expectation,  it  went 
to  his  heart,  and  cast  him  into  a  mortal  disease.  The 
queen  afterwards  did  endeavour  what  she  could  to  recovei 
him,  bringing,  as  some  say,  cordial  broths  unto  him  with 
her  own  hands  ;  but  all  would  not  do.  There's  no  pulley 
can  draw  up  a  heart  once  cast  down,  though  a  queen  her- 
self should  set  her  hand  thereunto."  Sir  Christopher  died 
in  Ely  House,  September  20,  159 1.  His  residence  here 
gave  a  name  to  Hatton  Garden,  which  now  occupies  a 
great  part  of  the  site  of  the  gardens  of  Ely  Place.  Here 
the  beautiful  Lady  Hatton,  widow  of  Sir  Christopher's 
nephew,  was  courted  at  the  same  time  by  Lord  Bacon  and 
Sir  Edward  Coke,  the  famous  lawyer.  She  married  the 
latter,  but  soon  quarrelled  with  him  and  refused  him 
admittance  to  her  house,  with  the  same  success  with  which 
she  and  her  successors  repelled  the  attempts  of  the  Bishops 
of  Ely  to  recover  the  whole  of  their  property,  though  they 
retained  the  old  buildings  beyond  the  gateway,  where 
Laney,  Bishop  of  Ely,  died  in  1674-5.  It  was  not  till 
the  death  of  the  last  Lord  Hatton  in  1772  that  the  two 
hundred  years'  dispute  was  settled,  when  the  bishops 
resigned  Ely  Place  to  the  Crown  for  No.  37,  Dover 
Street,  Piccadilly,  which  they  still  possess.  In  the  reign 
of  James  I.,  Ely  Place  was  inhabited  by  Gondomar,  the 
famous  Spanish  ambassador. 


Soo  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

The  only  remaining  fragment  of  old  Ely  House  is 
the  chapel,  dedicated  to  St.  Etheldreda  (630),  daughter  of 
Anna,  King  of  the  West  Angles,  and  wife  of  Egfrid,  King  of 
Northumberland,  whose  society  she  forsook  to  become 
Abbess  of  Ely  and  foundress  of  its  cathedral.  She  was 
best  known  after  death  by  the  popular  name  of  St.  Awdry. 
A  fair  was  held  in  her  honour,  at  which  a  particular  kind 
of  beads  was  sold  called  St.  Awdry  or  Tawdry  beads. 
Gradually  these  grew  to  be  of  the  shabbiest  and  cheapest 
description,  and  became  a  by-word  for  anything  shabby  or 
flimsy — whence  our  familiar  word  "  tawdry  "  commemorates 
St.  Etheldreda.  The  chapel,  long  given  up  to  the  Welsh 
residents  in  London,  is  now  in  the  hands  of  Roman 
Catholics,  who  have  treated  it  with  the  utmost  regard  for 
its  ancient  characteristics.  The  walls  of  the  ancient  crypt 
are  left  with  their  rugged  stonework  unaltered.  The  ceiling 
is  not  vaulted,  and  the  roof  is  formed  by  the  chapel  floor, 
but  some  stone  pillars  have  been  supplied  in  the  place  of 
the  solid  chestnut  posts  by  which  it  was  once  sustained. 
A  solemn  half-light  steals  into  this  shadowy  church  from 
its  deeply  recessed  stained  windows,  and  barely  allows  one 
to  distinguish  the  robed  figures  of  the  nuns  who  are  con- 
stantly at  prayers  here.  The  church  has  not  been  "restored " 
into  something  utterly  unlike  its  original  state,  as  is  usually 
the  case  in  England. 

In  the  upper  church,  which  retains  its  grand  old  decorated 
window,  the  last  "  Mystery "  was  publicly  performed  in 
England — the  Passion — in  the  time  of  James  I.  It  was 
tiere  also  that  John  Evelyn's  daughter  Susanna  was  married 
(April  27,  1693)  to  William  Draper,  by  Dr.  Tenison,  then 
Bishop  of  Lincoln.     Cowpc,  in  the  "Task,"  commemorates 


SNOJV  HILL.  201 

the  over-loyalty  of  the  chapel  clerk,  who  astonished  the 
congregation  by  singing  God  save  King  George  on  the 
arrival  of  the  news  (1746)  of  the  defeat  of  Prince  Charles 
Edward  by  the  Duke  of  Cumberland. 

"  So  in  the  chapel  of  old  Ely  House, 

When  wandering  Charles,  who  meant  to  be  the  third, 
Had  fled  from  William,  and  the  news  was  fresh, 
The  simple  clerk,  but  loyal,  did  announce, 
And  eke  did  loar,  right  merrily,  two  staves 
Sung  to  the  praise  and  glory  of  King  George." 

A  relic  of  the  bishops'  residence  in  Ely  Place  may  be 
observed  in  a  blue  mitre,  with  the  date  1540,  on  the  wall  of 
a  court  leading  from  hence  to  Hatton  Garden. 

At  the  entrance  of  the  Viaduct  from  Holborn  is  an 
Equestrian  Statue  of  the  Prince  Consort,  Albert  of  Saxe 
Gotha,  saluting  the  City  of  London,  by  Bacon,  erected  in 
1873.  Since  the  opening  of  the  Viaduct  people  have 
ceased  to  remember  the  steepness  of  Snow  Hill,  down  which 
the  pestilent  street-marauders  called  Mohocks  in  Queen 
Anne's  time  used  to  amuse  themselves  by  rolling  defence- 
less women  in  barrels. 

"  Who  has  not  heard  the  Scourer's  midnight  fame  ? 
Who  has  not  trembled  at  the  Mohocks'  name  ? 
I  pass  their  desperate  deeds  and  mischief,  done 
Where  from  Snow  Hill  black  steepy  torrents  run, 
How  matrons,  hooped  within  the  hogshead's  womb, 
Were  tumbled  furious  thence." — Gay.     Trivia. 


CHAPTER    V. 

WHITEHALL. 

ALMOST  the  whole  of  the  space  betweei.  Charing  Cross 
and  Westminster  on  one  side,  and  between  St. 
James's  Park  and  the  Thames  on  the  other,  was  once  occu- 
pied by  the  great  royal  palace  of  Whitehall. 

The  first  palace  on  this  site  was  built  by  Hubert  de  Burgh, 
Earl  of  Kent,  the  minister  of  Henry  III.,  who  bought  the 
land  from  the  monks  of  Westminster  for  140  marks  of  silver 
and  the  annual  tribute  of  a  wax  taper.  He  bequeathed  his 
property  here  to  the  Convent  of  the  Black  Friars  in  Holborn, 
where  he  was  buried,  and  they,  in  1248,  sold  it  to  Walter  de 
Grey,  Archbishop  of  York,  "after  which  it  continued,  as  York 
Place,  to  be  the  town-house  of  the  Archbishops  of  York  till 
the  time  of  Wolsey. 

By  Wolsey,  York  Place  was  almost  entirely  rebuilt.  Storer, 
in  his  "  Metrical  Life  of  Wolsey,"  says — 

"Where  fruitful  Thames  salutes  the  learned  shoare 
Was  this  grave  prelate  and  the  muses  placed, 
And  by  those  waves  he  builded  had  before 

A  royal  house  with  learned  muses  graced, 
But  by  his  death  imperfect  and  defaced." 

Here  the  cardinal  lived  in  more  than  regal  magnificence, 


WHITEHALL.  203 

"  sweet  as  summer  to  all  that  sought  him,"  and  with  a 
household  of  eight  hundred  persons. 

"Of  gentlemen  ushers  he  had  twelve  daily  waiters,  besides  one  in  the 
privy  chamber,  and  of  gentlemen  waiters  in  his  privy  chamber  he  had 
six,  of  lords  nine  or  ten,  who  had  each  of  them  two  men  allowed  to 
attend  upon  them,  except  the  Earl  of  Derby,  who  always  was  allowed 
five  men.  Then  had  he  of  gentlemen  cup-bearers,  carvers,  servers,  both 
of  the  privy  chamber  and  of  the  great  chamber,  with  gentlemen  and 
daily  waiters,  forty  persons ;  of  yeomen  ushers,  six  ;  of  grooms  in  his 
chamber,  eight;  of  yeomen  in  his  chamber,  forty-five  daily.  lie  had 
also  almsmen,  sometimes  more  in  number  than  at  other  times." — Stow. 

Hither  Henry  VIII.  came  masked  to  a  banquet,*  where, 
after  the  king  had  intrigued,  danced,  and  accompanied  the 
ladies  at  mumchance,  lie  took  off  his  disguise,  and  they 
"passed  the  whole  night  with  banquetting,  dancing,  and 
other  triumphant  devices,  to  the  great  comfort  of  the  king, 
and  pleasant  regard  of  the  nobility  there  assembled."  It 
is  at  this  banquet  that  Shakspeare  portrays  the  first  meeting 
of  the  king  with  Anne  Boleyn.t 

It  was  hither  that,  when  his  disgrace  befell,  the  Duke  of 
Suffolk  came  to  bid  Wolsey  resign  the  Great  Seal,  and 
hence,  having  delivered  an  inventory  of  all  his  treasures  to 
the  king,  the  Cardinal  "  took  barge  at  his  privy  stairs,  and 
so  went  by  water  to  Putney,"  on  his  way  to  Esher,  leaving 
his  palace  to  his  master,  who  almost  immediately  occupied  it. 

Henry  VIII.  changed  the  name  of  York  Place  to  "the 
King's  Manor  of  Westminster,"  more  generally  known  as 
Whitehall,  and  greatly  enlarged  it.  He  also  obtained  an 
Act  of  Parliament  enacting  that  "  the  entire  space  between 
Charing  Cross  and  the  Sanctuary  at  Westminster,  from  the 
Thames  on  the  east  side  to  the  park  wall  westward,  should 

•  Cavendish's  "Life  of  Wolsey."  t  Henry  VIII.,  act  i.  sc.  4- 


204  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

from  henceforth  be  deemed  the  King's  whole  Palace  of 
Westminster."  He  erected  buildings — a  tennis-court,  cock- 
pit, &c. — along  the  whole  southern  side  of  the  Park,  and 
formed  a  vast  courtyard  by  the  erection  of  two  gates, 
the  Whitehall  Gate  and  the  King  Street  Gate,  over  the 
highway  leading  to  Westminster.  The  first  of  these  gates, 
which  stood  on  the  Charing  Cross  side  of  the  present  Ban- 
queting House,  was  a  noble  work  of  Holbein,  "  built  with 
bricks  of  two  colours,  glazed,  and  disposed  in  a  tesselated 
fashion."  *  It  was  embattled  at  the  top,  and  adorned  with 
eight  terra-cotta  medallions  of  noble  Italian  workman  ship.  •) 
This  gate  was  pulled  down  in  1750:  the  Duke  of  Cum- 
berland intended  to  have  rebuilt  it  at  the  end  of  the  Long 
Avenue  at  Windsor,  but  never  carried  out  his  idea.  The 
King  Street  Gate,  which  had  dome-capped  turrets  at  the 
sides,  was  pulled  down  in  1723. 

Henry  VIII.  began  at  Whitehall  the  Royal  Gallery  of 
pictures  which  was  continued  by  Charles  I.  Holbein  had 
rooms  in  the  palace  and  a  pension  of  200  florins.  It  was 
"  in  his  closet,  at  Whitehall,  being  St.  Paul's  day"  (Jan.  25, 
1533),  that  Henry  was  married  by  Dr.  Rowland  Lee, 
afterwards  Bishop  of  Chester,  to  Anne  Boleyn  (for  whom 
he  had  previously  obtained  Suffolk  House  as  a  near  resi- 
dence) in  the  presence  of  only  three  witnesses,  one  of  whom 
was  Henry  Norris,  Groom  of  the  Chamber,  afterwards  a 
fellow-victim  with  her  upon  the  scaffold.  From  the  windows 
of  the  great  gallery  which  Henry  VIII.  built  on  the  site  of 
the  present  Horse  Guards,  overlooking  the  Tilt- Yard,  he 
reviewed  15,000  armed  citizens  in  May,  1539,  when  an  inva- 

*  Pennant's  "  Hist,  of  London,"  p.  93. 

t  Three  of  these— Henry  VII.,  Henry  VIII.,  and  Bishop  Fisher — are  at  Hatfield 
Priory,  near  VVitham,  in  Essex.    Two  are  at  Hampton  Court. 


WHITEHALL.  205 

sion  of  England  was  threatened  by  the  Catholic  sovereigns. 
And  at  Whitehall  he  died,  Jan.  28,  1546. 

"  When  the  physicians  announced  to  those  in  attendance  on  the 
sovereign  that  his  hour  of  departure  was  at  hand,  they  shrank  from  the 
pain  of  incurring  the  last  ebullition  of  his  vindictive  temper  by  warning 
him  of  the  awful  change  that  awaited  him.  Sir  Anthony  Denny  was 
the  only  person  who  had  the  courage  to  inform  the  king  of. his  real 
state,  lie  approached  the  bed,  and  leaning  over  it,  told  him  '  that  all 
human  help  was  now  in  vain;  and  that  it  was  meet  for  him  to  review 
his  past  life,  and  seek  for  God's  mercy  through  Christ.'  Henry,  who 
was  uttering  loud  cries  of  pain  and  impatience,  regarded  him  with  a 
stern  look,  and  asked,  '  What  judgo-had  sent  him  to  pass  this  sentence 
upon  him.'  '  Your  grace's  physicians,'  Denny  replied.  When  these 
physicians  next  approached  the  royal  patient  to  offer  him  medicine, 
he  repelled  them  in  these  words  :  '  After  the  judges  have  once  passed 
sentence  on  a  criminal,  they  have  no  more  to  do  with  him  ;  therefore 
begone  !  '  It  was  then  suggested  that  he  should,  confer  with  some  of 
his  divines.  'I  will  see  none  but  Cranmer,'  replied  the  king,  '  and  not 
him  as  yet.  Let  me  repose  a  little,  and  as  I  find  myself,  so  shall  I 
determine.'  .  .  .  Before  the  archbishop  entered,  Henry  was  speech- 
less. Cranmer  besought  him  to  testify  by  some  sign  his  hope  in  the 
saving  mercy  01  Christ ;  the  king  regarded  him  steadily  for  a  moment, 
wrung  his  hand,  and  expired." — Strickland's  Life  of Kathcrine  Parr. 

In  the  next  two  reigns  Whitehall  was  the  scene  of  few 
especial  events,  though  it  was  from  hence  that  Mary  I.  set 
forth  to  her  coronation  by  water,  with  her  sister  Elizabeth 
bearing  the  crown  before  her.  Hence  also  on  Palm  Sun- 
da}-,  1554,  Elizabeth  was  sent  to  the  Tower,  for  an  imagi- 
nary share  in  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt's  conspiracy.  Here,  on 
Nov.  13,  1555,  died  Gardiner,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  his 
last  words  being,  "  I  have  sinned ;  I  have  not  wept  with 
Peter." 

With  Elizabeth,  Whitehall  again  became  the  scene  of 
festivities.  Hence  she  rode  in  her  robes  to  open  her  first 
Parliament.     In  the  Great  Gallery,  built  by  her  father,  she 


206  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

received  the  Speaker  and  the  House  of  Commons,  who  came 
"  to  move  her  grace  to  marriage."  The  Queen's  passion 
for  tournaments  was  indulged  with  great  magnificence  in 
1 58 1,  before  the  commissioners  who  came  to  urge  her  to  a 
marriage  with  the  Due  d'Anjou.  She  seated  herself  with 
her  ladks  in  a  gallery  overhanging  the  Tilt-Yard,  to  which 
was  given  the  name  of  "  The  Fortresse  of  Perfect  BeauUe." 
This  was  stormed  by  a  number  of  knights  singing  the  Chal- 
lenge of  Desire — "a  delectable  song" — and  by  a  cannonade  of 
sweet  powders  and  waters.  The  assailants  eventually  were 
attacked  by  the  "Defenders  of  Beauty,"  with  whom  they 
held  a  regular  tournament,  and  overwhelmed  by  whom  they 
confessed  their  "  degeneracy  and  unworthiness  in  making 
Violence  accompany  Desire."  Elizabeth  continued  to  be 
devoted  to  masques  to  her  last  years,  and  at  sixty-seven, 
when  Hentzner  describes  her  as  having  a  wrinkled  face, 
little  eyes,  a  hooked  nose,  and  black  teeth,  would  still 
"  have  solemn  dancing,"  and  herself  "  rise  up  and  dance."  * 
Hither,  March  24,  1603,  the  great  Queen's  corpse  was 
brought,  "covered  up,"  from  her  favourite  pa'ace  of  Rich- 
mond, where  she  died. 

"  The  Queen  did  come  by  water  '.&  Whitehall, 
The  oars  at  every  stroke  di''    ears  let  fall."  t 

Here  it  lay  in  state  till  its  interment ;  and  here,  while  six 
ladies  were  watching  round  her  coffin  through  the  night, 
"  her  body  burst  with  such  a  crack,  that  it  splitted  the  wood, 
lead,  and  cere-cloth ;  whereupon,  the  next  day  she  was  fain 
to  be  new  trimmed  up."  J 

It  was  from  "  the  Orchard  "  at  Whitehall  that  the  Lords 

*  Sidney  Papers .  +  Camden's  "  Remains,"  p.  524. 

t  Lady  Southwell's  MS. 


WHITEHALL.  207 

o.  the  Council  sent  a  messenger  to  James  I.  to  acquaint 
him  with  the  Queen's  death  and  his  own  accession,  and  on 
May  7,  1603,  he  arrived  to  take  possession  of  the  palace ; 
and  in  the  garden,  a  few  days  afterwards,  he  knighted 
three  hundred  gentlemen.  It  was  in  this  garden,  also,  that 
Lord  Mounteagle  first  told  the  Earl  of  Salisbury  of  the  Gun- 
powder Plot.  From  the  cellar  of  the  House  of  Lords 
Guy  Fawkes  was  dragged  for  examination  to  the  bed- 
chamber of  James  I.  ai  Whitehall,  and  there  being  asked 
by  one  of  the  King's  Scottish  favourites  what  he  had 
intended  to  do  with  so  many  barrels  of  gunpowder,  replied, 
"  One  thing  I  meant  to  do  was  to  blow  Scotchmen  back  to 
Scotland." 

Ben  Jonson  first  became  known  as  a  poet  in  the  reign  of 
James  L,  and,  to  celebrate  Prince  Charles  being  made  Duke 
of  York  and  a  Knight  of  the  Bath  at  four  years  old,  his 
Masque  of  Blackness  was  acted  by  the  Court  in  White- 
hall, Queen  Anne  of  Denmark  and  her  ladies  being  painted 
black,  as  the  daughters  of  Niger.  "  A  most  glorious  maske  " 
and  many  other  pageants  celebrated  the  creation  of  Prince 
Henry  as  Prince  of  Wales  in  June,  1610.  At  Whitehall, 
also,  while  still  wearing  deep  mourning  for  this  her  eldest 
brother,  the  Princess  Elizabeth  was  married  (Dec.  27,  161 2) 
to  the  Elector  Palatine,  commonly  known  as  the  "  Palsgrave." 
Another  marriage  which  was  celebrated  here  with  great 
magnificence  (Dec.  26,  161 3)  was  that  of  the  king's  favourite, 
Robert  Carr,  Earl  of  Somerset,  with  the  notorious  Frances 
Howard,  Countess  of  Essex. 

James  I.  rebuilt  the  "  old  rotten  slight-builded  Ban- 
queting House"  of  Elizabeth  in  1608,  but  this  building 
was  destroyed  by  tire  in  16 19.       The  present  Banqueting 


208  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

House  was  then  begun  by  Inigo  Jones,  and  completed  in 
1622,  forming  only  the  central  portion  of  one  wing  in  his 
immense  design  for  a  new  palace,  which,  if  completed, 
would  have  been  the  finest  in  the  world.  The  masonry  is 
by  a  master-mason,  Nicholas  Stone,  several  of  whose  works 
we  have  seen  in  other  parts  of  London.*  "  Little  did 
James  think  that  he  was  raising  a  pile  from  which  his  son 
was  to  step  from  the  throne  to  a  scaffold."!  The  plan  of 
Inigo  Jones  would  have  covered  24  acres,  and  one  may  best 
judge  of  its  intended  size  by  comparison  with  other  build- 
ings. Hampton  Court  covers  8  acres,  St.  James's  Palace 
4  acres,  Buckingham  Palace  2\  acres. %  It  would  have  been 
as  large  as  Versailles,  and  larger  than  the  Louvre.  Inigo 
Jones  received  only  8.r.  \d.  a  day  while  he  was  employed 
at  Whitehall,  and  ^46  per  annum  for  house-rent.  The 
huge  palace  always  remained  unfinished. 

"  Whitehall,  the  palace  of  our  English  kings,  which  one  term'd  a 
good  hypocrite,  promising  less  than  it  performeth,  and  more  conve- 
nient within  than  comely  without ;  to  which  the  nursery  of  St.  James's 
was  an  appendant." — Fuller's  Worthies. 

Whitehall  attained  its  greatest  splendour  in  the  reign  of 
Charles  I. 

"  During  the  prosperous  state  of  the  King's  affairs,  the  pleasures  of 
the  Court  were  carried  on  with  much  taste  and  magnificence.  Poetry, 
painting,  music,  and  architecture  were  all  called  in  to  make  them 
rational  amusements  :  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  celebrated  festivals 
of  Louis  the  Fourteenth  were  copied  from  the  shows  exhibited  at 
Whitehall,  in  its  time  the  most  polite  court  in  Europe.  Ben  Jonson 
was  the  laureate,  Inigo  Jones  the  inventor  of  the  decorations  ;  Laniere 

•  He  was  "payed  four  shillings  and  tenpence  the  day."    See  b 'is  own  notes, 
published  by  Walpole. 
+  Pennant. 
t  Timbs,  "  Curiosities  of  London." 


WHITEHALL. 


209 


and  Ferabosco  composed  the  symphonies  ;  the  King,  the  Queen,  and 
the  young  nobility  danced  in  the 'interludes." — Wa/J>ole's  Works, 
iii.  271. 

The  masque  of  Comus  was  one  of  those  acted  here  be- 
fore the  king ;  but  Charles  was  so  afraid  of  the  pictures  in 
the  Banqueting  House  being  injured  by  the  number  of 
wax  lights  which  were  used,  that  he  built  for  the  purpose  a 
boarded  room  called  the  "  King's  Masking  House,"  after- 
wards destroyed  by  the  Parliament.  The  gallery  towards 
Privy  Garden  was  used  for  the  king's  collection  of  pictures, 
afterwards  either  sold  or  burnt.  The  Banqueting  House 
was  the  scene  of  hospitalities  almost  boundless. 

"There  were  daily  at  his  (Charles's)  court,  eighty-six  tables,  well 
furnished  each  meal ;  whereof  the  King's  table  had  twenty-eight 
dishes ;  the  Queen's  twenty-four ;  four  other  tables,  sixteen  dishes 
each  ;  three  other,  ten  dishes ;  twelve  other,  seven  dishes ;  seventeen 
other,  five  dishes  ;  three  other,  four;  thirty-two  had  three ;  and  thirteen 
had  each  two ;  in  all  about  five  hundred  dishes  each  meal,  with  bread, 
beer,  wine,  and  all  other  things  necessary.  There  was  spent  yearly  in 
the  King's  house,  of  gross  meat,  fifteen  hundred  oxen ;  seven  thou- 
sand sheep  ;  twelve  hundred  calves  ;  three  hundred  porkers  ;  four  hun- 
dred young  beefs;  six  thousand  eight  hundred  lambs;  thfee  hundred 
flitches  of  bacon ;  and  twenty-six  boars.  Also  one  hundred  and  forty 
dozen  of  geese ;  two  hundred  and  fifty  dozen  of  capons  ;  four  hundred 
and  seventy  dozen  of  hens;  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dozen  of  pullets  ; 
fourteen  hundred  and  seventy  dozen  of  chickens  ;  for  bread,  three 
hundred  and  sixty-four  thousand  bushels  of  wheat ;  and  for  drink,  six 
hundred  tons  of  wine  and  seventeen  hundred  tons  of  beer;  together 
with  fish  and  fowl,  fruit  and  spice,  proportionably." — Present  State  of 
London.     1 68 1. 

The  different  accounts  of  Charles  I.'s  execution  intro- 
duce us  to  several  names  of  the  rooms  in  the  old 
palace.  We  are  able  to  follow  him  through  the  whole  of 
the  last  scenes  of  the  30th  of  January,  1648.  When  he 
arrived,  having  walked  from  St.  James's,  "  the  King  went  up 

VOL.  II.  P 


2IO  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

the  stairs  leading  to  the  Long  Gallery"  of  Henry  VIII.,  and 
so  to  the  west  side  of  the  palace.  In  the  "  Horn  Chamber  " 
he  was  given  up  to  the  officers  who  held  the  warrant  for  his 
execution.  Then  he  passed  on  to  the  "  Cabinet  Chamber," 
looking  upon  Privy  Garden.  Here,  the  scaffold  not  being 
ready,  he  prayed  and  conversed  with  Bishop  Juxon,  ate 
some  bread,  and  drank  some  claret.  Several  of  the  Puritan 
clergy  knocked  at  the  door  and  offered  to  pray  with  bim, 
but  he  said  that  they  had  prayed  against  him  too  often  for 
him  to  wish  to  pray  with  them  in  his  last  moments.  Mean- 
while, in  a  small  distant  room,  Cromwell  was  signing  the 
order  to  the  executioner,  and  workmen  were  employed  in 
breaking  a  passage  through  the  west  wall  of  the  Banqueting 
House,  that  the  warrant  for  the  execution  might  be  carried 
out  which  ordained  it  to  be  held  "in  the  open  street  before 
Whitehall." 

"  The  reason  for  breaking  through  the  wall  is  obvious.  Had 
Charles  passed  through  one  of  the  lower  windows,  the  scaffold  must 
necessarily  have  been  so  low  that  it  would  have  been  on  a  level  with 
the  heads  of  the  people,  a  circumstance,  for  many  evident  reasons,  to 
be  carefully  avoided ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  had  he  passed  through 
one  of  the  upper  windows,  the  height  would  have  been  so  great  that 
no  one  could  have  witnessed  the  scene  except  those  who  were  imme- 
diately on  the  scaffold." — Jesse.     Memorials  of  London. 

When  Colonel  Hacker  knocked  at  the  door  of  the 
"  Cabinet  Chamber,"  the  king  stretched  out  his  hands  to 
Bishop  Juxon  and  his  faithful  attendant  Herbert,  which 
they  kissed,  falling  upon  their  knees  and  weeping.  The 
king  himself  assisted  the  old  bishop  to  rise.  Then,  says 
Herbert,  "  the  king  was  led  along  all  the  galleries  and 
Banqueting  House,  and  there  was  a  passage  broken  through 
the  wall,  by  which  the  king  passed  to  the  scaffold."     Below, 


WHITEHALL.  211 

in  the  court  between  the  two  gates,  through  which  passed 
the  highway  to  Westminster,  were  vast  crowds  of  spectators, 
while  others  stood  upon  the  opposite  roofs  ;  amoi  I 
whom  the  aged  Archbishop  Usher  was  led  up  to  have 
a  last  sight  of  his  royal  master,  but  fainted  when  he 
beheld  him.  The  regiments  of  foot  and  horse  drawn  up 
around  the  scaffold  prevented  the  people  from  hearing  the 
final  words  of  the  king,  which  were  consequently  addressed 
to  those  immediately  around  him.  He  declared  his  inno- 
cence of  the  crimes  laid  to  his  charge,  and  prayed  to  God 
with  St.  Stephen  for  forgiveness  to  his  murderers.  He  said 
to  the  Bishop,  "  1  go  from  a  corruptible  to  an  incorruptible 
crown,  where  no  disturbance  can  be,  no  disturbance  in  the 
world,"  and  gave  him  his  George,  with  the  single  word 
"  Remember."  Then,  after  praying  awhile,  he  laid  his 
neck  upon  the  block,  and  when  he  made  the  sign  which 
was  agreed  upon,  by  stretching  out  his  hands,  the  execu- 
tioner at  one  blow  severed  his  head  from  his  body,  and 
held  it  up,  saying,  "  Behold  the  head  of  a  traitor."  But  "a 
universal  groan,  was  uttered  by  the  people  (as  if  by  one 
consent),  such  as  never  was  heard  before."  * 

Almost  from  the  time  of  Charles's  execution  Cromwell 
occupied  rooms  in  the  Cockpit,  where  the  Treasury  is  now, 
but  soon  after  he  was  installed  "  Lord  Protector  of  tiie 
Commonwealth  "  (Dec.  16,  1653),  he  took  up  his  abode  in 
the  royal  apartments,  with  his  "  Lady  Protectress  "  and  his 
family.  Cromwell's  puritanical  tastes  did  not  make  him 
averse  to  the  luxury  he  found  there,  and,  when  Evelyn 
visited  Whitehall  after  a  Jong  interval  in  1656.  he  found  it 
"very  glorious    and  well  furnished."     But  the  Protect; 

KUis's  "  Letters,"  vol.  iii.  3$}. 


212  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

could  not  give  up  her  habits  of  nimble  housewifery,  and 
"  employed  a  surveyor  to  make  her  some  little  labyrinths 
and  trap-stairs,  by  which  she  might,  at  all  times,  unseen, 
pass  to  and  fro,  and  come  unawares  upon  her  servants,  and 
keep  them  vigilant  in  their  places  and  honest  in  the  dis- 
charge thereof."  *  With  Cromwell  in  Whitehall  lived 
Milton,  as  his  Latin  Secretary.  Here  the  Protector's 
daughters,  Mrs.  Rich  and  Mrs.  Claypole,  were  married,  and 
here  Oliver  Cromwell  died  (Sept.  3,  1658)  while  a  great 
storm  was  raging  which  tore  up  the  finest  elms  in  the  Park, 
and  hurled  them  to  the  ground,  beneath  the  northern 
windows  of  the  palace. 

"  His  dying  groans,  his  last  breath,  shakes  our  isle, 
And  trees  uncut  fall  for  his  funeral  pile ; 
About  his  palace  their  broad  roots  are  toss'd 
Into  the  air."  f 

In  the  words  of  Hume,  Cromwell  upon  his  death-bed 
"  assumed  more  the  character  of  a  mediator,  interceding  for 
his  people,  than  that  of  a  criminal,  whose  atrocious  violation 
of  social  duty  had,  from  every  tribunal,  human  and  divine, 
merited  the  severest  vengeance."  Having  inquired  of 
Godwin,  the  divine  who  attended  him,  whether  a  person 
who  had  once  been  in  a  state  of  grace  could  afterwards  be 
damned,  and  being  assured  it  was  impossible,  he  said, 
"  Then  I  am  safe,  for  I  am  sure  that  I  was  once  in  a  state 
of  grace." 

Richard  Cromwell  continued  to  reside  in  Whitehall  till 
his  resignation  of  the  Protectorate. 

On  his  birthday,   the  29th  of   May,    1660,    Charles    II. 

•  The  Court  and  Kitchen  of  Elizabeth  Ciomwell,  1664. 
t  Waller's  Poems. 


WHITEHALL.  213 

returned    to   Whitehall.     The  vast    labyrinthine  chambers 
of  the  palace  were  soon  filled  to  overflowing  by  his  crowded 
court.     The   queen's  rooms  were  facing   the  river   to   the 
east  of  the  Water  Gate.     Prince  Rupert  had  rooms  in  the 
Stone  Gallery,   which   ran   along  the    south  side  of   Privy 
Gardens,   beyond   the  main  buildings  of   the    palace,   and 
beneath  him  were  the  apartments  of  the  king's  mistresses, 
Barbara     Palmer,    Countess    of    Castlemaine,    afterwards 
Duchess  of  Cleveland,  and  Louise  de  Querouaille,  Duchess 
of  Portsmouth.     The  rooms  of  the  latter,  who  first  came  to 
England    with    Henrietta,  Duchess  of  Orleans,    to    entice 
Charles   II.  into  an  alliance  with   Louis  XIV.,  and  whose 
"  childish,  simple,  baby-face  "  is  described  by  Evelyn,  were 
three  times  rebuilt  t»o  please  her,  having  "  ten  times  the 
richness  and  glory."  of  the  queen's.*     Nell  Gwynne  did  not 
live  in  the  palace,  though  she  was  one  of  Queen  Catherine's 
Maids  of  Honour  !     At  times,  when  the  river  was  at  high 
tide,  the  water  would  flood  the  apartments  of  these  ladies. 
Thus  it  happened  in  the  kitchen  of  Lady  Castlemaine  when 
the  king  was  coming  to  sup  with   her.     The  cook  came  to 
tell  her  that  the  chine  of  beef  could  not  be  roasted,  for  the 
water  had  put  the  fire  out.     "Zounds,"  replied  the  lady, 
"  you  may  burn  the  palace  down,  but  the  beef  must   be 
roasted,"  so  "it  was  carried  to  Mrs.  Sarah's  husband's,  and 
there  roasted."  f    Just  before  Queen  Catherine  of  Bragan  m's 
arrival  the  king  requested  the  Lords  and   Commons  "  to 
put   that    compliment  upon   her   that    she   might   not  find 
Whitehall  surrounded  by  water." 

The  taste  for  gardening  which  Charles  brought  back  from 
Holland  was  exemplified  in  the  decorations  of  the   Privy 

•^Evelyn,  t  Pepya. 


214  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Garden.  It  contained  the  famous  dial,  made  for  him 
when  Prince  of  Wales  by  Professor  Gunter,  and  the 
defacement  of  which  by  a  drunken  nobleman  led  to  the 
lines  of  Andrew  Marvel — 

"  This  place  for  a  dial  was  too  insecure, 

Since  a  guard  and  a  garden  could  not  it  defend  ; 
For  so  near  to  the  Court  they  will  never  endure 

Any  witness  to  show  how  their  time  they  misspend." 

It  was  from  Whitehall  that  one  of  the  king's  mistresses, 
"La  belle  Stuart,"  eloped  (March,  1667)  with  the  Duke  ot 
Richmond.  Pepys  has  left  us  descriptions  of  the  balls  at 
Whitehall  at  this  time,  how  the  room  was  crammed  with  fine 
ladies,  "  to  whom  the  King  and  Queen  came  in,  with  the 
Duke  and  Duchess  of  York  and  all  the  great  ones  ;"  and, 
"  after  seating  themselves,  the  King  takes  out  the  Duchess 
of  York,  and  the  Duke  the  Duchess  of  Buckingham;  the 
Duke  of  Monmouth  my  Laly  Castlemaine,  and  so  other 
lords  other  ladies,  and  they  danced  the  brantle.  After  that, 
the  King  led  a  lady  a  single  coranto  ;  and  then  the  rest  of 
the  lords,  one  after  another,  other  ladies;  very  noble  it 
was,  and  great  pleasure  to  see."  The  last  scenes  of  this 
reign  of  pleasure  at  Whitehall  are  described  by  Evelyn — 

"  I  can  never  forget  the  inexpressible  luxury  and  profaneness,  gaming, 
dissoluteness,  and,  as  it  were,  total  forgetfulness  of  God  (it  being 
Sunday  evening),  which  this  day  se'night  I  was  witness  of;  the  King 
sitting  and  toying  with  his  concubines,  Portsmouth,  Cleveland,  and 
Mazarine  &c,  a  French  boy  singing  love-songs  in  that  glorious  gallery, 
whilst  about  twenty  of  the  great  courtiers  and  other  dissolute  persons 
were  at  basset  round  a  large  table,  a  bank  of  at  least  ^2000  in  gold 
before  them,  upon  which  two  gentlemen  who  were  with  me  made 
reflections  with  astonishment.     Six  days  after  all  was  in  the  dust." 

Charles  died  in  Whitehall  on  Feb.  6,  1684.  With  his 
successor  the  character  of  the  palace  changed.     James  II., 


WHITEHALL. 


2>5 


who  continued  to  make  it  his  principal  residence,  established 
a  Roman  Catholic  chapel  there. 

"  March  5,  16S5.  To  my  great  gricfe  I  saw  the  new  pulpit  set  up  in 
the  Popish  Oratorie  at  Whitehall,  for  the  Lent  preaching,  masse  being 
publicly  said,  and  the  Romanists  swarming  at  Court  with  greater  con- 
fidence than  had  ever  been  seene  in  England  since  the  Reformation." 
— Evelyn. 

It  was  from  Whitehall  that  Queen  Mary  Beatrice  made 
her  escape  on  the  night  of  Dec.  9,  1688.  The  adventure 
was  confided  to  the  Count  de  Lauzun  and  his  friend  M.  de 
St.  Victor,  a  gentleman  of  Avignon.  The  queen  on  that 
terrible  evening  vainly  entreated  to  be  allowed  to  remain 
and  share  the  perils  of  her  husband  ;  he  assured  her  that  it 
was  absolutely  necessary  that  she  should  precede  him,  and 
that  he  would  follow  her  in  twenty-four  hours.  The  king 
and  queen  went  to  bed  as  usual  to  avoid  suspicion,  but  rose 
soon  after,  when  the  queen  put  on  a  disguise  provided  by 
St.  Victor.  The  royal  pair  then  descended  to  the  rooms  of 
Madame  de  Labadie,  where  they  found  Lauzun,  with  the 
infant  Prince  James  and  his  two  nurses.  The  king,  turning 
to  Lauzun,  said,  "  I  confide  my  queen  and  my  son  to  your 
care:  all  must  be  hazarded  to  convey  them  with  the  utmost 
speed  to  France."  Lauzun  then  gave  his  hand  to  the  queen 
to  lead  her  away,  and,  followed  by  the  two  nurses  with  the 
child,  they  crossed  the  Great  Gallery,  and  descended  by  a 
back  staircase  and  a  postern  gate  to  Privy  Gardens.  At  the 
garden  gate  a  coach  was  waiting,  the  queen  entered  with 
Lauzun,  the  nurses,  and  her  child,  who  slept  the  whole 
time,  St.  Victor  mounted  by  the  coachman,  and  they  drove 
to  the  "Horse  Ferry"  at  Westminster,  where  a  boat  was 
waiting  in  which  they  crossed  to  Lambeth. 


216  WALKS  IN  LONDCN. 

On  the  nth  the  Dutch  troops  had  entered  London; 
and  James,  having  commanded  the  gallant  Lord  Craven, 
who  was  prepared  to  defend  the  palace  to  the  utmost, 
to  draw  off  the  guard  which  he  commanded,  escaped 
himself  in  a  boat  from  the  water-entrance  of  the  palace  at 
three  o'clock  in  the  morning.  At  Feversham  his  flight  was 
arrested,  and  he  returned  amid  bonfires,  bell-ringing,  and 
every  symptom  of  joy  from  the  fickle  populace.  Once 
more  he  slept  in  Whitehall,  but  in  the  middle  of  the  night 
was  aroused  by  order  of  his  son-in-law,  and  hurried  forcibly 
down  the  river  to  Rochester,  whence,  on  Dec.  23,  he 
escaped  to  France.  On  the  25th  of  November  the  Prin- 
cess Anne  had  declared  against  her  unfortunate  father,  by 
absconding  at  night  by  a  back  staircase  from  her  lodgings  in 
the  Cockpit,  as  the  north-western  angle  of  the  palace  was 
called,  which  looked  on  St.  James's  Park.  Compton,  Bishop 
of  London,  was  waiting  for  her  with  a  hackney  coach,  and  she 
fled  to  his  house  in  Aldersgate  Street.  Mary  II.  arrived  in 
the  middle  of  February,  and  "came  into  Whitehall,  jolly  as 
to  a  wedding,  seeming  quite  transported  with  joy." 

"  She  rose  early  in  the  morning,  and,  in  her  undress,  before  her 
women  were  up,  went  about  from  room  to  room,  to  see  the  con- 
veniences of  Whitehall.  She  slept  in  the  same  bed  where  the  queen 
of  James  II.  had  slept,  and  within  a  night  or  two  sat  down  to  basset. 
She  smiled  upon  all,  and  talked  to  everybody,  so  that  no  change 
seemed  to  have  taken  place  at  Court  as  to  queens,  save  that  infinite 
throngs  of  people  came  to  see  her,  and  that  she  went  to  our  prayers. 
Her  demeanour  was  censured  by  many.  She  seems  to  be  of  a  good 
temper,  but  takes  nothing  to  heart." — Evelyn.    Diary. 

But  the  glories  of  Whitehall  were  now  over;  William  III., 
occupied  with  his  buildings  at  Hampton  Court  and  Ken- 
sington, never  cared  to  live  there,  and  Mary  doubtless  stayed 


BANQUETING  HOUSE,  WHITEHALL.  217 

there  as  little  as  possible,  feeling  oppressed  by  the  recollec- 
tions of  her  youth  spent  there  with  an  indulgent  father  whom 
she  had  cruelly  wronged,  and  a  stepmother  whom  she  had 
once  loved  with  sisterly  as  well  as  filial  affection,  and  from 
whom  she  had  parted  with  passionate  grief  on  her  man  i 
only  nine  years  before.  The  Stone  Gallery  and  the  late 
apartments  of  the  royal  mistresses  in  Whitehall  were  burnt 
down  in  169 1,  and  the  whole  edifice  was  almost  totally 
destroyed  by  fire  through  the  negligence  of  a  Dutch  maid- 
servant in  1697. 

The  principal  remaining  fragment  of  the  palace  is  the 
Banqueting  House  of  Inigo  Jones,  from  which  Charles  I. 
passed  to  execution.  Built  in  the  dawn  of  the  style  of 
Wren,  it  is  one  of  the  most  grandiose  examples  of  that 
style,  and  is  perfect  alike  in  symmetry  and  proportion. 
That  it  has  no  entrance  apparent  at  first  sight  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  it  was  only  intended  as  a  portion  of  a  larger 
buikling.  In  the  same  way  we  must  remember  that  the 
appearance  of  two  stories  externally,  while  the  whole  is  one 
room,  is  due  to  the  Banqueting  House  being  only  one  of 
four  intended  blocks,  of  which  one  was  to  be  a  ch 
surrounded  by  galleries,  and  the  other  two  divided  into  two 
tiers  of  apartments.  The  Banqueting  House  was  turned 
into  a  chapel  by  George  I.,  but  has  never  been  consecrated, 
and  the  aspect  of  a  hall  is  retained  by  the  ugly  false  reel 
curtains  which  surround  the  interior  of  the  building.  It 
is  called  the  Chapel  Royal  of  Whitehall,  is  served  by  the 
chaplains  of  the  sovereign,  and  is  one  of  the  dreariest 
places  of  worship  in  London.  The  ceiling  is  still  decorated 
with  canvas  pictures  by  Rubens  (1635)  representing  the 
apotheosis  of  James  I.     The  painter  received  ,£3,000  A  1 


n8  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

these  works.  The  walls  were  to  have  been  painted  by 
Vandyke  with  the  History  of  the  Order  of  the  Garter. 
'•  What,"  says  Walpole,  "  had  the  Banqueting  House 
been  if  completed?"*  Over  the  entrance  is  a  bronze  bust 
of  James  I.  attributed  to  Le  Soeur. 

To  this  chapel  the  Seven  Bishops  came  to  return  thanks 
immediately  after  their  acquittal.  It  was  St.  Peter's  Day, 
and  it  was  remarked  that  the  Epistle  was  singularly  appro- 
priate, being  part  of  the  12th  chapter  of  the  Acts,  recording 
Peter's  miraculous  deliverance  from  prison.!  Archbishop 
Tillotson  (1694)  was  seized  with  paralysis  here  during 
Divine  service  on  Sunday.  J  "  He  felt  it  coming  on  him; 
but  not  thinking  it  decent  to  interrupt  the  Divine  service, 
he  neglected  it  too  long."  His  death  immediately  preceded 
that  of  Queen  Mary,  who  was  greatly  attached  to  him. 

The  Weathercock  on  the  north  end  of  the  Banqueting 
House  is  of  historic  interest,  as  having  been  placed  there  by 
James  II.,  that  he  might  watch  from  his  chamber  whether  it 
was  a  wind  which  would  bring  the  Dutch  fleet  to  England. 
According  as  the  wind  blew  from  east  or  west,  it  was  called 
a  Popish  or  a  Protestant  wind.  Hence  the  lines  in  the 
ballad  of  Lilibulero — 

"  Oh,  but  why  does  he  stay  behind  ? 
By  my  soul,  'tis  a  Protestant  wind." 

The  exterior  of  the  Banqueting  House  has  always  been 
much  studied  by  architects.  A  dirty  little  ragged  chimney- 
sweeper was  once  found  drawing  its  front  in  chalk  upon  the 
basement  stones  of  the  building  itself,  and  begged  with  tears 

*  Anecdotes  of  Painting. 
+  D'Oyley's  "  Life  of  Archbishop  Sancroft." 

t  Archbishop  Whitgift  had  been  similarly  attacked  with  a  fatal  paralytic 
seizure  at  Whitehall. 


UNITED   SERVICE  MUSEUM.  ziq 

not  to  be  exposed  to  his  master.  The  gentleman  who  found 
him  purchased  his  indentures  and  sent  him  to  Rome  to 
study,  and  he  lived  to  make  a  large  fortune  as  Isaac  Ware 
the  architect.  * 

In  a  courtyard  behind  the  Banqueting  House  is  one  of 
our  best  London  statues,  that  of  James  II.  by  Grinling 
Gibbons.  It  was  erected  Dec.  31,  16S6,  at  the  expense  of 
Tobias  Rustat,  a  faithful  page  of  the  chamber  to  Charles  II. 
and  James  II.,  who  thus  expended  in  their  honour  the 
money  earned  in  their  service.  This  statue  was  neither 
removed  in  the  revolution  of  16S8,  nor  injured  by  the  fire 
which  destroyed  the  palace. 

In  the  wall  adjoining  Fife  House  in  Whitehall  Yard  may 
still,  or  might  lately,  be  seen  the  arch  of  the  Gate  which 
led  to  the  Royal  Stairs  upon  the  river.  On  the  left  of 
the  court  is  the  United  Service  Institution,  with  a  small 
Museum,  containing  examples  of  naval,  military,  and  militia 
uniforms,  models  of  ships,  and  weapons  of  all  kinds. 
Amongst  historic  objects  preserved  here  we-  may  notice — 

The  Sword  of  Cromwell  at  the  siege  of  Drogheda. 

The  Sword  bome  by  General  Wolfe  at  the  siege  of  Quebec,  Sept. 

13.  175*- 

The  Dirk  of  Lord  Nelson  as  a  Midshipman,  and  the  Sword  with 

which  he  boarded  the  St.  Joseph. 

Relics  of  Captain  Cooke,  including  his  chronometer,  taken  out  again 
by  Captain  Bligh  in  1787,  and  carried  by  the  mutineers  of  the  Bounty 
to  Pitcairn's  Island. 

Relics  of  Sir  John  Franldin's  Arctic  Expedition,  including  the 
chronometers  of  the  ships  Erebus  and  Terror,  which  sailed  May,  1845. 

Relics  of  the  Crimean  war,  amid  which  many  will  look  with  int< 
on  the  stuffed  form  of  "  Bob,"  the  dog  of  the  Scots  Fusilier  Guards, 
which  was  present  at  Alma  and  Inkerman,  and  marched  into  London 
at  the  head  of  the  regiment. 

•  Builder,  Feb.  5,  x8;6. 


220  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

To  the  east  of  the  Banqueting  House  is  Scotland  Yard, 
chiefly  known  now  from  its  Police  Office  and  Lost  Property 
Office.  It  derives  its  name  from  having  been  a  London 
residence  for  the  Scottish  kings.  It  was  given  to  them  in 
959  by  King  Edgar,  when  Kenneth  III.,  coming  to  do 
homage  for  his  kingdom,  was  enjoined  to  return  every  year 
"  to  assist  in  the  forming  of  the  laws."  It  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  Kings  of  Scotland  till  the  rebellion  of  William 
of  Scotland  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  Afterwards  it  con- 
tinued to  bear  their  name,  and  when  Margaret,  widow  of 
James  IV.,  slain  at  Flodden,  was  reconciled  to  her  brother 
Henry  VIII.,  after  her  second  marriage  with  the  Earl  of 
Angus,  she  went  to  reside  there.  Scotland  Yard  had  the 
immunities  of  a  royal  palace,  and  no  one  could  be  arrested 
for  debt  within  its  precincts.  Milton,  when  he  was  Crom- 
well's Latin  Secretary,  resided  in  Scotland  Yard.  Other 
famous  residents  were  Inigo  Jones  (who,  with  Nicholas 
Stone  the  sculptor,  buried  his  money  here  during  the 
Commonwealth) ;  Sir  John  Denham  the  poet ;  and  Sir 
Christopher  Wren.  Sir  John  Vanbrugh  the  architect  built 
here,  from  the  ruins  of  the  palace,  the  semi-Grecian  semi- 
Gothic  house  satirized  by  Swift  in  the  lines— 

"  Now  Poets  from  all  quarters  ran, 
To  see  the  house  of  brother  Van  ; 
Look'd  high  and  low,  walk'd  often  round, 
But  no  such  house  was  to  be  found  : 
One  asks  a  waterman  hard  by, 
•  Where  may  the  Poet's  palace  lie  ? ' 
Another  of  the  Thames  enquires 
If  he  has  seen  its  gilded  spires  ? 
At  length  they  in  the  rubbish  spy 
A  thing  resembling  a  Goose-pie." 

It  was  in  Scotland  Yard  that  (in  the  time  of  James  I. 


THE  HORSE   GUARDS.  221 

Lord  Herbert  of  Cherbury  was  attacked  by  Sir  John  Ayres 
and  four  ruffians,  who  tried  to  assassinate  him,  on  a  ground- 
less suspicion  of  his  being  the  favoured  lover  of  Lady  Ayres. 
He  so  gallantly  defended  himself  that,  though  wounded,  he 
put  all  his  assailants  to  flight. 

Beyond  the  Banqueting  House,  a  row  of  houses  facing 
the  river  still  commemorates,  in  its  name,  the  Privy  Gardens 
where  Latimer  preached  in  a  pulpit  to  Edward  VI.,  who 
listened  to  him  from  a  window  of  the  palace,  and  where 
Pepys,  in  a  different  age,  said  that  "  it  did  him  good  "  to  look 
at  Lady  Castlemaine's  "linen  petticoats,  laced  with  rich 
lace  at  the  bottom."* 

In  the  last  days  of  June,  1850,  an  anxious  crowd  were 
gathered  before  the  gates  of  No.  4,  Privy  Gardens  to  read 
the  bulletins  which  announced  the  fluctuations  in  the  health 
of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  who  was  carried  home  after  his  fatal 
accident  on  Constitution  Hill,  and  expired  in  the  dining- 
room  of  this  house. 

Opposite  Whitehall  is,  first,  the  Admiralty  Office,  built  by 
T.  Ripley,  1726,  on  the  site  of  Wallingford  House,  on  the 
roof  of  which  Archbishop  Usher  fainted  on  seeing  Charles  I. 
led  forth  to  the  scaffold.  It  has  a  screen  by  Adam,  with 
ornaments  supposed  to  be  typical  of  the  duties  of  the  place. 
There  is  a  fine  portrait  of  Nelson  here,  which  was  painted 
at  Naples  by  Leonardo  Guzzardi  for  Sir  William  Hamilton 
in  1799. 

The  next  building  is  the  Horse  Guards,  so  called  from 
the  troop  constantly  on  guard  here,  and  first  established 
here  in  an  edifice  overlooking  the  Tilt- Yard,  "  to  watch  and 
restrain  the  prentices  from  overawing  Parliament."     The 

•  Diary,  21st  May,  1662. 


222 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


building  was  erected  by  Vardy  in  1753.  Two  splendid 
cuirassed  and  helmeted  figures  sit  like  statues  on  their  horses 
under  the  little  stone  pavilions  on  either  side  the  gate,  and 
are    relieved  every  two  hours,   while  two  others  on  foot, 


On  Guard  at  the  Horse  Guards, 


as    Taine    describes,    "  posent    avec    majeste    devant  lee 
The    archway    in    the    centre   is    the    royal 


»* 


gamins. 

entrance  to  St.   James's  Park,  by   the  ancient    Tilt- Yard, 

now  the  parade-ground.      It  was  from  the  Horse  Guards 

*  Notes  sur  l'Angleterre 


THE  FOREIGN  OFFICE.  223 

that  the  funeral  procession  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington  set 
forth. 

The  next  line  of  buildings,  surmounted  by  a  row  of  the 
meaningless  tea-urns  beloved  by  unimaginative  architects, 
is  the  Treasury,  which  was  first  established  in  the  Cockpit 
of  Whitehall  by  Charles  II.,  and  has  remained  there  ever 
since.  It  occupies  the  site  of  the  apartment  in  the  palace 
where  General  Monk,  Duke  of  Albemarle,  died,  Jan.  4,  1670, 
and  his  low-born  duchess,  Nan  Clarges,  in  the  same  month. 
It  was  from  hence  also  that  Anne  escaped,  and  here 
Guiscard  tried  to  stab  Harley,  Earl  of  Oxford,  March  8, 
17 1 1,  but  fell  under  the  wounds  of  Lord  Paulet  and  Mr. 
St.  John.  The  present  buildings,  erected  by  Sir  C.  Barry, 
1846-7,  include  the  Board  of  Trade,  the  Home  Office, 
and  the  Privy  Council  Office. 

In  Downing  Street  (named  from  Sir  G.  Downing,  Secre- 
tary of  State  in  1668)  the  public  offices  have  now  swallowed 
up  all  the  private  residences. 

There  is  a  fascination  in  the  air  of  this  little  cul-de-sac  :  an  hour's 
inhalation  of  its  atmosphere  affects  some  men  with  giddiness,  others 
with  blindness,  and  very  frequently  with  the  most  oblivious  boastful- 
r.ess." — Theodore  Hook. 

The  south  side  of  Downing  Street  is  formed  by  the 
magnificent  pile  of  modern  Italian  buildings  by  Sir 
Gilbert  Scott,  erected  1868 — 73,  to  include  the  Home 
Office,  Foreign  Office,  Colonial  Office,  and  East  India  Office. 
The  Foreign  Office,  presided  over  by  the  Secretary  of 
State  for  Foreign  Affairs,  is  at  the  north-west  corner  of  the 
building,  with  a  grand  staircase:  cabinet  councils  are  fre- 
quently held  here.  The  Colonial  Office,  facing  Parliament 
Sirtte,  is  presided  over  by  the  Secretary  of  State  for  the 


234  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Colonies.  Lord  Nelson  and  the  Duke  of  Wellington  had 
their  only  meeting  in  a  waiting-room  of  the  old  building. 
The  affairs  of  the  India  Office  were  formerly  transacted  in 
the  East  India  House  in  Leadenhall  Street,  but  were 
transferred  to  the  Crown  when  the  East  India  Company 
came  to  an  end  by  Act  of  Parliament,  Sept.  i,  1858,  and 
are  now  managed  by  a  council  of  twelve  members  under  a 
Secretary  of  State.  Facing  Downing  Street  is  the  Exchequer, 
so  called  from  a  four-cornered  table  covered  with  parti- 
coloured cloth,  which  heralds  call  chequy,  round  which  the 
old  court  was  held. 

The  stately  modern  house  with  high  roofs,  on  the  left  of 
"Whitehall,  is  Montagu  House*  built  in  1863  by  the  Duke  of 
Buccleuch,  upon  the  site  of  an  old  family  mansion  erected 
immediately  after  the  Court  had  abandoned  Whitehall. 
The  house  contains  some  magnificent  Vandykes  and  one 
of  the  noblest  collections  of  Historical  Miniatures  in 
England,  beautifully  arranged  in  large  frames  on  the  walls 
of  the  principal  rooms.  The  important  English  miniatures 
begin  with  Henry  VIII.,  Catherine  of  Arragon,  Catherine 
Howard,  and  those  who  surrounded  them.  Elizabeth  is 
represented  over  and  over  again,  with  almost  all  the  leading 
characters  of  her  age.  The  Stuart  Kings  follow,  with 
their  wives,  mistresses,  courtiers,  and  the  chief  literary  men 
of  their  time  ;  and  the  reigns  of  the  Georges  are  represented 
with  equal  completeness.  Many  cases  are  devoted  to  the 
Foreign  miniatures,  of  which  most  are  French,  and  belong 
to  the  reigns  of  Louis  XIV.,  XV.,  and  XVI.  Amongst 
the  pictures  especially  deserving  notice  are — 

In  the  Duke's  Sitting  Room — 

*  Montagu  House  is  not  shown  to  the  puhlic 


MONTAGU  HOUSE,  KING  STREET.  225 

Sir  J.  Reynolds.  Lady  Elizabeth  Montagu,  Duchess  of  Buccleuch 
— a  most  noble  portrait. 

Lely.  Lady  Elizabeth  Percy,  Duchess  of  Northumberland  (ob.  1722  . 
as  a  child,  with  a  dog. 

Walker.     Portrait  of  Oliver  Cromwell. 

Dobson.     Portrait  of  Thomas  Hobbes. 

Drawing  Room. 

Rembrandt.     Portraits  of  Himself  and  his  Mother. 

D.  Tenters.     The  Harvest  Field— at  the  artist's  chateau  of  Perck. 

Vandeuelde.     Shipping— a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  master. 

Murillo.     St.  John  and  the  Lamb. 

Andrea  Mantegna.     A  Sibyl  and  Prophet — in  monochrome. 

Rubens.     The  Watering  Place. 

Music  Room. 

Raffaelle.     Fragment  of  a  Cartoon. 

Dining  Room. 

Vandyke.     James  Stuart,  Duke  of  Richmond  and  Lennox. 

Vandyke.    James  Hamilton,  Duke  of  Hamilton. 

Mengs.  m  John,  Marquis  of  Monthermer. 

Vandyke.     Henry  Rich,  Earl  of  Holland. 

Vandyke.     George  Gordon,  second  Marquis  of  Huntly. 

Lely.     Anna  Maria  Brudenel,  Countess  of  Shrewsbury. 

Leiy.     Lady  Dorothy  Brudenel,  Countess  of  Westmoreland. 

Richmond  Terrace  occupies  the  site  of  Richmond  House 
(burnt  1791),  built  by  the  Earl  of  Burlington  for  Charles, 
second  Duke  of  Richmond. 

On  the  right  is  the  turn  into  King  Street,  now  a  by-way, 
but  long  the  principal  approach  to  Westminster,  in  which 
divers  people  were  smothered  when  pressing  to  see  Queen 
Elizabeth  and  her  nobles  ride  to  open  Parliament.  Here 
it  was  that  Edmund  Spenser  the  poet  "  died  for  lack 
bread,"  having  refused  twenty  pieces  of  silver  sent  him 
Lord  Essex  when  it  was  too  late,  saying  he  was  "sorry  he 

VOL.   II.  Q 


226 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


had  no  time  to  spend  them."     Here  lived  Thomas  Carew, 
who  wrote — 

"  He  that  loves  a  rosy  cheek, 
Or  a  coral  lip  admires,"  &c. 

Here  also,  in  a  house  now  destroyed,  near  Blue  Boar's 
Head  Yard,  resided  Mrs.  Cromwell,  the  anxious  mother  of 
the  Protector,  never  happy  unless  she  saw  her  son  twice  a 


Judge  Jeffreys'  House. 


day,  and  calling  out,  whenever  she  heard  the  report  of  a 
gun,  "  My  son  is  shot."  Oliver  Cromwell  was  living  here 
himself  when  Charles  I.  was  carried  in  a  sedan  chair 
through  the  street  to  his  trial  in  Westminster  Hall,  and 
hence,  six  months  after  the  king's  execution,  he  set  off  in 
his  coach  drawn  by  "  six  gallant  Flanders  mares,"  to  his 
campaign  in  Ireland.     It  was  down  King  Street  .that  the 


JUDGE  JEFFREYS'   HOUSE.  227 

Protector's  funeral  passed  from  Whitehall  to  the  Abbey, 
with  his  waxen  effigy  lying  upon  the  coffin. 

Behind  King  Street  is  Delahay  Street,  where  Judge  Jeffreys 
lived  in  a  house  marked  by  its  picturesque  porch.  It  was 
the  only  house  which  was  allowed  to  have  a  private  entrance 
to  the  Park  on  the  other  side.  To  the  left  of  Parliament 
Street  is  Caution  Row  (originally  Channel  Row,  from  a 
branch  of  the  Thames  which  once  helped  to  make  Thorney 
Island),  where  the  widow  of  the  Protector  Somerset  lived. 
Here  is  the  Office  of  the  Civil  Service  Commission.  Dorset 
Court,  opening  from  hence,  formerly  commemorated  the 
birthplace  of  Anne  Clifford,  "  Pembroke,  Dorset,  and 
Montgomery." 

But  we  must  hasten  on,  for  down  Parliament  Street  we 
look  into  a  sunlit  square,  and  beyond  it  rise,  in  a  grim 
greyness  which  is  scarcely  enlivened  by  their  lace-like  fret- 
work, the  wondrous  buttresses  of  the  most  beautiful 
chapel  in  the  world— that  of  Henry  VII.  in  Westminster 
Abbey. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
WESTMINSTER  ABBEY.— I. 

THE  first  church  on  this  site  was  built  on  the  Isle  of 
Thorns  — "  Thorn ey  Island  "—  an  almost  insulated 
peninsula  of  dry  sand  and  gravel,  girt  on  one  side  by  the 
Thames,  and  on  the  othei  by  the  marshes  formed  by  the 
little  stream  Eye,*  which  gave  its  name  to  Tyburn,  before 
it  fell  into  the  river.  Here  Sebert,  King  of  the  East 
Saxons,  who  died  in  616,  having  been  baptized  by  Mellitus, 
is  said  to  have  founded  a  church,  which  he  dedicated  to 
St.  Peter,  either  from  an  association  with  the  great  church 
in  Rome,  from  which  Augustine  had  lately  come,  or  to 
balance  his  rival  foundation  in  honour  of  St.  Paul  upon 
a  neighbouring  hill.  Sulcard,  the  first  historian  of  the 
Abbey,  relates  that  on  a  Sunday  night,  being  the  eve  of 
the  day  on  which  the  chinch  was  to  be  consecrated  by 
Bishop  Mellitus,  Edric  the  fisherman  was  watching  his  nets 
by  the  bank  of  the  island.  On  the  opposite  shore  he  saw 
a  gleaming  light,  and,  when  he  approached  it  in  his  boat, 
he  found  a  venerable  man,  who  desired  to  be  ferried  across 
the  stream.     Upon  theii  arrival  at  the  island,  the  myste- 

*  The  Eye,  now  a  sewer,  still  passes  under  New  Bond  Street,  the  Green  Park 
and  Buckingham  Palace,  to  join  the  Thames  near  Vauxhall  Bridge, 


FOUNDATION  OF  THE  ABBEY.  229 

rious  stranger  landed,  and  proceeded  to  the  church,  calling 
up  on  his  way  two  springs  of  water,  which  still  exist,  by  two 
blows  of  his  staff.  Then  a  host  of  angels  miraculously 
appeared,  and  held  candles  which  lighted  him  as  he  went 
through  all  the  usual  forms  of  a  church  consecration,  while 
throughout  the  service  other  angels  were  sen  ascending 
and  descending  over  the  church,  as  in  Jacob's  vision.  When 
the  old  man  returned  to  the  boat,  he  bade  Edric  tell 
Mellitus  that  the  church  was  already  consecrated  by  St. 
Peter,  who  held  the  keys  of  heaven,  and  promised  that  a 
plentiful  supply  of  fish  would  never  fail  him  as  a  fisherman 
if  he  ceased  to  work  on  a  Sunday,  and  did  not  forget  to 
bear  a  tithe  of  that  which  he  caught  to  the  Abbey  of  West- 
minster. 

On  the  following  day,  when  Mellitus  came  to  consecrate 
the  church,  Edric  presented  himself  and  told  his  story, 
showing,  in  proof  of  it,  the  marks  of  consecration  in  the 
traces  of  the  chrism,  the  crosses  on  the  doors,  and  the  drop- 
pings of  the  angelic  candles.  The  bishop  acknowledged 
that  his  work  had  been  already  done  by  saintly  hands,  and 
changed  the  name  of  the  place  from  Thorn ey  to  Westmin- 
ster, and  in  recollection  of  the  story  of  Edric  a  tithe  of 
fish  was  paid  by  the  Thames  fishermen  to  the  Abbey  till 
1382,*  the  bearer  having  a  right  to  sit  that  day  at  the 
prior's  table,  and  to  ask  for  bread  and  ale  from  the  ccl- 
larman. 

Beside  the  church  of  Sebert  arose  the  palace  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  monarchs,  to  which  it  served  as  a  chapel,  as 

*  In  1231  the  monks  of  Westminster  went   to   law  with  the  vicar  hithc 

for  the  tithe  of  salmon  caught  in   his  p.-.rish,  t  that  it  had  been  granted 

by  St.  L'eter  to  their  Abl  rj  at  its  consecration 


230  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

St.  George's  does  to  Windsor.  It  is  connected  with  many 
of  the  legends  of  that  picturesque  age.  Here,  while  he  was 
attending  mass  with  Leofric  of  Mercia  and  his  wife,  the 
famous  Godiva,  Edward  the  Confessor  announced  that  he  saw 
the  Saviour  appear  as  a  luminous  child.  By  the  wayside 
between  the  palace  and  the  chapel  sate  Michael,  the  crip- 
pled Irishman,  who  assured  Hugolin,  the  chamberlain,  that 
St.  Peter  had  promised  his  cure  if  the  king  would  himself 
bear  him  on  his  shoulders  to  the  church,  upon  which 
Edward  bore  him  to  the  altar,  where  he  was  received  by 
Godric,  the  sacristan,  and  walked  away  whole. 

Whilst  he  was  an  exile  Edward  had  vowed  that  if  he 
returned  to  England  in  safety  he  would  make  a  pilgrimage 
to  Rome.  This  promise,  after  his  coronation,  he  was  most 
anxious  to  perform,  but  his  nobles  refused  to  let  him  go, 
and  the  pope  (Leo  IX.)  released  him  from  his  vow,  on 
condition  of  his  founding  or  restoring  a  church  in  honour 
of  St.  Peter.  Then,  to  an  ancient  hermit  near  Worcester, 
St.  Peter  appeared,  "  bright  and  beautiful,  like  to  a  clerk," 
and  bade  him  tell  the  king  that  the  church  to  which  he 
must  devote  himself,  and  where  he  must  establish  a  Bene- 
dictine monastery,  was  no  other  than  the  ancient  minstei 
of  Thorney,  which  he  knew  so  well. 

Edward,  henceforth  devoting  a  tenth  of  his  whole  sub- 
stance to  the  work,  destroyed  the  old  church,  and  rebuilt 
it  from  the  foundation,  as  the  "  Collegiate  Church  of  St. 
Peter  at  Westminster."  It  was  the  first  cruciform  church 
erected  in  England,*  and  was  of  immense  size  for  the  age, 
covering  the  whole  of  the  ground  occupied  by  the  present 
budding.      The    foundation    was    laid    in    1049,   and    the 

•  "  Novo  compositionis  gen-re.'' — Matthew  Paris. 


BUILDING  OF  THE  ABBEY.  231 

church  was  consecrated  December  28,  1065,  eight  days 
before  the  death  of  the  king.  Of  this  church  and  monas- 
tery of  the  Confessor  nothing  remains  now  but  the  Chapel 
of  the  Pyx,  the  lower  part  of  the  Refectory  underlying  the 
Westminster  schoolroom,  part  of  the  Dormitory,  and  the 
whole  of  the  lower  walls  of  the  South  Cloister  ;  but  the 
Bayeux  tapestry  still  shows  us  in  outline  the  church  of 
the  Confessor  as  it  existed  in  its  glory. 

The  second  founder  of  the  Abbey  was  Henry  III.,  who 
pulled  To  vn  most  of  the  Confessor's  work,  and  from  1245 
to  1272  devoted  himself  to  rebuilding.  The  material  he 
employed  was  first  the  green  sandstone,  which  has  given 
the  name  of  God-stone  to  the  place  in  Surrey  whence  it 
came,  and  afterwards  Caen  stone.  The  portions  which 
remain  to  us  from  his  time  are  the  Confessor's  Chapel,  the 
side  aisles  and  their  chapels,  and  the  choir  and  transepts. 
The  work  of  Henry  was  continued  by  his  son  Edward  I.,  who 
built  the  eastern  portion  of  the  nave,  and  it  was  carried  on 
by  different  abbots  till  the  great  west  window  was  erected 
by  Abbot  Estney  in  149S.  Meantime,  Abbot  Littlir.gton,  in 
1380,  had  added  the  College  Hall,  the  Abbot's  House, 
Jerusalem  Chamber,  and  part  of  the  cloisters.  In  1502 
Henry  VII.  pulled  down  the  Lady  Chapel,  and  built  his 
beautiful  Perpendicular  chapel  instead.  The  western 
towers  were  only  completed  from  designs  of  Sir  Christopher 
Wren  (17 14),  under  whom  much  of  the  exterior  was 
refaced  with  Oxfordshire  stone,  and  its  original  details 
mercilessly  defaced  and  pared  down. 

"The  Abbey  Church  formerly  arose  a  magnificent  apex  to  a  royal 
palace,  surround  d  by  its  own  greater  and  lesser  sanctuaries  and 
almonries  ;   its  bell-towers,   caapels,   prisons,    gate-houses,   boundary- 


232  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

walls,  and  a  train  of  other  buildings,  of  which  at  the  present  day  we 
can  scarcely  form  an  idea.  In  addition  to  all  the  land  around  it, 
extending  from  the  Thames  to  Oxford  Street,  and  from  Vauxhall 
Bridge  Road  to  the  church  of  St.  Mary-le-Strand,  the  Abbey  possessed 
97  towns  and  villages,  17  hamlets,  and  216  manors." — BardwelV  s 
Ancient  and  Modern  Westminster: 

At  the  dissolution  Abbot  Benson  was  rewarded  for  his 
facile  resignation  by  being  made  dean  of  the  college  which 
was  established  in  place  of  the  monastery.  In  1541  a 
bishopric  of  Westminster  was  formed,  with  Middlesex  as  a 
diocese,  but  it  was  of  short  existence,  for  Mary  refounded 
the  monastery,  and  Elizabeth  turned  her  attention  entirely 
to  the  college,  which  she  re-established  under  a  dean  and 
twelve  secular  canons. 

No  one  can  understand  Westminster  Abbey,  and  few  can 
realise  its  beauties,  in  a  single  visit.  Too  many  tombs 
will  produce  the  same  satiety  as  too  many  pictures.  There 
can  be  no  advantage,  and  there  will  be  less  pleasure,  in 
filling  the  brain  with  a  hopeless  jumble  in  which  kings  and 
statesmen,  warriors,  ecclesiastics,  and  poets,  are  tossing 
about  together.  Even  those  who  give  the  shortest  time 
to  their  London  sight-seeing  should  not  pay  less  than  three 
visits  to  the  Abbey.  On  the  first,  unwearied  by  detail,  let 
them  have  the  luxury  of  enjoying  the  architectural  beauties 
of  the  place,  with  a  general  view  of  the  interior,  the  chapter- 
house, cloisters,  and  their  monastic  surroundings.  On  the 
second  let  them  study  the  glorious  chapels  which  surround 
the  choir,  and  which  contain  nearly  all  the  tombs  of  anti- 
quarian or  artistic  interest.  On  the  third  let  them  labour 
as  far  as  they  can  through  the  mass  of  monuments  which 
crowd  the  transepts  and  nave,  which  are  often  mere  ceno- 
taphs, and  which  almost  always  derive  their  only  interest 


EXTERIOR    OF  THE  ABBEY.  $33 

from  those  they  commemorate.  These  three  visits  may 
enable  visitors  to  see  Westminster  Abbey,  but  it  will  require 
many  more  to  know  it — visits  at  all  hours  of  the  day  to 
drink  in  the  glories  of  the  light  and  shadow  in  the  one 
great  church  of  England  which  retains  its  beautiful  ancient 
colouring  undestroyed  by  so-called  "restoration" — visits 
employed  in  learning  the  way  by  which  the  minster 
has  grown,  arch  upon  arch,  and  monument  upon  monu- 
ment; and  other  visits  given  to  studying  the  epitaphs  on 
the  tombs,  and  considering  the  reminiscences  they  awaken. 

"Oft  let  me  range  the  gloomy  aisles  alone — 
Sad  luxury  !  to  vulgar  minds  unknown. 
Along  the  walls  where  speaking  marbles  show 
What  worthies  form  the  hallow 'd  mould  below; 
Proud  names,  who  once  the  reins  of  empires  held  ; 
In  aims  who  triumph'd,  or  in  arts  excell'd  ; 
Chiefs,  graced  with  scars,  and  prodigal  of  blood  ; 
Stern  patriots,  who  for  sacred  freedom  stood ; 
Just  men,  by  whom  impartial  laws  were  given; 
And  saints,  who  taught  and  led  the  way  to  heaven." 

Tickell. 

In  approaching  the  Abbey  from  Parliament  Street,  the  first 

portion  seen  is  the  richly  decorated  buttresses  of  Henry 

VII.'s  Chapel.     Then  we  emerge  into  the  open  square  which 

still  bears  the  name  of  Broad  Sanctuary,  and  have  the  whole 

building  rising  before  us. 

"  That  antique  pile  behold, 
Where  royal  heads  receive  the  sacred  gold  : 
It  gives  them  crowns,  and  does  their  ashes  keep  ; 
There  made  like  gods,  like  mortals  there  they  sleep, 
Making  the  circle  o1  their  reign  complete, 
These  suns  of  empire,  where  they  rise  they  set." 

Waller. 

The   outline   of  the   Abbey    is   beautifully   varied    and 
broken   by   St.    Margaret's    Church,    which    is    not    only 


234 


WALKS  IN  LONDOX. 


deeply  interesting  in  itself,  but  is  invaluable  as  presenting 
the  greater  edifice  behind  it  in  its  true  proportions. 
Facing  us  is  the  north  transept,  the  front  of  which,  with 
its  statueless  niches,  beautiful  rose-window,  and  its  great 
triple  entrance — imitated  from  French  cathedrals — some- 
times called  "  Solomon's  Porch,"  is  the  richest  part  of  the 
building  externally,  and  a  splendid  example  of  the  Pointed 


At  Westminster. 


style.     Beyond  Wren's  poor  towers  is  the  low  line  of  grey 
wall  which  indicates  the  Jerusalem  Chamber. 

Facing  the  Abbey,  on  the  left,  are  Westminster  Hall  and 
the  Houses  of  Parliament,  which  occupy  the  site  of  the 
ancient  palace  of  our  sovereigns.  Leaving  these  and  St. 
Margaret's  for  a  later  chapter,  let  us  proceed  at  once  to 
•3nter  the  Abbey. 


POETS'    CORNER. 


235 


The  nave  and  transepts  are  open  free;  the  chapels  surrounding  the 
choir  are  shown  on  payment  of  6d. 

Hours  of  Divine  service,  7.45  A.M.,  10  A.M.,  and  3  p.m.  From 
the  first  Sunday  after  Easter  till  the  last  Sunday  in  July  there  is  a 
special  evening  service  with  a  sermon  in  the  nave  at  7  P.M.  "Vox 
quidem  dissona,  sed  una  religio  "  has  been  the  maxim  of  Dean  Stanley 
in  his  choice  of  the  p;eachers  for  the  sei  vices. 

Three  miles  of  hot  water  completely  warm  the  Abbey  in  winter. 

Behind  the  rich  lace-work  of  Henry  VII. 's  Chapel,  and 
under  one  of  the  grand  flying  buttresses  of  the  Chapter- 
House,  through  a  passage  hard  by  which  Chaucer  lived,  we 
reach  the  door  of  the  Poets'  Corner,  where  Qr.een  Caroline 
vainly  knocked  for  admission  to  share  in  the  coronation  of 
her  husband  George  IV.  This  is  the  door  by  which  visitors 
generally  enter  the  Abbey. 

"The  moment  I  entered  Westminster  Abbey  I  felt  a  hind  of  awe 
pervade  my  mind  which  I  cannot  describe ;  the  very  silence  seemed 
sacred." — Edmund  Burke. 

"On  entering,  the  magnitude  of  the  building  breaks  fully  upon  the 
mind.  The  eye  gazes  with  wonder  at  clustered  columns  of  gigantic 
dimensions,  with  arches  springing  from  them  to  such  an  amazing 
heght.  It  seems  as  if  the  awful  nature  of  the  place  presses  down  upon 
the  soul,  and  hushes  the  beholder  into  noiseless  reverence.  We  feel 
that  we  are  surrounded  by  the  congregated  bones  of  the  great  men  of 
past  times,  who  have  filled  history  with  their  deeds,  and  earth  with 
their  renown." — Washington  Irving. 

"  How  reverend  is  the  face  of  this  tall  pile, 
Whose  ancient  pillars  rear  their  marble  heads, 
To  bear  aloft  its  arch'd  and  ponderous  roof, 
By  its  own  weight  made  steadfast  and  immovable. 
Looking  tranquillity  !  "—  Congreve. 

"They  dreamed  not  of  a  peiishable  home 
Who  thus  could  build.     Be  mine,  in  hours  of  fear 
Or  grovelling  thought,  to  seek  a  refuge  here, 
And  through  the  aisles  of  Westminster  to  roam, 
Where  bubbles  burst,  and  folly's  dancing  (oam 
Melts,  if  it  cross  the  threshold." — JV.  Words-.rorth. 


236  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

"Here  where  the  end  of  earthly  things 
Lays  heroes,  patriots,  bards,  and  kings, 
Where  stiff  the  hand  and  still  the  tongue 
Of  those  who  fought,  and  spoke,  and  sung, 
Here,  where  the  fretted  aisles  prolong 
The  distant  notes  ot  holy  song, 
As  if  some  angel  spoke  again, 
'  All  peace  on  earth,  goodwill  to  man,' 
Tf  ever  from  an  English  heart, 
Oh,  here  let  prejudice  depart !  " — Walter  Scott. 

The  name  Poets'  Corner,  as  applied  to  the  southern  end 
of  the  south  transept,  is  first  mentioned  by  Goldsmith.  The 
attraction  to  the  spot  as  the  burial-place  of  the  poets  arose 
from  its  containing  the  grave  of  Chaucer,  "  the  father  of 
English  poets,"  whose  tomb,  though  it  was  not  erected  till 
more  than  a  hundred  years  after  his  death  (1551),  is  the  only 
ancient  monument  in  the  transept.  Here,  as  Addison  says, 
"  there  are  many  poets  who  have  no  monuments,  and  many 
monuments  which  have  no  poets."  Though  many  of  the 
later  monuments  are  only  cenotaphs,  they  are  still  for  the 
most  part  interesting  as  portraying  those  they  commemo- 
rate. That  which  strikes  every  one  is  the  wonderful  beauty 
of  the  colouring  in  the  interior.  Architects  will  pause  to 
admire  the  Purbeck  marble  columns  with  their  moulded, 
not  sculptured,  capitals  ;  the  beauty  of  the  triforium  arcades, 
their  richness  so  greatly  enhanced  by  the  wall-surface  above 
being  covered  with  a  square  diaper ;  the  noble  rose- 
windows  ;  and,  above  all,  the  perfect  proportions  of  the 
whole.  But  no  knowledge  of  architecture  is  needed  foi 
the  enjoyment  of  the  colouring — of  the  radiant  hues  of  the 
stained-glass,  which  enhances  the  depth  of  the  shadows  amid 
the  time-stained  arches,  and  floods  the  roof  and  its  beautiful 
tracery  with  light. 


INTERIOR    OF  THE  ABBEY.  25; 

Fcw,  however,  among  the  hundreds  who  visit  it  daily 
are  led  to  the  Abbey  by  its  intrinsic  beauty,  but  rather 
because  it  is  "  the  silent  meeting-place  of  the  great  dead 
of  eight  centuries" — the  burial-place  of  those  of  her 
sons  whom,  at  different  times  of  her  taste  and  judgment, 
England  has  delighted  to  honour  with  sepulture  in  "the 
great  temple  of  silence  and  reconciliation,  where  the  enmities 
of  twenty  generations  lie  buried."  * 

"Let  us  now  praise  famous  men,  and  our  fatheis  that  begat  us. 
The  Lord  hath  wrought  great  glory  by  them  through  his  gieat  power 
trom  the  beginning.  Such  as  did  bear  rule  in  their  kingdoms,  men 
renowned  for  their  power,  giving  counsel  by  their  understanding. 
Leaders  ot  the  people  by  their  counsels,  and  by  their  knowledge  of 
learning  meet  for  the  peopfe,  wise  and  eloquent  in  their  instructions. 
Such  as  found  out  musical  tunes,  and  recited  verses  in  writing:  rich 
men  furnished  with  ability,  fiving  peaceabfy  in  their  habitations.  All 
these  were  tunouied  in  their  generation,  and  were  the  glory  of  theii 

times Their  bodies  are  buried  in  peace,  but  their  name  livett 

for  evermore." — Ecclesiatttcus  xliv.  1 — 7,  14. 

"  When  1  am  in  a  serious  humour,  1  very  often  walk  by  myself  in 
Westminster  Abbey ;  whcie  the  gloominess  ot  the  place,  and  the  use 
to  which  it  is  applied,  with  the  solemnity  of  the  building,  and  the 
condition  ot  the  people  who  lie  in  it,  are  apt  to  lill  the  mind  with  a 
kind  of  melancholy,  or  rather  thoughtfulness  that  is  not  disagreeable. 

"  When  I  took  upon  the  tombs  ot  the  great,  every  notion  of  envy 
dies  in  me ;  when  I  read  the  epitaphs  ot  the  beautiful,  every  inordinate 
desire  goes  out  ;  when  I  meet  with  grief  of  parents  upon  a  tombstone, 
my  heart  melts  with  compassion;  when  I  see  the  tombs  of  the  parents 
themselves,  l  consider  the  vanity  of  grieving  for  those  whom  we  mu>t 
quickly  follow.  When  I  see  kings  lying  by  the  side  of  those  who 
deposed  them,  when  I  consider  rival  wits  placed  side  by  side,  or  the 
holy  men  that  divided  the  world  with  their  contests  and  disputes,  I 
reflect  with  sorrow  and  astonishment  on  the  little  competitions,  factions, 
and  debates  of  mankind.  When  I  read  the  several  dates  of  the  tombs, 
ot  some  that  died  yesterday,  and  some  six  hundred  years  ago,  I  con- 
sider that  great  day  when  we  shall  all  of  us  be  contemporaries,  and 
make  our  appearance  together." — Addison,  Spectator,  No.  20. 

*  JMacaufay. 


238  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

"Death  opencth  the  gate  to  good  fame,  and  extinguished  envy; 
above  all,  believe  it,  when  a  man  hath  obtained  worthy  ends  and 
expectations,  the  sweetest  canticle  is  'Nunc  Dimittis.'  "—Lord  Bacon. 

"0  eloquent,  just,  and  mighty  Death!  whom  none  could  advise, 
thou  hast  persuaded ;  what  none  hath  dared,  thou  hast  done  ;  and 
whom  all  the  world  hath  flattered,  thou  only  hast  cast  out  of  the  world 
and  despised ;  thou  hast  drawn  together  all  the  far-stretched  greatness, 
all  the  pride,  cruelty,  and  ambition  of  man,  and  covered  it  all  over  with 
these  two  words,  Hie  jacet^—Sir  W.  Raleigh.     Hist,  of  the  World. 

"  The  best  of  men  are  but  men  at  the  best."—  General  Lambert. 

Those  who  look  upon  the  tombs  of  the  poets  can 
scarcely  fail  to  observe,  with  surprise,  how  very  few  are 
commemorated  here  whose  works  are  read  now,  how  many 
whose  very  existence  is  generally  forgotten.* 

"I  have  always  observed  that  the  visitors  to  the  Abbey  remain 
longest  about  the  simple  memorials  in  Poets'  Corner.  A  kinder  and 
fonder  feeling  takes  the  place  of  that  cold  curiosity  or  vague  admira- 
tion with  which  they  gaze  on  the  splendid  monuments  of  the  great  and 
the  heroic.  They  linger  about  these  as  about  the  tombs  of  friends  and 
companions." — Washington  Irving.     The  Sketch  Book. 

Beginning  to  the  right  from  the  entrance,  we  find  the 
monuments  of — 

Michael  Drayton,  author  of  the  "  Polyolbion,"  who  "  exchanged 
his  laurell  for  a  crowne  of  glory"  in  1631.  His  bust  was  erected  here 
by  Anne  Clifford,  "Dorset,  Pembroke,  and  Montgomery." 

*  We  look  in  vain  for  any  monuments  to  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  Christopher  Mar- 
lowe, Robert  Southwell,  John  Donne,  Thomas  Carew,  Philip  Massinger,  Sir 
John  Suckling,  George  Sandys,  Francis  Quarles,  Thomas  Heywood,  Richard 
Lovelace,  Robert  Herrick,  George  Withers,  Henry  Vaughan,  Andrew  Marvell, 
Thomas  Otway,  Izaak  Walton,  Thomas  Parnell,  Edmund  Waller,  William 
Somerville,  William  Collins,  Edward  Moore,  Allan  Ramsay,  William  Shenstone, 
William  Falconer,  Mark  Akenside,  Thomas  Chatterton,  Tobias  Smollett,  Thomas 
Wharton,  Robert  Burns,  James  Beattie,  James  Hogg,  George  Crabbe,  Felicia 
Hemans,  L.  E.  Landon,  and  John  Keats.  Even  the  far  greater  memories  of 
Walter  Scott,  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge,  Percy  Bysshe  Shelley,  and  Walter 
Savage  Landor  are  unrepresented.  Stained  windows  are  supposed  to  comme- 
morate George  Herbert  and  William  Cowrntf. 


TOMBS   OF  THE  POETS.  23c, 

*'  Dos  pious  marble !  let  thy  readers  knowe 
What  they,  and  what  their  children  owe 
To  Drayton's  name,  whose  sacred  dust 
We  recommend  unto  thy  trust. 
Piotect  his  mem'ry,  and  preserve  his  storye, 
Remaine  a  lastinge  monument  of  his  glorye  ; 
And  when  thy  ruines  shall  disclame 
To  be  the  treasrer  of  his  name  : 
His  name,  that  canot  fade,  shall  be 
An  everlasting  monument  to  thee." 

"Mr.  Marshall,  the  stone-cutter  of  Fetter  Lane,  told  me  that  these 
verses  were  made  by  Mr.  Francis  Quarles,  who  was  his  great  fiiend. 
'Tis  pity  they  should  be  lost.  Mr.  Quarles  was  a  very  good  man." — 
A  ubrey. 

"  There  is  probably  no  poem  of  this  kind  in  any  other  language  com- 
parable togeiher  in  extent  and  excellence  to  the  Poly-olbion.  Yel 
perhaps  no  English  poem,  known  as  well  by  name,  is  so  little  known 
beyond  its  name."— Hallam.     Intro,  to  Lit.  Hist. 

Barton  Booth,  the  actor,  1 733,  with  a  medallion.  Being  cdu:ated 
at  Westminster,  where  he  was  the  favourite  of  Dr.  Busby,  lie  was  first 
induced  to  take  to  the  stage  by  the  admiration  he  excited  while  acting 
in  one  of  Terence's  plays  as  a  schoolboy.  He  was  the  01  iginal  "  Cato  " 
in  Addison's  play. 

John  Philips,  1 708,  buried  at  Hereford,  an  author,  whose  once  cele 
brated  poem,    "Ti.e    Splendid    Shilling,"   is  now   almost   forgotten. 
Milton  was   his   model,  and  "  whatever  there  is  in  Milton  which  the 
reader  wishes    away,   all    that  is  obsolete,   peculiar,  or   licentious,  is 
accumulated   with    great   care    by   Philips."*      The   monument    \\ 
erected   by  the  poet's  friend,    Sir  Simon  Harcourt.     The  epitaph   is 
attributed   to   Dr.    Smaltidge.       The  line,    "  Uni    Miltono   secundus, 
primoque  pame  par,"  was  effaced   under  Dean   Sprat,  not  because  o( 
its  almost  profane  arrogance,  but  because  the  royalist  dean  would  not 
allow  even  the  name  of  the  regicide  Milton  to  appear  within  the  A 
— it  was  "  too  detestable  to  be  read  on  the  wall  of  a  building  dedi 
to  devotion."  The  line  was  restored  under  Dean  Atterbury.f   Phil-       - 
poem  of '* Cyder  "  is  commemorated  in  the   bower  of  apple   entwined 
with  laurel  which  encircles  his  bust,  and  the  inscription,  "  Hoiios  erat 
huic  quoque  Porno." 

*  Johnson's  "  Lives  of  the  Poets."  ♦  Ibid. 


240 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


Geoffrey  Chaucer,  1400.  A  grey  marble  altar-tomb  with  a  canopy, 
erected  by  Nicholas  Bingham  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  This 
"  Maister  Chaucer,  the  Flour  of  Poetes,"  is  chiefly  known  from  his 
"  Canterbury  Tales,"  by  which  a  company  of  pilgrims,  who  meet  at 
the  Tabard  Inn  in  South wark  on  their  way  to  the  shrine  of  St.  Thomas 
a  Becket,  are  supposed  to  beguile  their  journey.  The  fortunes  of 
Chaucer  followed  those  of  John  of  Gaunt,  who  married  the  sister  of 
the  poet's  wife,  Philippa  de  Rouet,  and  he  was  at  one  time  imprisoned 
for  his  championship  of  the  followers  of  Wickliffe.     He  was  buried 


l^W^^fWp 


v.'.tfl  R.oyiCK-Sf 


Chaucer's  Tomb. 


"in  the  Abbey  of  Westminster,  before  the  chapel  of  St.  Bennet."* 
The  window  above  the  tomb  was  erected  :o  the  poet's  memory 
in  1868. 

"  Chaucer  lies  buried  in  the  south  aisle  of  St.  Peter's,  Westminster, 
and  now  hath  got  the  company  of  Spenser  and  Drayton,  a  pair  royal 
of  poets,  enough  almost  to  make  passengers'  feet  to  move  metricall  , 
who  go  over  the  place  where  so  much  poetical  dust  is  interred." — 
Fuller. 

*  Caxton   in  his  ed.  of  Chaucer's  trans,  of  Roethius. 


TOMBS  OF  THE  POETS.  241 

r Abraham  Cowley,  1667.  The  monument  stands  above  the  grave  of 
the  poet,  and  was  erected  by  George  Villiers,  second  Duke  of  Bucking- 
ham. Dean  Swilt  wrote  the  inscription  to  "the  Pindar,  Hora  e,  and 
Virgil  of  England,  and  the  delight,  ornament,  and  admiiaii  hi  of  his 
age."  Cowley  was  zealously  devoted  to  the  cause  of  Charles  I.,  but 
was  cruelly  neglected  by  Charles  II.,  though,  on  hearing  of  his  death, 
the  king  is  reported  to  have  said  that  "  he  (Cowley)  had  not  left  a  better 
man  behind  him."  The  popularity  of  Cowley  had  already  waned  in 
the  days  of  Pope,  who  wrote — 

"  Who  now  reads  Cowley  ?     If  he  pleases  yet, 
His  moral  pleases,  not  his  pointed  wit: 
Forget  his  epic,  nay,  Pindaric,  art, 
But  still  I  love  the  language  of  his  heart." 

(Above  Chaucer)  an  epitaph  to  John  Roberts,  1776,  the  "  very 
faithful  secretary  "  to  Henry  Pelham. 

I'  John  Dryden,  1 700.  A  bust  by  Scheemakers,  erected  by  Sheffield, 
Duke  of  Buckingham.     Pope  wrote  the  couplet — 

"  This  Sheffield  raised  ;  the  sacred  dust  below 
Was  Dryden  once  :  the  rest  who  does  not  know  ?  " 

Dryden,  who  succeeded  Sir  William  Davenant  as  poet-laureate,  was 
educated  at  Westminster  School.  He  shifted  his  politics  with  the 
Restoration,  having  previously  been  an  ardent  admirer  of  Cromwell. 
His  twenty— even  plays  are  now  almost  forgotten,  and  so  are  his  prose 
works,  however  admirable.  His  reputation  chiefly  rests  on  his  "  Ode 
for  St.  Cecilia's  Day,"  and  the  musical  opening  lines  of  his  "  1 
and  Panther,"  written  after  his  secession  to  the  Church  of  Koine, 
in  the  second  part  of  which  he  represented  the  milk-white  hind  (Rome) 
and  the  spotted  panther  (the  Church  of  England)  as  discussing  theo- 
logy.    He  was  buried  at  the  feet  of  Chaucer  (see  Ch.  Ui.). 

Near  Dryden  lies  Francis  Beaumont,  the  dramatist,  i5l6. 

Returning  to  the  south  entrance,  and  turning  left,  we  find 
monuments  to — 

Benjonson,  1637,  who  was  educated  at  Westminster  School,  but 
afterwards  became  a  bricklayer,  then  a  soldier,  and  then  an  actor.  His 
comedies  found  such  favour  with  James  I.  that  he  received  a  pension  of 
a  hundred  marks,  with  the  title  of  poet-laureate,  in  1616.  His  pension 
was  increased  by  Charles  I.,  but  he  died  in  great  poverty  in  the  neigh- 

VOL.  II.  R 


242  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

bourhood  of  the  Abbey,  where  he  was  buried  in  the  north  aisle  of 
the  nave.  "Every  Man  in  His  Humour  and  The  Alchymist  are 
perhaps  the  best  of  his  comedies  ;  but  there  is  hardly  one  of  his 
pieces  which,  as  it  stands,  would  please  on  the  stage  in  the  present 
day,  even  as  most  of  them  failed  to  please  in  his  own  time."*  His 
allegorical  monument,  by  Rysbrack,  was  erected  in  1737. 

Samuel  Butler ;  1680,  buried  at  St."  Paul's,  Covent  Garden  ;  the 
author  of  "  HuJibras,"  a  work  which,  when  it  came  out,  "  was  incom- 
parably more  popular  than  "  Paradise  Lost ;  "  no  poem  in  our  language 
rose  at  once  to  greater  reputation."  f 

"By  the  first  paragraph  the  reader  is  amused,  by  the  next  he  is 
delighted,  and  by  a  few  more  constrained  to  astonishment.  But  asto- 
nishment is  a  tiresome  pleasure  ;  he  is  soon  weary  of  wondering,  and 
longs  to  be  diverted."— Johnson. 

The  bust  was  erected  by  John  Barber,  Lord  Mayor,  "  that  he  who 
was  destitute  of  all  things  when  alive,  might  not  want  a  monument 
when  dead." 

Edmond  Spenser,  1598,  with  the  epitaph,  "Here  lyes  expecting  the 
second  commin^e  of  our  Saviour  Christ  Jesus,  the  body  of  Edmond 
Spencer,  the  Prince  of  Poets  in  his  tyme,  whose  divine  spirrit  needs 
noe  othir  witnesse  then  the  workes  which  he  left  behinde  him."  He 
died  in  King  Street,  Westminster,  and  was  buried  here  at  the  expense 
of  Devereux,  Earl  of  Essex,  the  spot  being  selected  for  his  grave  on 
account  of  its  vicinity  to  Chaucer. 

"His  hearse  was  attended  by  poets,  and  mournful  elegies  and 
poems,  with  the  pens  that  wrote  them,  were  thrown  into  his  tomb. 
What  a  funeral  was  that  at  which  Beaumont,  Fletcher,  Jonson,  and, 
in  all  probability,  Shakspeare,  attended  ! — what  a  grave  in  which  the 
pen  of  Shakspeare  may  be  mouldering  away  !  " — Stanley.  Memorials 
of  Westminster. 

It  is  by  his  "  Faerie  Queene  "  that  Spenser  is  chiefly  known  now, 
but  his  "  Shepheardes  Calendar  "  was  so  much  admired  by  Dryden 
that  he  considered  it  "  not  to  be  matched  in  any  modern  language." 

"  Our  sage  and  serious  Spenser,  whom  I  dare  be  known  to  think  a 
better  teacher  than  Scotus  or  Aquinas." — Milton. 

"  The  grave  and  diligent  Spenser."- — Ben  Jonson. 

"  Heie's  that  creates  a  poet." — Quarles. 

Thomas  Griy,  1 77 1,  buried  at  Stoke  Pogis,  chiefly   known  as  the 
uthor  of  the  "  Elegy  written  in  a  Country  Churchyard,"  which  Byron 

•  Schlegel's  "Lectures  on  Dramatic  Art  ani  Lit," 
+  Hallam,  "  lntroduct.  to  Lit.  lii*.t." 


TOMBS   OF  THE  POETS. 


24i 


justly  calls  "the  corner-stone  of  his  glory."  The  monument  is  by 
John  Bacon.  The  Lyric  Muse  is  represented  as  holding  his  medal  ion- 
portrait,  and  points  to  a  bust  of  Milton.  Beneath  are  the  lines  oi 
Mason— 

"  No  more  the  Gi  sedan  muse  uniival'd  reigns  ; 
To  Britain  let  the  nations  homage  pay  : 
She  felt  a  Homer's  fire  in  Milton's  strains, 
A  Pindar's  rapture  in  the  lyre  of  Gray." 

John  Milton,  1671,  buried  at  St.  Giles's,  Cripplegate  (see  Vol.  I. 
Ch.  VII.).  The  monument,  by  Rysbrack,  was  erected  in  1737,  when 
Dr.  Gregory  said  to  Dr.  Johnson,  "I  have  seen  erected  in  the  church  a 
bust  of  that  man  whose  name  I  once  knew  considered  as  a  pollution  of 
its  walls."*  It  was  set  up  at  the  expense  of  Auditor  Benson,  who 
"has bestowed  more  words  upon  himself  than  upon  Milton,"  +  whence 
Pope's  line  in  the  Dunciad — 

"  On  poets'  tombs  see  Benson's  titles  writ." 

William  Mason,  1797,  buried  at  Aston  in  Yorkshire,  of  which  he 
was  rector.  His  dramatic  poems  of  "Ellrida  "  and  "  Caractacus  "  are 
the  least  lorgotten  of  his  woiks.  His  monument,  by  the  elder  Bacon, 
bears  a  profile  medallii  11,  with  an  inscription  by  Bishop  Hurd — 
"Poetae,  si  quis  alius  culto,  casto,  pio." 

Thomas  Shadwell,  1692,  who  died  of  opium,  and  is  buried  at  Chelsea. 
He  was  poet-laureate  in  the  time  of  William  III.  He  "enJc.iv 
to  make  the  stage  as  grossly  immoral  as  his  talents  admitted,"  l»ul 
"  was  not  destitute  of  humour."  J  Rochester  said  of  him  that  if  he  had 
burnt  all  he  wrote,  and  printed  all  he  spoke,  he  would  have  had  mure 
wit  and  humour  than  any  other  poet.  His  rivalry  with  Dryden  excited 
the  ill-natured  lines — 

"  Mature  in  dulness  from  his  tender  years, 
Shadwell  alone,  of  all  my  sons,  is  he 
Who  stands  confirm'd  in  full  stupidity: 
The  rest  to  some  faint  meaning  make  pretence, 
But  Shadwell  never  deviates  into  sense."  § 

The  monument,  erected  by  the  poet's  son,  Sir  John  Shadwell,  bears 
his  pert-looking  bust  crowned  with  laurel,  by  Ryswick. 

Matthew  Prior,  1721,  educated  at  Westminster  School,  whence  he 
was  removed  to  serve  as  tapster  in  the  publicdiouse  of  an  uncle  at 

•Johnson's  "Lives  of  the  Poets."  t  Johnson. 

*  Hallam,  "  Lit.  Hist,  o    Europe."  \  Ma     I  le<  knoe 


244  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Charing  Cross.  His  knowledge  of  the  Odes  of  Horace  here  attracted 
the  attention  of  Loid  Dorset,  who  sent  him  to  St.  John's  College  at 
Cambiidge,  and  under  the  same  patronage  he  rose  to  be  Gentleman  of 
the  Bedchamber  to  William  III.  and  Under  Secretary  of  State,  &c. 
"  Alma  "  and  "  Solomon  "  were  considered  his  best  works  by  his  con- 
temporaries ;  now  no  one  reads  them.  He  died  at  Wimpole  in  Cam- 
bridgeshire, and  was  buried  by  his  own  desire  at  the  feet  of  Spenser. 
His  bust,  by  Coysevox,  was  given  by  Louis  XIV.  His  epitaph,  by  Dr. 
Freind,  tells  how,  "  while  he  was  writing  the  History  of  his  own  Times, 
Death  interfered,  and  broke  the  thread  of  his  discourse." 

Granville  Sharp,  1813,  buried  at  Fulham.  His  monument,  with  a 
profile  medallion  by  Chantrey,  was  erected  by  the  African  Institution,  in 
gratitude  for  his  philanthropic  exertions  for  the  abolition  of  slavery. 

Charles  de  St.  Denis,  M.  de  St.  Evremond,  1703,  the  witty  and  dis- 
solute favourite  of  Charles  II.     A  tablet  and  bust. 

Christopher  Anstey,  1805,  whose  fame  rests  solely  upon  the  "New 
Bath  Guide,"  which,  however,  made  him  one  of  the  most  popular  poets 
of  his  day  ! 

Thomas  Campbell,  1844.  The  author  of  "  Hohcnlinden"  and 
"Gertrude  of  Wyoming."  Beneath  his  statue  by  Marshall  are  en- 
graved some  striking  lines  from  his  "Pleasures  of  Hi  pe,"  which 
Byron  considered  "  one  of  the  most  beautilul  didactic  poems  in  our 
language." 

Mrs.  {Hannah)  Pritchard,  1768,  the  actress,  "by  Nature  for  the 
stage  designed,"  as  she  is  described  in  her  epitaph  by  Whitehead. 

Robert  Sot/they,  poet-laureate,  1843,  buried  at  Crosthwaite.  A  bust 
by  Weehes.  He  left  above  fifty  published  works,  but  is  immortalised  by 
his  "  Thalaba,"  "  Madoc,"  "  Roderick,"  and  the  '•  Curse  of  Kehama." 

William  Shakspeare,  1616,  buried  at  Stratford-on-Avon. 

"  In  poetry  there  is  but  one  supreme, 
Though  there  are  other  angels  round  his  throne, 
Mighty  and  beauteous,  while  his  face  is  hid." 

W.  S.  Landor. 

The  monument,  by  Kent  and  Scheemakers,  was  erected  by  public 
subscription  in   1 740.     The  lines  from  the    Tempest  inscribed  on  the 
scroll  which  the   figure  holds  in  his   hand   seem  to  have  a  peculiar 
application  in  the  noble  building  where  they  are  placed — 
"The  cloud-capp'd  towers,  the  gorgeous  palace;., 
The  solemn  temples,  the  great  globe  itself, 


TOMBS   OF  THE  POETS.  245 

Yea,  all  which  it  inherit,  shall  dissolve ; 
And,  like  this  insubstantial  pageant  faded, 
Leave  not  a  rack  behind." 

James  Thomson,  1748,  buried  at  Richmond.  His  monument, 
designed  by  Robert  Adam,  is  a  figure  leaning  upon  a  pedestal,  which 
bears  in  relief  the  Seasons,  in  commemoration  of  the  work  which 
has    caused   Thomson   to  rank    amongst    the    best  of  our  descriptive 

poets. 

Nicholas  Rowe,  1718,  poet-laureate  of  George  I.,  the  translator  of 
Lucan's  "  Pharsalia,"  and  author  of  '.he  Fair  Penitent  and  Jane 
Shore.  His  only  daughter,  Charlotte  Fane,  is  commemorated  with 
him  in  a  monument  by  Rysbrack.  The  epitaph,  by  Pope,  alludes  to 
Rowe's  widow  in  the  lines — 

"  To  these  so  mourn'd  in  death,  so  lov'd  in  life, 
The  childless  parent  and  the  widow'd  wife, 
With  tears  inscribes  this  monumental  stone, 
That  holds  their  ashes,  and  expects  her  own." 

But,  to  the  poet's   excessive  annoyance,  after   the  stone  was  put  up, 
the  widow  married  again. 

John  Gay,  1732,  chiefly  known  by  his  "Fables,"  and  by  the  play 
called  the  Beggars'  Opera,  which  was  thought  to  do  so  much 
towards  conupting  the  morals  ol  his  lime,  ami  which  gave  its  author 
the  name  of  the  "Orpheus  of  Highwaymen."  His  monument,  by 
Rysbrack,  was  erected  by  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Queensberry, 
who  "loved  this  excellent  person  living,  and  regretted  him  dead." 
The  Duchess  was  the  "  lovely  Kitty  "  of  Prior's  verse,  when 

"  Gay  was  nursed  in  Queensberry's  duc.d  halls." 
Under  a  medallion  portrait  of  the  port  are  his  own  strange  lines — 

"  Life  is  a  jest,  and  all  things  show  it, 
I  thought  so  once,  and  now  I  know  it." 

And  beneath  is  an  epitaph  by  Pope,  who  was  his  intimate  friend. 

Oliver  Goldsmith,  1774,  buried  at  the  Temple,  author  of  the 
"  Vicar  of  Wakefield  "  and  the  "  Deserted  Village."  Sir  J.  Reynolds 
chose  the  site  for  the  monument,  and  Dr.  Johnson  wrote  the  inscrip- 
tion in  Latin,  flatly  refusing  to  accede  to  the  petition  of  all  the  other 
friends  of  Goldsmith  (expressed  in  a  round-robin),  that  he  would 
celebrate  the  poet's  fame  in  the  language  in  which  he  wrote.  The 
medallion  is  by  NolUkens. 


246  WALKS  IN  LONDON 

Beyond  this,  we  may  consider  ourselves  to  pass  from 
the  Poets'  Corner,  and  to  enter  upon  the  "historical 
and  learned  side  of  the  south  transept." 

John,  Duke  of  Argyle  and  Greenwich,  1743,  buried  in  Henry  VII.'s 
Chapel.  A  Roman  statue  with  allegorical  figures,  by  Roubiliac. 
Canova  considered  the  figure  of  Eloquence  (deeply  attentive  to  the 
Duke's  oratory)  "  one  of  the  noblest  statues  he  had  seen  in  Eng- 
land,"    The  epitaph  is  by  Paul  Whitehead. 

"It  is  said  that,  through  the  influence  of  Sir  Edward  Walpole,  the 
monument  in  memory  of  John,  Duke  of  Argyle  and  Greenwich,  was 
confided  to  the  hands  of  Roubikac.  The  design  is  a  splendid  conceit 
— the  noble  warrior  and  orator  is  stretched  out  and  expiring  at  the 
foot  of  a  pyramid,  on  which  History  is  writing  his  actions,  while 
Minerva  looks  mournfully  on,  and  Eloquence  deplores  his  fall.  The 
common  allegorical  materials  of  other  monuments  are  here.  Even 
History  is  inscribing  a  conceit — she  has  wiitten  John,  Duke  of  Argyle 

and  Gr there  she  pauses    and  weeps.     There  is  a  visible  want  of 

unity  in  the  action,  and  in  this  work  at  least  Roubiliac  merits  the 
reproach  of  Flaxman,  that  'he  did  not  know  how  to  combine  figures 
together  so  as  to  form  an  intelligible  story.'  Yet  no  one,  before  or 
since,  has  shown  finer  skill  in  rendering  his  figures  individually 
excellent.  Argyle  indeed  seems  reluc'ant  to  die,  and  History  is  a 
little  too  theatrical  in  her  posture  ;  but  all  defects  are  forgotten  in 
looking  at  the  figure  of  Eloquence,  with  her  supplicating  hand  and 
earnest  brow." — Allan  Cunningham. 

George  Frederick  Handel,  1759.  The  tomb  is  the  last  work  of 
Roubiliac,  who  cast  the  face  after  death.  The  skill  of  Roubiliac  is 
conspicuous  in  the  ease  which  he  has  given  to  the  unwieldy  figure  of 
the  gieat  musician.  "  He  who  composed  the  Messiah  and  the 
Israel  in  Egypt  must  have  been  a  poet,  no  less  than  a  musician,  of 
no  ordinary  decree.  Therefore  he  was  not  unfitly  buried  in  Poets' 
Corner,  apart  from  his  tuneful  brethren.  Not  less  than  three  thousand 
persons  of  all  ranks  attended  the  funeral." — Stanley. 

William  Makepeace  Thackeray,  buried  at  Kensal  Green,  the  honoured 
author  of  "Vanity  Fair,"  "  Esmond,"  and  "The  Newcomes."   A  bust. 

Joseph  Addison,  1719,  whose  contributions  to  the  Tatter  and  Spec- 
tator have  caused  him  to  be  regarded  as  the  greatest  of  English 
essayists,  and  whose  character  stood  equally  high  as  an  author,  a  man, 
and  a  Christian.     His   statue,  by  Wcsttnacott,  stands  on  a  pede.^a1 


THE  AISLE   OF  HISTORY.  24; 

surrounded  by  the  nine  Muses.  As  we  look  at  it  we  may  remember 
how  he  was  accustomed  to  walk  by  himself  in  Westminster  Abbey, 
and  meditate  on  the  condition  of  those  who  lay  in  it. 

"It  lepresents  him,  as  we  can  conceive  him,  clad  in  his  dressing- 
gown,  and  freed  fiom  his  wig.  stepping  from  his  parlour  at  Chelsea 
into  his  trim  little  gaiden,  with  the  account  of  the  Everlasting  Club, 
or  the  Loves  of  Hilpa  and  Shalum,  just  finished  for  the  next  day's 
Spectator,  in  his  hand.  Such  a  mark  of  national  respect  was  due  to 
the  unsullied  statesman,  to  the  accomplished  scholar,  to  the  master  0/ 
pure  English  eloquence,  to  the  consummate  painter  of  life  and  manners. 
It  was  due,  above  all,  to  the  great  satirist,  who  alone  knew  how  to  use 
ridicule  without  abusing  it,  who,  without  inflicting  a  wound,  effected  a 
gieat  social  reform,  and  who  reconciled  wit  and  virtue,  after  a  long  and 
disastrous  separation,  during  which  wit  had  been  led  astray  by  profli- 
gacy, and  virtue  by  fanaticism." — Macaulay. 

Thomas  Babington  Macaulay,  the  poet  and  historian,  1859.  A  bust. 
On  his  gravestone  is  inscribed,  "  His  body  is  buried  in  peace,  but  his 
name  liveth  evermore." 

Isaac  Barrow,  1677,  the  wit,  mathematician,  and  divine.  He  was 
the  college  tutor  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  whose  optical  lectures  were 
published  at  his  expense.  He  died  (being  Master  of  Trinity,  Cam- 
bridge) at  one  of  the  canonical  houses  in  the  cloisters.  In  the  words 
of  his  epitaph,  he  was  "  a  man  almost  divine,  and  truly  great,  if  gieat- 
ness  be  comprised  in  piety,  probity,  and  faith,  the  deepest  learning, 
equal  modesty,  and  morals  in  every  respect  sanctified  and  sweet." 

James  Wyatt,  the  architect,  1813.     A  tablet. 

(Above)  Dr.  Stephen  Hales,  1761,  philosopher  and  botanist.  The 
monument,  by  Wilton,  was  erected  by  Augusta,  "  the  mother  of  that  best 
of  kings,  George  III."  Relig'on  stands  on  one  side  of  the  monu- 
ment lamenting  the  deceased,  while  Botany,  on  the  other,  holds  his 
medallion,  and,  beneath,  the  Winds  appear  on  a  globe,  in  allusion  to 
the  invention  of  ventilation  by  Hales. 

Isaac  Casaubon,  1619,  the  famous  critic  and  scholar,  editor  of 
Persius  and  Polybius,  who  received  a  canonry  of  Westminster  from 
James  I.  On  the  monument,  erected  by  Bishop  Morton,  is  to  be 
seen  the  monogram  of  Izaak  Walton,  scratched  by  the  angler  himself, 
with  the  date  1658. 

John  Ernest  Grabe,  1 7 14,  the  orientalist,  buried  at  St.  Pancras. 
He  was  induced  to  reside  in  England  by  his  veneration  for  the  Reformed 
Church,  and  was  editor  of  a  valuable  edition  of  the  Septuagint. 


248  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

William  Camden,  1023  (buried  before  St.  Nicholas's  Chapel),  the 
antiquary — "  the  British  Pausanias,"  who,  a  house-painter's  son, 
became  head-master  of  Westminster.  Tr.e  office  of  Clarencieux  King 
at  Arms,  which  was  bestowed  upon  him  in  1597,  gave  him  time  to 
become  the  author  of  the  "Britannia,"  which  caused  him  to  be 
looked  upon  as  one  of  the  glories  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  :  he  was 
afterwards  induced  by  Lord  Burleigh  to  write  the  annals  of  that  reign. 
Hie  nose  of  the  effigy  was  broken  by  some  Cavaliers,  who  broke 
into  the  abbey  to  destroy  the  hearse  of  the  Earl  of  Essex,  but  it  was 
restored  by  the  Univeisity  of  Oxford. 

"  It  is  most  worthy  to  be  observed  with  what  diligence  he  (Camden) 
inquiied  after  ancient  places,  making  hue  and  cry  after  many  a  city 
which  was  run  away,  and  by  certain  marks  and  tokens  pursuing  to 
find  it;  as  by  the  situation  on  the  Roman  highways,  by  just  distance 
fiom  other  ancient  cities,  by  some  affinity  of  name,  by  tradition  of  the 
inhabitants,  by  Roman  coins  digged  up,  and  by  some  appearance  of 
ruins.  A  broken  urn  is  a  whole  evidence  ;  or  an  old  gate  still  sur- 
viving, out  of  which  the  city  is  run  cut.  Besides,  commonly  some 
new  spiuce  town  not  far  oft  is  grown  out  of  the  ashes  thereof,  which 
yet  hath  as  much  natural  affection  as  dutifully  to  own  these  reverend 
ruins  for  her  mother." — Fuller. 

David  Garrick,  1779,  the  actor.  His  figure,  throwing  aside  a 
curtain  and  dis  losing  a  medallion  of  Shakspeare,  is  intended  to  be 
allegorical  of  the  way  in  which  his  theatrical  performance  unveiled  the 
beauties  of  Shakspeare's  works. 

"  To  paint  fair  nature,  by  divine  command, 
Her  magic  pencil  in  his  glowing  hand, 
A  Shakspeare  rose, — then  to  expand  his  fame, 
Wide  o'er  this  '  breathing  world,'  a  Garrick  came. 
Though  sunk  in  death  the  forms  the  Poet  drew, 
The  Actor's  genius  bade  them  breathe  anew  : 
Though,  like  the  Bard  himself  in  night  they  lay, 
Immortal  Garnck  called  them  back  to  day." 

Epitaph  by  Pratt. 

George  Grote,  1871,  the  historian  of  Greece.     A  bust  by  G.  Bacon. 

Amongst  the  illustrious  dead  who  have  tombstones  in 
this  transept,  but  no  monuments  upon  the  walls,  are  (begin- 
ning from  the  south  wall) — 


IN  THE   AISLE    OF  HISTORY. 


249 


Sir  John  Denham,  1618,  the  poet  of  "  Cooper's  Hill,"  "  deseivedly 
considered  as  one  of  the  fatheis  of  English  poetry."  * 

'-^Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,  1784,  the  essayist,  critic,  and  lexicographer. 
He  was  buried  heie  by  his  liiend  Ganiek,  contrary  to  his  desire  that  he 
might  rest  at  Adiierley  in  Shropshiie,  which  belonged  to  his  friend 
Lad)  Corbet,  cousin  of  Mrs.  Thrale.     His  monument  is  in  St.  Paul's. 

Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan,  1816,  the  dramati-t  (author  of  the 
Rivals,  the  Duenna,  and  the  School  for  Scandal),  who,  being  for 
many  years  in  Parliament,  obtained  an  extraordinary  reputation  as  an 
orator  by  his  "  Begum  Charge"  before  the  House  of  Commons,  in  the 
proceedings  against  Warren  Hastings.  He  was  suffeied  to  die  in 
great  poverty,  yet  his  funeral  was  conducted  with  a  magnificence  which 
called  forth  the  verses  of  Moore — 

"  Oh  !  it  si.  kens  the  hear;,  to  see  bosoms  so  hollow, 
And  spirits  so  mean  in  the  great  and  high-born, 
To  think  what  a  long  l.ne  of  titles  may  follow 
The  relics  of  him  who  died— fiiendless  and  lorn! 

How  proud  can  they  press  to  the  funeral  array 

Of  one  whom  they  shunned  in  his  sickness  and  sorrow  : — 

The  ba. lifts  may  seize  his  last  blanket  to-day, 

Whose  pall  shall  be  held  up  by  nobles  to-morrow." 

John  Henderson,  the  actor,  1785 — equally  great  in  comedy  and 
tragedy. 

Mary  Eleanor  Bowes,  1800.  the  beautiful  and  unfortunate  ninth 
Countess  of  Strathmore,  buried  amongst  the  poets  on  account  of  her 
brilliant  wit  and  her  extraordinary  mental  acquirements. 

Dr.  Thomas  Parr,  "  of  ye  county  of  Salop,  born  in  A.D.  1483.  He 
lived  in  the  reignes  of  ten  princes,  viz. — King  '  dward  IV.,  King  Ed- 
ward V.,  King  Richard  III.,  King  Hemy  VII.,  King  Henry  VIII., 
King  Edward  VI.,  Queen  Mary,  Queen  El  z  >be:h,  King  James,  King 
Charles;  aged  152  years,  and  was  buryed  here,  1635." 

Charles  Dickens,  1870  (the  grave  is  near  that  of  Thackeray),  the 
illustrious  author  of  many  works,  of  which  the  "  Pickwick  Papers," 
"  Oliver  Twist,"  "Dombey  and  Son,"  and  "  David  Copperfield  "  are 
the  best  known. 

Sir  William  Davenant,  1668,  who  succeeded  Ben  Jonson  as  poet- 
laureate  to  Charles  I.,  being  son   of  a  vintner  at  Oxford.     He   wig 

•  Dr.  Johnson. 


25° 


WALKS  IN  LOADON. 


buried  in  the  grave  of  Thomas  May,  the  poet  (disinterred  at  the  Resto 
ration),  with  the  inscription,  "O  Raie  Sir  William  Davenant." 

Sir  Richard  Moray,  1673.  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Ro_\al  Society, 
called  by  Bishop  Burnet  "  the  wisest  and  worthiest  man  of  his  age." 

James  Macpherson,  1796,  author  of  "Ossian,"  brought  hither  from 
Inverness. 

Robert  Adam,  1797,  architect  of  the  Adelphi  Terrace  and  Osteiley 
l'aik,  &c. 

Sir  William  Chambers,  1 796,  architect  of  Somerset  House. 

William  Gilford,  1 826,  the  eminent  critic,  best  known  as  the  editor 
of  the  Quarterly  Review  from  its  commencement  in  18 19  to  1824. 

John  Ireland,  Dean  of  Westminster,  1842,  founder  of  the  IreLnd 
scholarships  at  Oxford. 

(By  the  grave  of  Grote)  Connop  Tliirlwa.ll,  Bishop  of  St.  David's, 
the  rival  hstorian  of  Greece,  1875. 

Between  the  pillars  opposite  Diyden's  tomb  is  a  slab  from  which  the 
brass  has  been  torn  away,  covering  the  grave  of  Hawle,  the  knight 
murdered  in  the  choir,  1378,  duiii  g  the  Abbey  service,  by  a  breach  of 
the  rights  of  sanctuary. 

Against  the  screen  of  the  choir,  on  the  right  of  its 
entrance,  are  the  tombs  of — 

Dr.  Richard  Busby,  1695,  for  fifty-five  years  head-master  of  West- 
minster School.  His  noble  statue  (by  F.  Bird)  does  not  seem  sugges- 
tive of  the  man  who  declared  that  "  the  rod  was  his  sieve,  and  th.  t 
whoever  could  not  pass  through  that,  was  no  boy  for  him."  He  is 
celebrated  for  having  persistently  kept  his  hat  on  when  Charles  II. 
came  to  visit  his  school,  saying  that  it  would  never  do  for  the  boys  to 
think  any  one  superior  to  himself. 

"  As  we  stood  before  Dr.  Busby's  tomb,  the  knight  (Sir  Roger  de 
Coverley)  uttered  himself  again  :  '  Dr.  Busby  !  a  great  man !  he 
whipped  my  grandfather;  a  very  great  man!  I  should  have  gone 
to  him  myself,  if  I  had  not  been  a  blockhead ;  a  very  great  man!  " — 
Addison,  in  the  Spectator. 

Dr.  William  Vincent,  18 1  •',, '.»  .a-l-m--  ,ter :  cd  dcu  .     A  tablet. 

Dr.  Robert  South,  17*-' ,   '  j  .' Ma' j  .   ,i  ^  ~e<v  >*>  ter.     As  a  West. 


THE   CHOIR-AISLES. 


2sl 


minsver  boy,  when  leading  the  devotions  of  the  school,  he  boldly 
prayed  for  Charles  I.  by  name  on  the  morning  of  his  execution.  He 
was  afterwards  chaplain  to  James,  Duke  of  York ;  Canon  of  Christ 
Church,  Oxford,  and  of  Westminster,  of  which  he  refused  the  Deinery 
when  it  was  offered  to  him  on  the  death  of  Dean  Sprat.  He  was 
equally  famous  for  his  learning  and  wit,  and  for  his  theological  and 
political  intolerance.  Bishop  Burnet  speaks  of  him  as  "  this  learned 
but  ill-natured  divine." 

"  South  had  great  qualifications  for  that  popularity  which  attends 
the  pulpit,  and  his  manner  was  at  that  time  original.  Not  diffuse,  not 
learned,  not  formal  in  argument  like  Barrow,  with  a  more  natural 
stiucture  of  sentences,  a  more  pointed,  though  by  no  means  a  more 
fair  and  satisfactory,  turn  of  reasoning,  with  a  style  clear  and  En^li-h, 
free  from  all  pedantry,  but  abounding  with  those  colloquial  novelties 
of  idiom  which,  though  now  become  vulgar  and  offensive,  the  a^e  of 
Charles  II.  affected ;  sparing  no  personal  or  temporary  sarcasm  ;  but 
if  he  seems  for  a  moment  to  tread  on  the  verge  of  buffoonery,  recover- 
ing himself  by  some  stroke  of  vigorous  sense  and  language  ;  such  was 
the  witty  Dr.  South,  whom  the  courtiers  delighted  to  hear." — Hallam. 
Lit.  Hist,  of  Europe. 

"  South's  sentences  are  gems,  hard  and  shining:  Voltaire's  look  like 
them,  but  are  only  French  paste." — Guesses  at  Truth. 

We  may  now  enter  "the  solemn  by-ways  of  the  Abbey  " 
— the  aisles  surrounding  the  choir,  outside  which  are  a 
number  of  hexagonal  chapels,  which  were  probably  built  by 
Henry  III.  in  imitation  of  those  which  he  had  himself 
seen  in  the  course  of  construction  in  several  of  the  northern 
cathedrals  of  France.  These  chapels  contain  all  that  is 
most  precious  in  the  Abbey.  The  gates  of  the  choir-aisles 
are  guarded  by  vergers. 

[The  chapels  are  freely  opened  to  the  public  on  Mondays  ;  on  other 
days  a  fee  of  sixpence  is  deposited  on  entering,  and  visitors  are  shown 
round  by  a  verger. 

Visitors  may,  however,  on  application,  obtain  permission  to  linger 
in  the  chapels  and  to  examine  them  by  themselves,  which  will  be 
imperative  with  all  who  are  interested  in  the  historic  or  art  treasures 
iViey  contain. 

Permission  to  draw  in  the  chapel?    /ay  be  obtained  by  personal  or 


352  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

wiitten  application  to  the  Dean;  and  no  church  in  the  world — not  even 
St.  Mark's  at  Venice,  St.  Stephen's  at  Vienna,  or  the  Mosque  at 
C'»rdova — affords  such  picturesque  subjects. 

Royal  tombs,  when  given  here  in  small  type,  with  other  tombs  most 
important  in  the  history  of  art,  are  marked  with  an  asterisk.] 

On  entering  the  aisles  of  the  chou%  we  pass  at  once  from 
the  false  taste  of  the  last  two  centuries,  to  find  the  surround- 
ings in  harmony  with  the  architecture.  The  ancient  altars 
are  gone,  very  little  of  the  old  stained  glass  remains, 
several  of  the  canopies  and  many  of  the  brasses  and. statu- 
ettes have  been  torn  from  the  tombs ;  but,  with  these  excep- 
tions, the  hand  of  the  worst  of  destroyers — the  "restorers" — 
has  been  allowed  to  rest  here  more  than  any  other  of  our 
great  English  churches,  and,  except  in  the  introduction  of 
the  atrocious  statue  of  Watt  and  the  destruction  of  some 
ancient  screens  for  the  monuments  of  Lord  Bath  and 
General  Wolfe,  there  is  little  which  jars  upon  the  exquisite 
colouring  and  harmonious  beauty  of  the  surroundings. 

On  the  left  is  the  Gothic  "  tomb  of  touchstone  "  erected  by 
Henry  III.  to  Seberl,  King  of  (he  East  Saxons,  616,  and  his 
Queen,  Eihelgoda,  when  he  moved  their  bodies  from  the 
chapter-house,  where  they  were  first  buried.  Over  this 
tomb,  under  glass,  is  a  curious  altar-decoration  of  the  four- 
teenth century. 

"  In  the  centre  is  a  figure  which  appears  to  be  intended  for  Christ, 
holding  the  globe  and  in  the  act  of  blessing;  an  angel  with  a  palm 
branch  is  on  each  side.  The  single  figure  at  the  left  hand  of  the 
whole  decoration  is  St.  Peter ;  the  figure  that  should  correspond  on 
the  right,  and  all  the  Scripture  subject-  on  that  side,  are  gone.  In 
the  compartments  to  the  left,  between  the  figure  of  St.  Peter  and  the 
centre  figures,  portions  of  three  subjects  remain :  one  represents  the 
Adoration  of  the  Kings  ;  another,  apparently,  the  Raising  of 
Lazarus  ;  the  subject  of  the  third  is  doubtful,  though  some  figures 
remain ;  the   fourth  is  destroyed.     These  single  figures  and  subjects 


CHAPEL   OF  ST.  BENEDICT.  253 

are  woithy  of  a  good  Italian  artist  of  the  fourteenth  century.  The 
remaining  decorations  were  splendid  and  costly  :  the  small  compart- 
ments in  the  architectural  enrichments  are  filled  with  variously 
coloured  pieces  of  glass  inlaid  on  tin-foil,  and  have  still  a  brilliant 
effect.  This  interesting  work  of  art  is  supposed  to  have  originally 
formed  part  of  the  decorations  of  the  high  altar." — Eastlake.  Hist,  of 
Of'I  Painting,  i.  1 76. 

Beyond  this,  the  eye,  wearied  with  the  pagan  sculptures  of 
the  transept,  rests  in  ecstasy  upon  the  lovely  details  of  the 
tombs  of  Richard  II.  and  Edward  III. 

"In  St.  Peter's  at  Rome  one  is  convinced  that  it  was  built  by  great 
princes.  In  Westminster  Abbey  one  thinks  not  of  the  builder ;  the 
religion  of  the  place  makes  the  first  impression,  and,  though  stripped 
of  its  shrines  and  altars,  it  is  nearer  converting  one  to  Popery  than  all 
the  regular  pageantry  of  Roman  domes.  One  must  have  taste  to  be 
sensible  of  the  beauties  of  Grecian  architecture  ;  one  only  wants  pas- 
sion to  feel  Gothic.  Gothic  chuiches  infuse  superstition,  Grecian 
temples  admiration.  The  Papal  see  amassed  its  wealth  by  Gothic 
cathedrals,  and  di'plays  it  in  Grecian  temp.es." — Walpole,  i.  108. 

We  must  now  turn  to  the  chapels. 

"  I  wandered  among  what  once  were  chapels,  but  which  are  now 
occupied  by  the  tombs  and  monuments  of  the  great.  At  every  turn  I 
met  with  rare  illustrious  names,  or  the  cognizance  of  some  powerful 
house  renowned  in  history.  As  the  eye  darts  into  these  dusky  cham- 
bers of  death,  it  catches  glimpses  of  quaint  effigies;  some  kneeling  in 
niches,  as  if  in  devotion  ;  others  stretched  upon  the  tombs,  with  hands 
piously  pressed  together;  warriors  in  armour,  as  if  reposing  after 
battle ;  prelates  with  croziers  and  mitres ;  and  nobles  in  robes  and 
coronets,  lying  as  it  were  in  state.  In  glancing  over  this  scene,  so 
strangely  populous,  yet  where  every  form  is  so  still  and  silent,  it  seems 
almost  as  if  we  were  treading  a  mansion  of  that  fabled  city,  where 
every  being  has  been  suddenly  transmuted  into  stone." — Washington 
Irving. 

On  the  right  is  the  Chapel  of  St.  Benedict,  or  Bennet,  only 
separated  by  a  screen  of  monuments  from  the  south  tran« 
sept     The  fine  tomb  in  the  centre  is  that  of  Lionel  Cran- 


254  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

field,  Earl  of  Middlesex,  1645,  Lord  High  Treasurer  in  the 
time  of  James  L,  and  Anne,  his  wife ;  it  is  one  of  the 
latest  instances  of  a  monument  in  which  the  figures  have 
animals  at  their  feet.*  His  grave,  with  those  of  other  mem- 
bers of  his  family,  is  beneath  the  pavement  of  the  aisle. 
Other  tombs  are — 

(South  Wall)  George  Sprat  (1682),  son  of  the  Dean  of  West- 
minster. 

Gabriel  Goodman,  Dean  of  Westminster  (1601),  of  whom  Fuller 
says,  "  Goodman  was  his  name,  and  goodness  was  his  nature."  It  was 
under  this  dean  that  the  Protestant  services  of  the  Abbey  were  re- 
established. 

(At  the  east  end,  on  the  site  of  the  altar)  Frances  Howard,  Countess 
of  Hertford  (1598),  sister  of  Howard  of  Effingham,  the  Lord  High 
Admiral  who  repulsed  the  Armada,  daughter-in-law  of  the  Protector 
Somerset,  and  cousin  of  Edward  VI.  She  lived  till  the  fortieth  year 
of  Elizabeth,  "  gieately  favoured  by  her  gratious  sovereigne,  and 
dearly  beloved  of  her  lord." 

Abbot  Curtlyngton  (1334),  the  first  person  buried  in  the  chapel. 
His  brass  is  torn  away. 

*  (East  Wall)  Abbot  Simon  Langham  (1376).  A  noble  alabaster 
statue  in  great  preservation  on  an  altar-tomb  :  it  once  had  a  canopy, 
and  a  statue  of  Mary  Magdalen,  on  the  eve  of  whose  feast  the  abbot 
died,  stood  at  his  feet.  He  was  in  turn  Bishop  of  Ely,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  Cardinal  Bishop  of  Piaeneste,  Lord  High  Treasurer,  and 
Lord  Chancellor.  He  was  brought  back  to  be  buried  here  from 
Avignon,  where  he  died.  His  immense  benefactions  to  the  Abbey  are 
recorded  by  Godwin,  yet  his  unpopulaiity  appears  in  the  verses  which 
commemorate  his  translation  from  Ely  to  Canterbury — 

"  The  Isle  of  Ely  laught  when  Simon  from  her  went, 
But  hundred  thousand  wept  at  his  coming  into  Kent."t 

William  Bill  (1561),  the  first  Elizabethan  Dean  of  Westminster, 
Grand  Almoner  to  the  Queen,  a  good  and  learned  man,  and  "a  friend 
to  those  that  were  so." 

John  Spottiswoode,  Archbishop  of  Glasgow,  is  believed  to  be  buried 

*  Gough,  "  Sepulchral  Effigies."  *  Weaver's  "  Funeral  Monuments." 


SOUTH  AISLE   OF  CHOIR. 


255 


here.  He  wrote  the  "  History  of  the  Scottish  Church  "  at  the  command 
of  James  I.,  "  who,  being  told  that  some  passages  in  it  might  possibly 
bear  too  hard  upon  the  memory  of  his  Majesty's  mother,  bid  him 
'  write  the  truth  and  spare  not.'  "  * 

Between  the  Chapels  of  St.  Benedict  and  St.  Edmund  is 
a  tomb  of  four  of  the  Children  of  Henry  III.  (Richard,  John, 
Henry,  and  Katharine),  once  adorned  with  mosaics.  The  State 
Records  contain  the  king's  order  of  its  erection,  and  for 
allowing  Simon  de  Wells  five  marks  and  a  half  for  bringing  a 
brass  image  from  the  City,  and  William  de  Gloucester  seventy 
marks  for  a  silver  image — both  being  for  the  tomb  of  the 
king's  little  dumb  daughter  Katharine,  of  five  years  old,  for 
whom  mass  was  daily  said  in  the  hermitage  of  Charing. 

'•Katharine,  third  daughter  of  King  Henry  III.  and  Queen  Eleanor, 
was  born  at  London,  A.D.  1252,  Nov.  25th,  being  St.  Katharine's 
day,  whose  name  was  therefore  given  unto  her  at  the  Font,  by  Boni- 
face, Archbishop  of  Cante.bury,  her  uncle  and  godfather.  She  dyed 
in  her  very  infancy,  on  whom  we  will  presume  to  bestow  this  epitaph — 

'Wak't  from  the  wombe,  she  on  this  woild  did  peep, 
Dislik't  it,  clos'd  her  eyes,  fell  fast  asleep.'  " 

Fuller's  Worthier. 

In  the  pavement  of  the  aisle  are  the  tombs  of  Robert 
Tounsen,  Dean  of  Westminster  and  Bishop  ofSalisbury,  1621 ; 
of  Cicely  Ratdiffe,  1396  ;  of  Thomas  Bilson,  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester, the  "deep  and  profound  scholar;  t  and  of  Sir  John 
de  Bewerley  and  his  wife,  Anne  Buxall,  which  once  bore 
brasses.  Beneath  the  tomb  of  Richard  II.  is  believed  to 
lie  Queen  Anne  of  Warwick,  the  unhappy  Anne  Nevile,  who 
married  first  the  Prince  of  Wales,  Edward,  son  of  Henry 
VI.  After  his  murder  at  Tewkesbury  she  fled  from  the 
addresses  of  his  cousin,  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  afterwards 

•  Bishop  Nicholson,  "  Scot.  Hist."  t  Fullw'j  "  Worthies." 


256  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Richard  III.,  but  was  discovered  disguised  as  a  kitchen- 
maid,  and  married  to  him  against  her  will.  She  died  in  less 
than  two  years  after  her  coronation,  of  grief  for  the  loss  of 
her  only  child,  Edward,  Prince  of  Wales. 

St.  Edmund's  Chapel  (the  first  of  the  hexagonal  chapels), 
dedicated  to  the  martyred  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  is 
separated  from  the  aisle  by  an  ancient  wooden  screen.  It 
is  crowded  with  interesting  monuments.  In  the  centie  are 
three  tombs. 

*  That  in  the  midst  bears  a  glorious  brass  in  memory  of  Eleanor  de 
Bohun,  Duchess  of  Gloucester,  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Hertford,  and 
wife  of  Thomas  of  Woodstock,  youngest  son  of  Edward  III.,  buried 
in  the  Confessor's  Chapel.  After  her  husband's  arrest  and  assassina- 
tion,*she  became  a  nun  of  Barking  Abbey,  where  she  died  in  1399. 
Her  figure,  in  a  widow's  dress,  lies  under  a  triple  canopy. 

Beyond  Eleanor,  on  the  south,  are  the  tomb  and  cross  of  Robert  de 
Waldeby,  Archbishop  of  York  (1391),  the  friend  of  the  Black  Prince 
and  tutor  of  Richard  II.  On  the  north  is  Mary  Villiers,  Countess  of 
Stafford  (1693),  w*fe  °f  William  Howard,  the  Earl  beheaded  under 
Charles  II.  At  her  feet  rests  Henry  Feme,  Bishop  of  Chester  (1661), 
who  attended  Charles  I.  during  his  imprisonment,  and  "  whose  only 
fault  it  was  that  he  could  not  be  angry."* 

Making  the  circuit  of  the  chapel  from  the  right,  we  find 
the  tombs  of — 

*  William  de  Valence,  Earl  of  Pembroke  (1296).  He  was  half- 
brother  to  Henry  III.,  being  the  son  of  Queen  Isabella,  widow  of  John, 
by  her  second  marriage  with  Hugh  le  Brune,  Earl  of  March  and 
Poictiers.  William,  surnamed  from  his  birthplace,  was  sent  to  Eng- 
land with  his  brothers  in  1247,  and  the  distinction  with  which  they 
were  treated  was  one  of  the  grievances  which  led  to  the  war  with  the 
barons.  He  fought  in  the  battle  of  Lewes,  and  flying  the  kingdom 
afterwards,  was  killed  at  Bayonne.  An  indulgence  of  a  hundred  days 
was  granted  to  all  who  prayed  by  this  tomb,  which  is  very  curious. 
It  was  erected  by  William's  son,  Aylmer,  and  is  a  stone  altar-tomb, 

*  See  Stanley,  "Memorials,"  243. 


CHAPEL    OF  ST.  EDMUND.  257 

supporting  a  wooden  sarcophagus,  upon  which  lies  the  effigy,  which 
is  of  wood  covered  with  gilt  copper.  The  belt  and  cushion,  and,  above 
all,  the  shield,  are  most  beautiful  examples  of  the  use  of  enamelled 
metal  as  applied  to  monumental  decoration.  Many  of  the  small  shields 
upon  the  cushion  and  surcoat  bear  the  arms  of  Valence,  others  those  of 
England. 

Edward  Talbot,  eighth  Earl  0/  Shrewsbury,  and  his  wife,  Jane  Cuth- 
bert  (1617).  A  tine  Elizabethan  tomb,  once  richly  gilt,  with  effigies 
in  the  costume  of  James  I.  A  little  daughter  kneels  at  her  mother's 
feet. 

(In  the  pavement)  Edward,  Lord  Herbert  of  Cherbury  (1678), 
grandson  of  the  famous  Lord  Herbert.     A  blue  stone. 

Sir  Richard  Pecksall  (1571),  Master  of  the  Buckhounds  to  Elizabeth, 
kneeling  with  his  two  wives,  under  three  Corinthian  arches.  Four 
daughters  kneel  beneath  their  father. 

A  great  Gothic  recess  containing  the  effigy  of  Sir  Bernard  Brocas 
(1399-1400),  Chamberlain  to  the  Queen  of  Richard  II.,  beheaded  on 
Tower  Hill  for  joining  in  a  conspiracy  to  reinstate  him.  He  won  the 
head  of  a  crowned  Moor,  on  which  his  helmet  rests,  and  it  was  before 
this  tomb  that  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley  listened  particularly  to  the 
account  of  the  lord  who  had  "  cut  off  the  King  of  Morocco's  head."  * 
The  statue  is  in  complete  armour. 

(In  front)  Humphrey  Bourchier,  son  of  Lord  Berners,  who  died  1470, 
fighting  for  Edward.  IV.  in  the  battle  of  Barnet.  The  brass  figure  is 
gone,  but  some  shields  and  other  ornaments  remain. 

John,  Lord  Russell  (1548),  second  son  of  the  second  earl.  He  lies 
with  his  face  towards  the  spectator.  At  his  feet  is  his  infant  son 
Francis,  who  died  in  the  same  year.  His  widow,  Elizabeth,  daughter 
of  Sir  Anthony  Cooke,  and  sister  of  Lady  Burleigh,  who  "  from  Deathe 
would  take  his  memorie,"  commemorates  his  virtues  in  Latin,  Greek, 
and  English.  She  was  first  married  to  Sir  Thomas  Hobby  of  Bisham 
Abbey,  where  she  is  supposed  to  have  beaten  her  little  boy  to  death 

for  blotting  his  copy-book,  and  which  is  still  haunted  by  her  ghost. 

• 

Elizabeth  Russell,  daughter  of  the  above  John,  seated  asleep  in  her 
osier  chair,  with  her  foot  upon  a  scroll,  and  the  epitaph,  "  Dormit,  non 
mortua  est."  The  pedestal  is  very  richly  decorated.  This  figure  was 
formerly  shown  as  that  of  a  lady  who  died  of  the  prick  of  a  needle. 

*  An  inscription  recording  this  feat  formerly  hung  above  the  tomb.  Sefl 
Goug-h's  "  Sepulchral  Monuments." 

VOL.  II.  S 


2$»  WALK'S  IN  LONDON". 

"  (Sir  Roger  di  Coverley)  was  conducted  to  the  figure  which  represents 
that  martyr  to  good  housewifery  who  died  by  the  prick  of  a  needle. 
Upon  our  interpreter's  telling  us  that  she  was  a  maid  of  honour  to 
Queen  Elizabeth,  the  knight  was  very  inquisitive  into  her  name  and 
family;  and.  after  having  regarded  her  finger  for  some  time,  'I 
wonder,'  says  he,  '  that  Sir  Richard  Baker  has  said  nothing  of  her  in 
his  Chronicle.'  " — Spectator,  No.  329. 

(In  the  pavement,  most  inappropriately  placed  here)  Edivard  Bulwer 
1  Lytton,  Lord  Lytton  (1866),  the  novelist,  chiefly  known  as  the  author  of 
"Rienzi,"  "The  Last  Days  of  Pompeii,"  and  "The  Caxtons." 

Lady  Jane  Seymour,  daughter  of  Edward,  Duke  of  Somerset,  and 
cousin  of  Edward  VI.  (1561).     A  tablet. 

Katherine,  Lady  K?iollys  (1568),  daughter  of  William  Carey  and  his 
wife  Mary  Boleyn,  and  sister  to  Lord  Hunsdon.  She  attended  her 
aunt,  Queen  Anne  Boleyn,  upon  the  scaffold,  and  was  afterwards  Chief 
Lady  of  the  Bedchamber  to  her  cousin  Elizabeth.     A  tablet. 

On  a  pedestal,  the  seated  figure  of  Francis  Holies,  third  son  of  John 
Earl  of  Clare,  1622,  who  died  at  eighteen  on  his  return  from  the 
Flemish  war.  He  is  represented  (by  Nicholas  Stone)  in  Roman 
armour,  with  the  epitaph — 

"  Man's  life  is  measured  by  the  worke,  not  dayes, 
No  aged  sloth,  but  active  youth,  hath  prayse." 

*  Frances  Grey,  Duchess  of  Suffolk  (1559),  niece  of  Henry  VIII., 
"  daughter  of  Charles  Brandon,  Duke  of  Southfolke,  and  Marie  the 
French  queen,  first  wife  to  Henrie,  Duke  of  Southfolke,  after  to  Adrian 
Stocke,  Esq."  By  her  second  husband,  married  during  the  great 
poverty  and  distress  into  which  she  fell  in  the  reign  of  Mary  (after 
the  death  of  her  daughter,  Lady  Jane  Grey),  this  tomb  was  erected, 
bearing  a  beautiful  coroneted  effigy.  Her  funeral  service  was  the  first 
English  Protestant  service  after  the  accession  of  Elizabeth,  by  whom 
she  was  restored  to  favour. 

Nicholas  Monk,  Bishop  of  Hereford  (1661),  brother  of  the  famous 

Duke  of  Albemarle. 

« 

(In  the  corner)  Tablet  to  John  Paul  Howard,  Earl  Stafford  (1 762), 
surrounded  by  the  quarterings  of  the  Stafford  family,  who  descend  by 
ten  different  marriages  from  the  royal  blood  of  France  and  England. 
The  epitaph  tells  how  "  his  heart  was  entirely  great  and  noble  as  his 
high  descent ;  faithful  to  his  God  ;  a  lover  of  his  country ;  a  relation  to 
relations ;  a  detestor  of  detraction ;  a  friend  to  mankind." 


CHAPEL    OF  ST.  EDMUND. 


259 


*  William,  of  Windsor  and  Blanche  of  the  Tower  (1340),  infant 
children  of  Edward  III.  A  tiny  altar-tomb  bears  their  effigies— the 
boy  in  a  short  doublet,  with  flowing  hair  encircled  by  a  band  ;  the  girl 
in  studded  bodice,  petticoat,  and  mantle,  with  a  horned  head-dress. 

It  is  interesting  to  remember  that  all  the  illustrious  brothers  and 
sisters  of  the  little  Princess  Blanche  stood  around  this  her  grave  at  her 
funeral — Edward  the  Black  Prince,  Lionel  of  Clarence,  John  of  Gaunt, 
Edmund  of  Langley,  Isabella  de  Coucy,  and  Joanna,  afterwards  Queen 
of  Castile. 

*  John  of  Eltham,  Earl  of  Cornwall  (1334),  second  son  of  Edward 


Tomb  of  the  Children  of  Edward  III. 


III.  (named  from  his  birthplace  1,  who  died  in  his  nineteenth  year,  and 
was  expressly  ordered  to  be  buried  "  entre  les  royals."  The  effigy  1 
great  antiquarian  interest  from  the  details  of  its  plate  armour.  The 
effigy  wears  a  surcoat,  gorget,  and  a  helmet,  open  in  front  to  show  (lie 
features,  and  surrounded  by  a  coronet  of  large  and  small  trefoil  leaves 
alternated,  being  the  earliest  known  representation  of  the  ducal  form  "I 
coronet.*  Two  Efngels  sit  by  the  pillow,  and  around  the  tomb  arc  muti- 
lated figures  of  the  royal  relations  of  the  dead.  The  statuettes  of  the 
French  relations  are  towards  the  chapel,  and  have  been  cruelly  mutilat<  d, 
but  the  English  relations  facing  St.  Edward's  Chapel  have  been  protected 

*  There  were  no  Dukes  in  England  until  two  years  after  his  death. 


260  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

by  the  strong  oak  screen,  and  are  of  the  most  intense  interest.  Ed- 
ward II.  is  represented  here,  who  is  buried  at  Gloucester  Cathedral. 
Here,  on  the  left  hand  of  the  husband  whose  cruel  murder  she  caused, 
is  the  only  known  portrait  of  the  wicked  Isabella  the  Fair,  daughter  of 
Philip  le  Bel,  who  died  at  Castle  Rising,  in  1358  ;  she  wears  a  crown 
at  the  top  of  her  widow's  hood,  and  holds  a  sceptre  in  her  right  hand. 
Here  also  alone  can  we  become  acquainted  with  the  characteristics  of 
her  aunt,  the  stainless  Marguerite  of  France,  the  granddaughter  of  St. 
Louis,  who  at  the  age  of  twenty  became  the  second  wife  of  Edward  I., 
and  dying  at  Marlborough  Castle  in  13 17,  was  buried  in  the  Grey 
Friers'  Church  in  London ;  she  wears  a  crown  of  fleur-de-lis  over  her 
widow's  veil.  This  tomb  of  Prince  John  was  once  shaded  by  a  canopy 
of  exquisite  beauty,  supported  on  eight  stone  pillars— a  forest  of 
Gothic  spires  intermingled  with  statues ;  it  was  destroyed  in  a  rush 
of  spectators  at  the  funeral  of  the  Duchess  of  Northumberland  in 
1776.  Fuller  mentions  John  of  Eltham  as  the  last  son  of  a  King  of 
England  who  died  a  plain  earl;  the  title  of  Duke  afterwards  came 
in'to  fashion. 

Passing,  on  the  right  wall  of  the  ambulatory,  the  monu- 
ment of  Richard  Tufto?i,  brother  of  the  first  Earl  of  Thanet 
(1631),  who  gave  his  name  to  Tufton  Street,  Westminster; 
and  treading  on  the  grave  of  Sir  Henry  Spelman,  the  anti- 
quary (1641),  whose  pennon  formerly  hung  above  his  grave,* 
we  enter  the  Chapel  of  St.  Nicholas  (Bishop  of  Myra), 
separated  from  the  aisle  by  a  perpendicular  stone  screen 
adorned  with  a  frieze  of  shields  and  roses.  It  is  filled  with 
Elizabethan  tombs,  and  is  still  the  especial  burial-place  of 
the  Percys.  In  the  centre  is  a  noble  altar-tomb  by  Nicholas 
Stone\  to  Sir  George  Villiers,  1605,  the  Leicestershire  squire, 
who  was  the  father  of  the  famous  Duke  of  Buckingham,  and 
his  wife,  Mary  Beaumont.  This  Sir  George  Villiers  was  the 
subject  of  the  famous  ghost  story  given  by  Clarendon, J  the 
"  man  of  venerable  aspect "  who  thrice  drew  the  curtains  of 

•  Aubrey  +  At  a  cost  of  £560. 

t  History  of  the  Rebellion,  i.  74 — 77. 


CHAFEL    OF  ST.  NICHOLAS.  261 

the  bed  of  a  humble  friend  at  Windsor,  and  bade  him  go  to 
his  son  the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  and  warn  him  that,  if  he 
did  not  seek  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  people,  he  would 
have  but  a  short  time  to  live.  This  Mary  Beaumont  it  was 
who,  as  Countess  of  Buckingham,  also  so  vividly  foresaw 
her  son's  death,  that  though  she  had  been  "overwhelmed 
in  tears  and  in  the  highest  agony  imaginable,"  after  taking 
leave  of  him  upon  his  last  visit  to  her,  yet,  when  she  received 
the  news  of  his  murder,  "seemed  not  in  the  least  degree 
surprised." 

Close  beside  this  tomb  now  rests  the  body  of  Queen 
Katherine  de  Valois,  daughter  of  Charles  VI.  of  France  and 
Isabeau  of  Bavaria.  After  the  close  of  her  brief  married  life, 
in  which,  as  the  queen  of  Henry  V.,  she  was  "received  in 
England  as  if  she  had  been  an  angel  of  God,"  *  being  widowed 
at  twenty-one,  she  sank  at  once  into  obscurity.  Her  son 
Henry  VI.  was  taken  from  her  guardianship  and  brought 
up  by  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  and  falling  in  love  with  Owen 
Tudor,  a  handsome  Welsh  squire  of  her  Windsor  guard, 
and  marrying  him  secretly,  she  became  the  mother  of  three 
sons  and  a  daughter  ;  but  the  indignation  excited  by  her 
mesalliance  caused  her  children  to  be  taken  from  her,  her 
husband  to  be  imprisoned  in  Newgate,  and  herself  confined 
in  Bermondsey  Abbey,  where  she  died  in  1437.  She  was 
buried  in  the  Lady  Chapel  at  the  east  end  of  the  Abbey. 
When  that  chapel  was  destroyed  by  Henry  VII.,  her  coffin 
was  placed  by  her  husband's  tomb,  where  her  mummified 
body  was  exposed  to  view,  and  was  kissed  by  Pepys  on  his 
birthday.  It  was  buried  here  in  1776.  Making  the  circuit 
of  the  chapel  from  the  right,  we  see  the  tombs  of— 

•  Monstrclet. 


262  WALK'S  IN  LONDON. 

*  Philippa,  Duchess  of  York,  daughter  of  John,  Lord  Mohun,  and 
wife  of  Lord  Fitzwnlter,  Sir  John  Golofre,  and  lastly  of  Edmund  Plan- 
tagenet  ("  Edmund  of  Langley  "),  fifth  son  of  Edward  III.,  killed  at 
the  Battle  of  Agincourt.  After  his  death  she  obtained  the  Lordship 
of  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  resided  in  Carisbrook  Castle,  where  she  died, 
and  whence  she  was  brought  with  royal  honours  to  Westminster.  Her 
effigy  (much  injured)  wears  a  long  cloak  and  mantle,  with  a  wimple 
and  plaited  veil.  Her  tomb  is  the  earliest  in  this  chapel,  in  the 
centre  of  which  it  formerly  stood.  It  once  had  a  canopy  decorated 
with  stars  and  a  painting  of  the  Passion. 

Elizabeth  Percy,  Duchess  of  Northumberland  (i"d),  "in  her  own 
right  Baroness  Percy,  Lucy,  Poynings,  Fitz  Payne,  Brian,  and  Latimer; 
sole  heiress  of  Algernon,  Duke  of  Somerset,  and  of  the  ancient  Earls 
of  Northumberland." 

Winifred  Brydges,  Marchioness  of  Winchester  (15S1).  Above  this 
the  effigy  of  Lady  Ross,  wife  of  the  Earl  of  Exeter,  grandson  of  Lord 
Burleigh. 

Elizabeth  Cecil,  Countess  of  Exeter,  1591. 

The  Gothic  canopied  altar-tomb  of  William  Dudley,  first  Dean  of 
Windsor,  and  Bishop  of  Durham  (1483),  uncle  of  Henry  VII. 's  finan- 
cier. His  figure  is  gone.  Lying  upon  the  tomb  is  the  effigy  of  Cathe- 
rine, Lady  St.  John  (1614),  moved  from  the  Chapel  of  St.  Michael  to 
make  way  for  the  Nightingale  monument. 

An  obelisk  of  white  marble  on  a  black  pedestal  supports  a  vase  con- 
taining the  heart  of  Anne  Sophia,  the  infant  daughter  of  Count  Bella- 
monte,  ambassador  from  France  to  James  I.     She  died  in  1605. 

Tomb  of  Mildred  Cecil,  Lady  Burleigh,  one  of  the  four  learned 
daughters  of  Sir  Anthony  Cooke,  1589.  and  Anne  Vere,  Countess  of 
Oxford,  1588,  the  wife  and  daughter  vi  the  great  Lord  Burleigh. 
An  enormous  Corinthian  tomb,  twenty-four  feet  high.  The  figure  of 
Lady  Burleigh  lies  on  a  sarcophagus  ;  at  her  head  and  feet  are  her 
only  son  Robert  Cecil,  and  her  three  grand-daughters,  Elizabeth, 
Bridget,  and  Susannah.  In  a  recess  is  the  recumbent  figure  of  the 
Countess  of  Oxford.  In  the  upper  stoiy  Lord  Burleigh  is  seen,  kneel- 
ing in  his  robes— the  effigy  in  which  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley  was  "  well 
pleased  to  see  the  statesman  Cecil  on  his  knees."  The  epitaphs  are 
from  his  pen,  and  tell  how  "  his  eyes  were  dim  with  tears  for  those 
who  were  dear  to  him  beyond  the  whole  race  of  womankind."  Lor  j 
Burleigh  himself  lay  in  state  here,  but  was  buried  at  Stamford. 


CHAPEL    OF  HENRY  VII.  263 

Sir  G.  Fane  (1618),  and  his  wife  Elizabeth  le  Despencer.  A  mural 
monument,  with  kneeling  statues. 

Nicholas,  Lord  Carew  (1470),  the  friend  of  Edward  IV.,  and  his  wife. 
A  plain  altar-tomb. 

Nicholas  Bagnall,  an  infant  of  two  months  old,  "by  his  nvrs  unfor- 
tvnately  overlayed  "  (1687-8).    A  pedestal  with  a  black  pyramid  and  urn. 

*  Anne  Seymour,  Duchess  of  Somerset  (1587),  widow  of  the  great 
Protector,  sister-in-law  of  Queen  Jane,  and  aunt  of  Edward  VI.  She 
died  aged  ninety,  far  on  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  The  tomb  was  erected 
by  her  son,  Lord  Hertford,  "in  this  doleful  dutie  carefull  and  diligent." 

Lady  Jane  Clifford,  1679.     An  odd  square  sarcophagus. 

*  Sir  Humphrey  Stanley  (1505),  who  fought  for  Henry  VII.  at  the 
Battle  of  Bosworth,  where  he  was  knighted  on  the  field  of  battle.  A 
brass  of  a  figure  in  plate  armour. 

Elizabeth  Brooke  (1591),  wife  of  Sir  Robert  Cecil,  son  of  the  great 
Lord  Burleigh.     An  altar-tomb. 

Returning  to  the  aisle,  on  the  left  is  the  monument  of  Sir 
Robert  Alton,  the  poet,  Secretary  to  James  I.,  1638,  with  a 
noble  bust.  On  the  right  is  that  of  Sir  Thomas  Ingram, 
Chancellor  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster,  167 1.  Beneath  the 
pavement  lie  Abbot  Berkynge,  Lord  High  Treasurer,  1246, 
and  Sir  John  Golofre,  1396,  second  husband  of  Philippa, 
Duchess  of  York. 

We  now  reach  the  glorious  portico  which  overarches  the 
aisle  under  the  Oratory  of  Henry  V.  Beneath  it,  in  an  awful 
gloom  which  is  rendered  more  solemn  by  the  play  of  golden 
light  within,  a  grand  flight  of  steps  leads  to  the  Chapel  of 
Henry  VII.,  erected  under  the  care  of  Bolton,  the  Archi- 
tect-Prior of  St.  Bartholomew's,  in  the  place  of  the  Lady 
Chapel  of  Henry  III.,*  the  burial-place  of  almost  all  the 
sovereigns .  from    Henry    VII.   to    George    II.,    the    finest 

*  Vound,  by  the  excavations  made  at  a  recent  funeral,  to  have  been  nearly  of 
the  same  dimensions  as  the  present  Chapel. 


r&4  WALKS  IN  LONDON". 

Perpendicular  building  in  England,  called  by  Lei  and  "the 
mirac.e  of  the  world," — far  finer  than  its  rival,  King's 
College  at  Cambridge. 

"  The  Chapel  of  Henry  VII.  is  indeed  well  called  by  his  name,  for  it 
breathes  of  himself  through  every  part.  It  is  the  most  signal  example 
of  the  contrast  between  his  closeness  in  life,  and  his  '  magnificence  in  the 
structures  he  hath  left  to  posterity  '—King's  College  Chapel,  the  Savoy, 
Westminster.  Its  very  style  was  a  reminiscence  of  his  exile,  being 
'  learned  in  France  '  by  himself  and  his  companion  Fox.  His  pride  in 
its  grandeur  was  commemorated  by  the  ship,  vast  for  those  times, 
which  he  built,  '  of  equal  cost  with  his  chapel,'  'which  afterwards,  in 
the  reign  of  Mary,  sank  in  the  sea,  and  vanished  in  a  moment.' 

"  It  was  to  be  his  chantry  as  well  as  his  tomb,  for  he  was  determined 
not  to  be  behind  the  Lancastrian  princes  in  devotion  ;  and  this  unusual 
anxiety  for  the  sake  of  a  soul  not  too  heavenward  in  its  affections 
expended  itself  in  the  immense  apparatus  of  services  which  he  provided. 
Almost  a  second  abbey  was  needed  to  contain  the  new  establishment 
of  monks,  who  were  to  sing  in  their  stalls  '  as  long  as  the  world  shall 
endure.'  Almost  a  second  shrine,  surrounded  by  its  blazing  tapers, 
and  shining  like  gold  with  its  glittering  bronze,  was  to  contain  his 
remains. 

"  To  the  Virgin  Mary,  to  whom  the  Chapel  was  dedicated,  he  had  a 
special  devotion.  Her  '  in  all  his  necessities  he  had  made  his  continual 
refuge  ;'  and  her  figure,  accordingly,  looks  down  upon  his  grave  from 
the  east  end,  between  the  apostolic  patrons  of  the  Abbey,  Peter  and 
Paul,  with  '  the  holy  company  of  heaven— that  is  to  say,  angels,  arch- 
angels, patriarchs,  prophets,  apostles,  evangelists,  martyrs,  confessors, 
and  virgins,'  to  'whose  singular  mediation  and  prayers  he  also  trusted,' 
including  the  royal  saints  of  Britain,  St.  Edward,  St.  Edmund,  St. 
Oswald,  St.  Margaret  of  Scotland,  who  stand,  as  he  directed,  sculp- 
tured, tier  above  tier,  on  every  side  of  the  Chapel,  some  retained  from 
the  ancient  Lady  Chapel,  the  greater  part  the  work  of  his  own  age. 
Round  his  tomb  stand  his  nine  '  accustomed  avours  or  guardian 
saints,'  to  whom  'he  calls  and  cries  ' — '  St.  Michael,  St.  John  the  Bap- 
tist, St.  John  the  Evangelist,  St.  George,  St.  Anthony,  St.  Edward, 
St.  Vincent,  St.  Anne,  St.  Mary  Magdalene,  and  St.  Barbara,'  each 
with  their  peculiar  emblems, — '  so  to  aid,  succour,  and  defend  him, 
that  the  ancient  and  ghostly  enemy,  nor  none  other  evil  or  damnable 
spirit,  have  no  power  to  invade  him,  nor  with  their  wickedness  to 
annoy  him,  but  with  holy  prayers  to  be  intercessors  for  him  to  his 
Maker  and  Redeemer.'     These  were  the  adjurations  of  the  last  me- 


CHAPEL   OF  HENRY  VII.  265 

diaeval  king,  as  the  Chapel  was  the  climax  of  the  latest  mediaeval  archi- 
tecture. In  the  very  urgency  of  the  King's  anxiety  for  the  perpetuity 
of  those  funeral  ceremonies,  we  seem  to  discern  an  unconscious  pre- 
sentiment of  terror  lest  their  days  were  numbered." — Dean  Stanley. 

It  is  said  that  on  looking  back  from  the  portico  of  Henry 
VII. 's  Chapel,  every  phase  of  Gothic  architecture,  from 
Henry  III.  to  Henry  VII.,  may  be  seen.  The  glorious 
brass  gates  are  adorned  with  all  the  badges  of  the  founder — 
the  fleur-de-lis,  the  portcullis  and  crown,  the  falcon  and 
fetterlock,  the  thistle  and  crown,  the  united  roses  of  York 
and  Lancaster  entwined  with  the  crown,  the  initials  R.  H., 
the  royal  crown.,  and  the  three  lions  of  England.  The 
devices  of  Henry  VII.  are  also  borne  by  the  angels,  sculp- 
tured on  the  frieze  at  the  west  end  of  the  chapel.  The 
windows  have  traces  of  the  white  roses  of  Lancaster  and  of 
the  fleur-de-lis  and  H's  with  which  they  were  once  filled ; 
from  the  end  window  the  figure  of  Henry  VII.  looks  down 
upon  the  whole.  Seventy-three  statues,  whose  "  natural 
simplicity  and  grandeur  of  character  and  drapery"  are 
greatly  commended  by  Flaxman,  surround  the  walls. 

"  The  very  walls  are  wrought  into  universal  ornament,  encrusted  with 
tracery,  and  scooped  into  niches,  crowded  with  statues  of  saints  and 
martyrs.  Stone  seems,  by  the  cunning  labour  of  the  chisel,  to  have 
been  robbed  of  its  weight  and  density,  suspended  aloft,  as  if  by  magic, 
and  the  fretted  roof  achieved  with  the  wonderful  minuteness  and  airy 
security  of  a  cobweb." — Washington  Irving. 

The  stalls  of  the  Knights  of  the  Bath  surround  the  chapel, 
with  the  seats  for  the  esquires  in  front.  The  end  stall  on 
the  right  is  decorated  with  a  figure  of  Henry  VII.  The 
sculptures  on  the  misereres  are  exceedingly  quaint,  chiefly 
monkish  satires  on  the  evil  lives  of  their  brethren.  Amongst 
them  are  combats  between  monks  and  nuns,  a  monk  seized 


266  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

and  a  monk  carried  off  by  the  devil,  one  boy  whipping 
another,  apes  gathering  nuts,  and  a  fox  in  armour  riding  a 
goose.  The  best  is  the  Judgment  of  Solomon ;  the  cause 
of  the  contention — the  substitution  of  the  dead  for  the  living: 
child — is  represented  with  ludicrous  simplicity,  repeated  on 
either  side  of  the  bracket. 

The  centre  of  the  chapel  towards  the  east  is  occupied  by 
the  glorious  tomb  of  He?iry  VII.  (1509)  and  Elizabeth  of 


Henry  VII.  (Wooden  Figure). 

York  (1503),  "one  of  the  stateliest  and  daintiest  monuments 
of  Europe,"  :  executed  for  ,£1,500  by  the  famous  Pietro 
Torrigiano ;  the  screen,  which  is  no  less  beautiful,  beine  the 
work  of  English  artisans.  The  tomb  is  chiefly  of  bl  xk 
marble,  but  the  figures  and  surrounding  alto-relievos  and 
pilasters  are  of  gilt  copper.  The  figures,  wrapped  in  long 
mantles  which  descend   to  the  feet,  are  most  simple   and 

*  Lord  Bacon. 


CHAPEL    OF  HENRY   VII.  207 

beautiful.  They  once  wore  crowns,  which  have  been 
stolen.  Within  the  screen,  Henry  enjoined  by  his  will  that 
there  should  be  a  small  altar,  enriched  with  relics — one  ot 
the  legs  of  St.  George  and  a  great  piece  of  the  Holy  Cross. 
Elizabeth  of  York,  daughter  of  Edward  IV.,  by  whose 
marriage  the  long  feud  between  the  houses  of  York  and 
Lancaster  was  terminated,  died  in  childbirth  at  the  Tower, 
on  her  birthday,  February  11,  1502-3.  Her  sister,  Lady 
Katharine  Courtenay,  was  chief  mourner  at  her  magnificent 
funeral  in  the  Abbey.  Henry  survived  his  wife  for  seven 
years,  and  died  at  Richmond  in  1509.  Bishop  Fisher 
preached  his  funeral  sermon,  which  was  printed  by  Wynkyn 
de  Worde,  at  the  desire  of  the  "  king's  moder." 


"In  this  chappel  the  founder  thereof,  with  his  queen,  lieth  interr'd, 
under  a  monument  of  solid  brass,  most  richly  gilded,  and  artificially 
carved.  Some  slight  it  for  the  cheapness,  because  it  cost  but  a  thou- 
sand pounds  in  the  making  thereof.  Such  do  not  consider  it  as  the 
work  of  so  thrifty  a  prince,  who  would  make  a  little  money  go  far ; 
besides  that  it  was  just  at  the  turning  of  the  tide  (as  one  may  term  it) 
of  money,  which  flowed  after  the  finding  out  of  the  West  Indies, 
though  ebbing  before." — Fuller's  Worthies. 

Henry  VII.  "was  of  a  high  mind,  and  loved  his  own  will  and  his  own 
way  ;  as  one  that  revered  himself,  and  would  reign  indeed.  Had  he 
been  a  private  man  he  would  have  been  termed  proud.  But  in  a  wise 
prince,  it  was  but  keeping  of  distance,  which  indeed  he  did  towards 

all To   his    confederates   he  was    constant    and  just,  but 

open He  was  a  prince,  sad,  virtuous,  and  full  of  thoughts  and 

secret  observations,  and  full  of  notes  and  memorials  of  his  own  hand, 

especially  touching  persons No  doubt,  in  him,  as  in  all  men, 

and  most  of  all  in  him,  his  fortune  wrought  upon  his  nature,  and  his 
nature  upon  his  fortune.  He  attained  to  the  crown,  not  only  from  a 
private  fortune,  which  might  endow  him  with  moderation;  but  also 
from  the  fortune  of  an  exiled  man,  which  had  quickened  in  him  all  seeds 
of  observation  and  industry.  And  his  times  being  rather  prosperous 
than  calm,  had  raised  his  confidence  by  success,  but  almost  marred  his 
nature  by  troubles." — Bacon's  Life  0/ Henry  VII, 


268  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

In  the  same  vault  with  Henry  and  Elizabeth  rests  the 
huge  coffin  of  James  I.  (1625).  His  funeral  sermon  was 
preached  by  Dean  Williams,  who  compared  him  to  Solomon 
in  eight  particulars  ! 

In  front  of  the  tomb  of  his  grandparents  is  the  restored 
altar  which  marks  the  burial-place  of  King  Edward  VI. 
(1553),  who  died  at  Greenwich  in  his  fifteenth  year — the 
good  and  strangely  learned  prince  of  whom  Hooker  says  that 
"  though  he  died  young,  he  lived  long,  for  life  is  in  action." 
The  ancient  altar — a  splendid  work  of  Torrigiano — was 
destroyed  in  the  Civil  Wars,  but  part  of  the  frieze  was  found 
in  1869  in  the  young  king's  grave,  and  has  been  let  into  the 
modern  altar.  It  is  admirable  carving  of  the  Renaissance, 
and  shows  the  Tudor  roses  and  the  lilies  of  France  inter- 
woven with  a  scroll-work  pattern.  On  the  coffin-plate  of 
the  young  king  is  inscribed — after  his  royal  titles — "  On 
earth  under  Christ  of  the  Church  of  England  and  Ireland 
supreme  head'' — having  been  evidently  engraved  during 
the  nine  days'  reign  of  Lady  Jane  Grey.  The  revived  altar 
was  first  used  in  1870,  on  the  strange  occasion  when  Dean 
Stanley  administered  the  Sacrament  to  the  revisers  of  the 
New  Testament — "  representatives  of  almost  every  form  of 
Christian  belief  in  England" — before  they  commenced  their 
labours. 

Inserted  in  this  altar  of  toleration,  by  a  quaint  power  of 
seeing  threads  of  connection  where  they  are  not  generally 
apparent,  are — a  fragment  of  an  Abyssinian  altar  brought 
from  Magdala  in  1868;  a  fragment  of  a  Greek  Church  in 
Damascus  destroyed  in  the  Christian  massacre  of  i860;  a 
fragment  of  the  high  altar  of  Canterbury,  destroyed  when 
the  cathedral  was  burnt  in  11 74. 


CHAPEL   OF  HENRY  VII.  369 

Making  the  circuit  of  the  chapel  from  the  right,  we  see  in 
the  pavement  the  inscribed  graves  of — 

Henry  Frederick,  Duke  of Cumberland  (17 '90),  fourth  son  of  Frederick, 
Prince  of  Wales,  the  hero  of  Culloden. 

Caroline  (1757),  third  daughter,  and  Amelia  (1786),  second  daughter, 
of  George  II. 

Louisa  (1768),  third  daughter  of  Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales,  and 
Edward,  Duke  of  York  (1769),  his  second  son,  who  died  at  Monaco. 

Queen  Caroline  of  Anspach  (1737),  buried  here  with  Handel's 
newly  composed  anthem,  "When  the  ear  heard  her,  then  it  blessed 
her,"  Sec. 

King  .George  II.  (1760),  the  last  sovereign  buried  at  Westminster, 
who  desired  that  his  dust  might  mingle  with  that  of  his  beloved  wife, 
in  accordance  with  which  one  side  of  each  of  the  coffins  was  with- 
drawn, and  they  rest  together. 

We  now  reach  a  chantry,  separated  from  the  chapel  by 
a  screen,  of  which  only  the  basement  remains,  containing 
the  gigantic  monument  of — 

Ludovic  Stuart,  Duke  of  Richmond  and  Lennox  (1623-4),  cousin  of 
James  I.,  Lord  Chamberlain,  and  Lord  High  Admiral  of  Scotland. 
Huge  figures  of  Faith,  Hope,  Prudence,  and  Charity  support  the 
canopy.  The  monument  was  erected  by  the  Duke's  widow,  who  is 
buried  here  with  all  his  family.  Here  also  rest  the  natural  son  of 
Charles  II.  and  the  Duchess  of  Portsmouth,  who  was  created  Duke  of 
Richmond  on  the  extinction  of  the  former  family,  and  his  widow,  "La 
belle  Stuart "  of  lax  morality,  whose  effigy,  by  her  own  request,  was 
placed  by  her  tomb  after  death  "as  well  done  in  wax  as  could  be, 
unler  crown  glass  and  none  other,"  wearing  the  robes  which  she  bore 
at  the  coronation  of  Queen  Anne,  and  accompanied  by  the  parrot 
"which  lived  with  her  grace  forty  years  and  sucvived  her  only  a  few 
days."  The  black  marble  pyramid  at  the  foot  of  the  tomb  commemo- 
rates the  infant  Esme,  Duke  of  Richmond. 

"  One  curious  feature  in  the  tomb  deserves  notice.  In  the  inscrip- 
tion the  date  of  the  year  of  the  Duke's  death  is  apparently  omitted, 
though  the  month  and  day  are  mentioned.  The  year,  however,  is 
given  in  what  is  called  a  chronogram.     The  Latin  translation  of  the 


»70  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

verse  in  the  Bible,  '  Know  ye  not  that  a  prince  and  a  great  man  has 
this  day  fallen  ?  "  (the  words  uttered  by  David  in  his  lament  over  Abner.) 
contains  fourteen  Roman  numeral  letters,  and  these  being  elongated 
into  capitals  are  MDCVWIIIIIIII,  which  give  the  date  1623.  It  is 
remarkable  that  words  so  appropriate  to  this  nobleman  should  contain 
the  date  for  this  identical  year,  and  it  shows  much  ingenuity  on  the 
j:art  of  the  writer  of  the  inscription  that  he  should  have  discovered  it." 
—  The  Builder,  June  19,  1875. 

We  now  come  to  the  first  of  the  three  eastern  chapels. 
On  the  left  is  the  tomb,  by  Westmacott,  of  Antoine,  Due  de 
Montpensier,  brother  of  Louis  Philippe,  who  died  in  exile 
at  Salthill,  1807.  The  inscription  is  by  General  Dumouriez. 
This  is  the  only  monument  placed  in  the  Abbey  for  two 
centuries  which  is  in  accordance  with  the  taste  in  which  it 
was  built.  In  the  same  vault  with  the  Duke  lay  for  some 
time  Louise  of  Savoy,  queen  of  Louis  XVIII.,  who  died  in 
exile  at  Hartwell  in  Buckinghamshire.  Her  remains  were 
removed  to  Sardinia  in  181 1. 

In  the  centre  of  the  chapel  is  the  grave  of  Lady  Augusta  Stanley 
(1876),  "  for  thirty  years  the  devoted  servant  of  Queen  Victoria,  and  of 
the  queen's  mother  and  children." 

The  Central  Eastern  Chapel  was  the  burial-place  of  the 
magnates  of  the  Commonwealth,  who,  with  few  exceptions, 
were  exhumed  after  the  Restoration.  The  bodies  of  Crom- 
well, his  son-in-law  Ireton,  and  Bradshaw,  the  regicide  judge, 
were  hanged  at  Tyburn ;  the  mother  of  Cromwell,  with 
most  of  her  kindred  and  friends,  was  buried  in  a  pit  near 
St.  Margaret's  Church  ;  Elizabeth  Claypole,  the  favourite 
daughter  of  the  Protector,  was  left  in  peace.  Here  were 
once  buried — 

Oliver  Cromwell,  Lord  Protector,  1658, 
General  Henry  Ireton,  1651. 


CHAPEL    OF  HENRY  VII.  271 

Elizabeth  Cromwell,  mother  of  the  Protector,  1654. 

Jane  Desborough,  sister  of  the  Protector,  1656. 

Anne  Fleetwood,  daughter  of  the  Protector. 

Robert  Deane,  1653. 

Humphrey  Mackworth,  1654. 

Sir  William  Constable,  1655. 

Admiral  Robert  Blake,  1657. 

Dennis  Bond,  1658. 

John  Bradshaw,  1659. 

Mary  Bradshaw,  1659. 

The  vault  vacated  when  the  rebels  were  exhumed  was 
afterwards  used  as  the  burial-place  of  James  Butler,  Duke 
of  Ormond  (1688),  and  all  his  family.  Here  also  were 
interred  many  of  the  illegitimate  descendants  of  Charles  II., 
including — 

The  Earl  of  Don  caster,  son  of  the  Duke  of  Monmouth,  1673-4. 

Charles  Fitzroy,  Duke  of  Cleveland ,  1 730. 

Charles  Fitz  Charles,  Earl  of  Plymouth,  who  died  at  Tangiers, 
1680-81. 

Here  also  the  Duke  of  Portland,  the  friend  of  William  III.,  was 
buried  (1709),  with  the  Duke  of  Schomberg  and  several  of  his  family. 

In  the  Third  Chapel  lie — 

Right.  Sheffield,  Duke  of  Buckingham  (1721),  and  his  duchess 
Catherine,  who  was  so  proud  of  being  the  illegitimate  daughter  of 
James  II.  and  Catherine  Sedley,  and  who  kept  the  anniversary  of  the 
martyrdom  of  her  royal  grandfather  Charles  I.  seated  in  a  chair  of  state, 
attended  by  her  women  in  weeds.*  The  monument  is  by  Scheemakers, 
who  has  represented  the  duchess  in  English  dress,  while  the  duke  is  in 
Roman  armour.  In  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  he  was  general  of  the 
Dutch  troop  of  horse,  Governor  of  Kingston  Castle  upon  Hull,  and 
First  Gentleman  of  the  Bedchamber ;  in  that  of  James  II..  Lord 
Chamberlain ;  in  that  of  Queen  Anne,  Lord  Privy  Seal,  and  President 
of  the  Council.  The  concluding  lines  of  his  self-composed  epitaph 
are  striking — "Dubius  sed  non  improbus  vixi ;  incertus  morior,  non 
perturbatus.  Humanum  est  nescire  et  errare.  Deo  confido  omnipotent^ 
benevolentissimo.  Ens  entium  miserere  mei."  Before  the  words 
"  Deo  confido,"  *'•  Christum  advencror  "  was  originally  inserted,  but 
•  Walpule's  "  Keminiscences." 


272  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

was  effaced  by  Dean  Atterbury,  on  the  ground  that  "  adveneror  r' 
was  not  a  sufficient  expression  as  applied  to  Christ. 

Opposite  is  preserved  the  wooden  Pulpit  from  which  Cranmer 
preached  at  the  coronation  and  funeral  of  his  royal  godson,  Edward  VI. 

Beneath  it,  alone,  in  a  spacious  vault,  lies  the  body  of  Queen  Anne 
of  Denmark  (1619-20),  wife  of  James  I.,  who  died  at  Somerset  House. 
She  never  had  any  monument,  but  her  hearse  stood  over  her  grave  till 
the  Commonwealth. 

Hard  by  is  the  grave  of  John  Campbell,  Duke  of  Argyle  and 
Greenwich  (1743),  whose  monument  we  have  seen  in  the  south  transept. 
With  him  lies  his  daughter,  Lady  Mary  Coke  (181 1),  "the 'lively  little 
lady'  who,  in  the  'Heart  of  Midlothian,'  banters  her  father  after  the 
interview  with  Jeanie  Deans."  * 

The  next  Chapel,  with  a  low  screen,  has  its  western 
decorations  ruined  by  the  tomb  of — 

George  Villiers,  Duke  of  Buckingham  (1628),  the  passionately  loved 
favourite  of  James  I.,  murdered  by  Felton,  and  his  duchess.  His 
children  kneel  at  his  head.  Several  of  his  sons,  including  Francis  and 
George,  whose  handsome  features  are  well  known  from  Vandyke's 
noble  picture,  rest  in  their  father's  grave,  together  with  the  last  duke, 
the  George  Villiers  who  was  the  "  Zimri "  of  Dryden,  and  whose 
death-bed  is  described  in  the  lines  of  Pope. 

"  Had  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  been  blessed  with  a  faithful  friend, 
qualified  with  wisdom  and  integrity,  the  duke  would  have  committed  as 
few  faults  and  done  as  transcendent  worthy  actions  as  any  man  in  that 
age  in  Europe." — Clarendon. 

"After  Buckingham's  death,  Charles  the  First  cherished  his  memory 
warmly  as  his  life,  advanced  his  friends,  and  designed  to  raise  a  magni- 
ficent monument  to  his  memory  ;  and  if  any  one  accused  the  duke,  the 
king  always  imputed  the  fault  to  himself.  He  very  often  said  the 
world  was  much  mistaken  in  the  duke's  character;  for  it  was  commonly 
thought  the  duke  ruled  his  majesty ;  but  it  was  much  the  contrary, 
having  been  his  most  faithful  and  obedient  servant  in  all  things,  as  the 
king  said  he  would  make  sensibly  appear  to  the  world." — Disraeli. 
Curiosities  of  Literature. 

Near  the  next  pillar  is  the  grave  of  Elizabeth  Claypole, 
second  daughter  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  the  only  member  of 

•  Stanley. 


SOUTH  AISLE,  HENRY  VII.' S   CHAPEL.  273 

the  Protector's  family  allowed  to  remain  in  the  Abbey,  as 
being  both  a  royalist  and  a  member  of  the  Church  of 
England.  In  descending  the  chapel  on  this  side  we  pass 
the  graves  of — 

Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales,  father  of  George  III.,  1751. 
Augusta  of  Saxe-Gotha,  Princess  of  Wales,  1772. 
Elizabeth  Caroline  (1759),  and  Frederick  William  (1765),   child: en 
of  the  Prince  of  Wales. 

William  Augustus,  Duke  of  Cumberland,  third  son  of  George  II., 

1765- 

Entering  the  South  Aisle  of  the  Chapel,  we  find,  beneath 
the  exquisite  fan  roof,  three  noble  tombs. 

*  Margaret  Stuart,  Countess  of  Lennox  (1577),  first  cousin  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  being  daughter  of  the  Scottish  queen,  Margaret  Tudor,  by 
her  second  marriage  with  the  Earl  of  Angus.  Lord  Thomas  Howard 
was  imprisoned  for  life,  for  venturing  to  fall  in  love  with  her  at  the 
Court  of  Anne  Boleyn,  and  she  was  married,  in  her  thirtieth  year,  to 
the  Earl  of  Lennox.  The  epitaph  tells  how  she  "had  to  her  great- 
grandfather King  Edward  IV.  ;  to  her  grandfather,  King  Henry  VII. ; 
to  her  uncle,  King  Henry  VIII. ;  to  her  cousin-german,  King 
Edward  VI. ;  to  her  brother,  King  James  V.  of  Scotland ;  to  her 
son  (Darnley),  King  Henry  I.  of  Scotland  ;  to  her  grandchild,  King 
James  VI.  (of  Scotland,  and  I.  of  England)."  The  tomb  is  of 
alabaster.  It  bears  the  effigy  of  Margaret  in  robes  of  state,  with  a 
small  ruff  and  a  close  coif  with  a  coronet  over  it.  Below  are  the 
effigies  of  her  four  sons  and  four  daughters  (including  that  of  Henry 
Darnley,  King  of  Scotland,  which  once  had  a  crown  above  its  head, 
and  that  of  Charles  Lennox,  father  of  the  "  Ladie  Arbele  "  (Arabella 
Stuart).  She  died  in  poverty,  but  was  buried  here  in  great  state  by 
Elizabeth.  An  iron  railing,  decorated  with  all  the  armorial  bearings 
of  the  family,  once  surrounded  this  monument. 

*  Mary  Stuart,  Queen  of  Scots,  1587.  After  her  execution  at  Fotlicr- 
ingay  she  was  buried  at  Peterborough,  but  was  brought  thence  in  1606 
by  her  son  James  I.,  who  desired  that  "  like  honour  might  be  done  to 
the  body  of  his  dearest  mother,  and  a  like  monument  be  extant  of  her, 
that  had  been  done  to  his  dear  sister,  the  late  Queen  Elizabeth.'.'  In 
her  second  funeral  she  had  "  a  translucent  passage  in  tl  e  night  through 
the  city  of  London,  by  multitudes  of  torches,  with  al    the  ceremonid 

VOL.  II.  T 


274  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

and  voices  quires  and  copes  could  express,  attended  by  many  prelates 
and  nobles."  *  The  tomb  is  a  noble  work  of  the  period,  with  an 
effigy  by  Cornelius  Cure.  The  queen  is  represented  as  in  her  pictures, 
with  small  and  delicate  features.  She  wears  a  close  coif,  a  laced  ruff, 
a  mantle  fastened  at  the  breast  by  a  jewelled  brooch,  and  high-heeled 
shoes ;  at  her  feet  the  crowned  lion  of  Scotland  sits  keeping  guard.  • 

*  Margaret  Beaufort,  Countess  of  Richmond  and  Derby,  the  great- 
granddaughter  of  John  of  Gaunt,  "  allied,  by  blood  or  affinity,  to  thirty 
kings  and  queens."  By  her  first  husband,  Edmund  Tudor,  Earl  ol 
Richmond  (son  of  Queen  Catherine  de  Valois,  whom  rather  than 
the  Duke  of  Suffolk,  she  espoused  by  the  advice — in  a  vision— of 
St.  Nicholas,  patron  of  wavering  maidens),  she  was  the  mother  of 
Henry  VII.  She  married  secondly  Sir  Humphrey  Stafford ;  and  thirdly 
Thomas,  Lord  Stanley,  who  placed  the  crown  of  Richard  III.  on 
the  head  of  her  son  after  the  Battle  of  Bosworth  Field,  and  was 
created  Earl  of  Derby  by  him.  She  died  in  1578,  at  the  time  of  the 
coronation  of  her  grandson,  Henry  VIH.  She  was  the  foundress  of  St. 
John's  and  Christ's  Colleges  at  Cambridge.  Bishop  Fisher  (her  chap- 
lain), who  preached  her  funeral  sermon,  told  truly  how  "  Every  one  that 
knew  her,  loved  her  ;  and  everything  that  she  said  or  did  became  her." 
She  was  so  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  mediaeval  times,  that  Camden 
records  she  would  often  say  that — "  on  the  condition  that  the  princes 
of  Christendom  would  combine  and  march  against  the  common  enemy, 
the  Turk,  she  would  willingly  attend  them,  and  be  their  laundress  in 
the  camp."  Her  effigy,  the  first  work  executed  by  the  great  Pietro 
Torrigiano  in  England,  is  nobly  simple,  but  "  executed  in  a  grand 
and  expressive  naturalistic  manner."  t  Her  hands  are  uplifted  in 
prayer,  and  the  aged  features  are  evidently  modelled  from  nature. 
Her  epitaph,  by  John  Skelton,  the  poet-laureate,  ends  with  a  quaint 
curse  upon  all  who  shall  spoil  or  take  it  away — 

"  Qui  laceret,  violatve,  rapit,  praesens  epitoma, 
Hunc  laceretque  voret,  Cerberus,  absque  mora." 

(On  the  left)  Catherine  Shorter,  Lady  Walpole (1737),  the  first  wife  of 
Sir  Robert,  afterwards  Earl  of  Orford.  The  figure  is  by  Valori,  after  a 
Roman  statue  of  "Modesty,"  and  is  beautiful,  though  injured  by  the  too 
voluminous  folds  of  its  drapery.  It  was  erected  by  her  son,  Horace 
Walpole.  "  She  had  beauty  and  wit  without  vice  or  vanity,  and  culti- 
vated the  arts  without  affectation.  She  was  devout,  though  without 
bigotry  of  any  sect,  and  was  without  prejudice  to  any  party;   tho' 

"  VV  ilson's  "  Hist,  of  the  Reign  of  James  I ."  ♦  Liiuke. 


SOUTH  AISLE,  HENRY  VII.'S   CHAPEL.  275 

the  vrife  of  a  minister,  whose  power  she  esteemed  but  when  she  could 
employ  it  to  benefit  the  miserable  or  reward  tha  meritorious.  She 
loved  a  private  life,  though  born  to  shine  in  public,  and  was  an  orna- 
ment to  courts,  untainted  by  them."* 

(Left)  General  George  Monk,  Duke  of  Albemarle,  the  hero  of  the 
Restoration,  whose  funeral  was  personally  attended  by  Charles  II. 
The  monument,  by  Scheemakers  and  Kent,  was  erected,  as  the  epitaph 
states,  in  compliance  with  the  wish  of  Christopher,  Duke  of  Albemarle, 
in  1720.  The  figure  of  General  Monk  is  represented  in  armour,  with- 
out a  helmet :  a  mourning  female  figure  leans  upon  the  medallion  of 
Duke  Christopher. 

In  front  of  the  step  of  the  ancient  altar  are  buried  with- 
out monuments — 

King  Charles  IT.  (1685),  buried  "  without  any  manner  of  pomp,  and 
soon  forgotten."  t  His  waxen  image  stood  on  the  grave  as  late  as  1S15 . 

Qiteen  Mary  II.,  1694. 

King  William  III.,  1 702.  , 

Prince  George  of  Denmark,  1 708. 

Queen  Anne,  17 14. 

Thoresby,   the  antiquary,  was  present  when   the   vault 
was  opened  to  receive  the  remains  of  Queen  Anne. 

"  It  was  affecting  to  see  the  silent  relics  of  the  great  monarch*, 
Charles  II.,  William  and  Mary,  and  Prince  George;  next  whom 
remains  only  one  space  to  be  filled  with  her  late  Majesty  Queen  Anne. 
This  sight  was  the  more  affecting  to  me,  because,  when  young,  I  saw 
in  one  balcony  six  of  them  that  were  afterwards  kings  and  queens  of 
Great  Britain,  all  brisk  and  hearty,  but  now  entered  on  a  bom 
eternity!  There  were  then  present  King  Charles  and  his  Queen 
Catherine,  the  Duke  of  York,  the  Prince  and  Princess  of  Orange,  and 
the  Princess  Anne." — Thoresby 's  Diary. 

Beneath  the  pavement  in  other  parts  of  the  chapel  are 
buried  the  following  members  of  the  Stuart  royal  family: — 

•  Epitapb,  b    Horace  Walpole. 

\  Evelyn's  Diary.  He  was  probably  thus  quietly  buried  to  evade  disputes  as  to 
the  religion  in  which  be  di<»d. 


276  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Henry  Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales  (1612),  son  of  James  I. 

"  A  monument  all  of  pure  gold,"  says  Stow,  "were  too  little  for  a 
prince  of  such  high  hope  and  merit." 

"  The  short  life  of  Henry  was  passed  in  a  school  of  prov/ess,  and 
amidst  an  academy  of  literature." — Disraeli. 

Arabella  Stiiart  (1615),  niece  of  James  I. 

Charles,  eldest  son  of  Charles  I.  (1629),  and  Anne  (1637),  the  fat 
baby  in  the  famous  picture  of  the  children  of  Charles  I. 

"  She  was  a  very  pregnant  lady  above  her  age,  and  died  in  her 
infancy  when  not  full  four  years  old.  Being  minded  by  those  about 
her  to  call  upon  God  even  when  the  pangs  of  death  were  upon  her ; 
'  I  am  not  able,'  saith  she,  '  to  say  my  long  prayer  (meaning  the  Lord's 
Prayer)  ;  but  I  will  say  my  short  one,  Lighten  mine  eyes,  O  Lord,  lest 
I  sleep  the  sleep  of  death.'  This  done,  this  little  lamb  gave  up  the 
ghost." — Fuller's  Worthies. 

Henry,  Duke  of  Gloucester  (1660),  son  of  Charles  I.,  the  boy  who  on 
his  father's  knees  at  St.  James's,  the  night  before  his  execution,  said 
that  he  would  be  torn  in  pieces  rather  than  be  made  king  while  his 
brothers  were  alive.     He  died  of  the  small-pox  at  Whitehall. 

Mary,  Princess  of  Orange  (1660),  eldest  daughter  of  Charles  I. 

"  She  came  over  to  congratulate  the  happiness  of  her  brother's  mira- 
culous restitution  ;  when,  behold,  sickness  arrests  this  royal  princess, 
no  bail  being  found  by  physick  to  defer  the  execution  of  her  death.  On 
the  31st  of  February  following  she  was  honourably  (though  privately) 
interred  at  Westminster,  and  no  eye  so  dry  but  willingly  afforded  a 
tear  to  bemoan  the  loss  of  so  worthy  a  princess." — Fuller's  Worthies. 

Elizabeth,  Queen  of  Bohemia  (1662),  daughter  of  James  I. 

1662.  Jan.  17.  "  This  night  was  buried  in  Westminster  Abby  the 
Queene  of  Bohemia,  after  all  her  sorrows  and  afflictions,  behig  come  to 
die  in  the  arms  of  her  nephew  the  King." — Evelyn's  Diary. 

Prince  Rupert  (1682),  son  of  the  Queen  of  Bohemia.  "  The  Prince  " 
of  the  Cavaliers,  "  who,  after  innumerable  toils  and  variety  of  heroic 
actions  both  by  land  and  sea,  spent  several  years  in  sedate  studies,  and 
the  prosecution  of  chemical  and  philosophical  experiments."  He  died 
in  his  sixty-third  year,  at  his  house  in  Spring  Gardens,  and  was 
honoured  with  a  very  magnificent  public  funeral. 

Anne  Hyde,  daughter  of  Edward,  Earl  of  Clarendon,  married  in 
1659  to  the  Duke  of  York,  afterwards  James  II.,  and   ten  of  her 


NORTH  AISLE,  HENRY   VII." S   CHAPEL.  277 

cnildren.      She    died  in  1671,   leaving    two  of   her   children   living, 
Mary  II.  and  Anne. 

William,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  the  precocious  and  last  surviving  child 
of  Princess  (afterwards  Queen)  Anne,  who  died  at  Windsor  just  after 
his  eleventh  birthday,  and  seventeen  other  of  her  children. 

We  may  now  turn  to  the  North  Aisle.  At  its  western 
extremity  is  an  enclosure  used  as  a  vestry  for  the  chanting 
priests,  who  were  to  say  the  ten  thousand  masses  enjoined 
by  the  will  of  Henry  VII.  for  the  repose  of  his  soul.  Here 
was  formerly  kept  "the  effigies  of  General  Monk."  The 
monuments  include — 

(Right)  Charles  Montague,  Earl  of  Halifax  (171 5),  the  great  patron 
of  the  literary  men  of  his  time,  "  the  second  great  Maecenas."  * 

In  the  vault  of  his  patron  rests  Joseph  Addison,  17 19  (his  monument 
is  in  the  south  transept).  The  funeral  of  Addison  gave  rise  to  the  noble 
lines  of  Tickell — 

"  Can  I  forget  the  dismal  night  that  gave 
My  soul's  best  part  for  ever  to  the  grave  ? 
How  silent  did  his  old  companions  tread, 
By  midnight  lamps,  the  mansions  of  the  dead, 
Through  breathing  statues,  then  unheeded  tilings, 
Through  rows  of  warriors  and  through  walks  of  kings  I 
What  awe  did  the  slow  solemn  knell  inspire  ; 
The  pealing  organ  and  the  pausing  choir ; 
The  duties  by  the  lawn-rob'd  prelate  pay'd  ; 
And  the  last  words,  that  dust  to  dust  convey'd  ! 
While  speechless  o'er  thy  closing  grave  we  bead  ; 
Accept  these  tears,  thou  dear  departed  friend. 
Oh,  gone  for  ever !   take  this  long  adieu, 
And  sleep  in  peace  next  thy  lov'd  Montague. 
****** 

Ne'er  to  these  chambers,  where  the  mighty  rest, 
Since  their  foundation  came  a  nobler  guest ; 
Nor  e'er  was  to  the  bower  of  bliss  conveyed 
A  fairer  spirit  or  more  welcome  shade."  t 

•  Or.  l  cwcll  to  Addison.     British  Poets. 
+  Epistle  to  the  l.arl  oi  Warwick. 


278  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

"  His  body  lay  in  state  in  the  Jerusalem  Chamber,  and  was  born* 
thence  to  the  Abbey  at  dead  of  night.  The  choir  sung  a  funeral  hymn. 
Bishop  Atterbury,  one  of  those  Tories  who  had  loved  and  honoured 
the  most  accomplished  of  the  Whigs,  met  the  corpse,  and  led  the  proces- 
sion by  torchlight,  round  the  shrine  of  St.  Edward  and  the  graves  of 
the  Plantagenets,  to  the  Chapel  of  Henry  the  Seventh.  On  the  north 
side  of  that  chapel,  in  the  vault  of  the  house  of  Albemarle,  the  coffin 
of  Addison  lies  next  to  the  coffin  of  Montague.  Yet  a  few  months, 
and  the  same  mourners  passed  again  along  the  same  aisle.  The  same 
sad  anthem  was  again  chanted.  The  same  vault  was  again  opened  ; 
and  the  coffin  of  Craggs  was  placed  close  to  the  coffin  of  Addiscn." — 
Macaulay. 

James  Craggs,  the  Secretary  of  State,  who  has  a  monument  at  the 
west  end  of  the  Abbey,  was  present  at  Addison's  funeral,  and  was 
immediately  after  buried  in  the  same  grave. 

"  O  !  must  I  then  (now  fresh  my  bosom  bleeds, 
And  Craggs  in  death  to  Addison  succeeds) 
The  verse,  begun  to  one  lost  friend,  prolong, 
And  weep  a  second  in  th'  unfinish'd  song  ? 

***** 

Blest  pair,  whose  union  future  bards  shall  tell 
In  future  tongues,  each  other's  boast,  farewell, 
Farewell !  whom,  join'd  in  fame,  in  friendship  try'd, 
No  chance  could  sever,  nor  the  grave  divide."  * 

(Right)  George  Savile,  Marquis  of  Halifax  (1695),  the  statesman. 

"  He  was  a  man  of  a  very  great  and  ready  wit ;  full  of  life,  and  very 

pleasant ;  much  turned  to  satire He  confessed  he  could  not 

swallow  down  everything  that  divines  imposed  on  the  world  :  he  was  a 
Christian  in  submission  :  he  believed  as  much  as  he  could,  and  he 
hoped  that  God  would  not  lay  it  to  his  charge,  if  he  could  not  digest 
iron,  as  an  ostrich  did,  or  take  into  his  belief  things  that  must  burst 

him But  with  relation  to  the  public,  he  went  backwards  and 

forwards,  and  changed  sides  so  often,  that  in  conclusion  no  one  trusted 

him When  he  talked  to  me  as  a  philosopher,  of  his  contempt 

of  the  world,  I  asked  him,  what  he  meant  by  getting  so  many  new 
titles,  which  I  called  the  hanging  himself  about  with  bells  and  tinsel. 
He  had  no  other  excuse  for  it  but  this,  that  since  the  world  were  such 
fools  as  to  value  those  matters,  a  man  must  be  a  fool  for  company." — 
Burnet.    Hist,  of  His  Own  Time.  , 

*  Tickell. 


NORTH  AISLE,  HENRY  VII.  S  CHAPEL.  279 

In  the  centre  of  the  aisle  is  the  noble  tomb  of — 

*  Queen  Elizabeth  (1602),  who  died  at  Richmond  in  the  forty -fifth  year 
of  her  reign,  and  the  seventieth  of  her  age.  The  monument  is  by 
Maximilian  Poultraine  and  John  de  Critz.  Beneath  a  lofty  canopy 
supported  by  ten  Corinthian  pillars,  the  figure  of  the  queen  who  was 
"  one  day  greater  than  man,  the  next  less  than  woman,"  is  lying 
upon  the  low  basement  on  a  slab  supported  by  lions.  The  effigy  repre- 
sents her  as  an  aged  woman,  wearing  a  close  coif,  from  which  the  hair 
descends  in  curls :  the  crown  has  been  stolen.  The  tomb  was  once 
surrounded  by  a  richly  wrought  railing  covered  with  fleurs-de-lis  and 
roses,  with  the  initials  E  R  interspersed.  This,  with  all  the  small 
standards  and  armorial  bearings  at  the  angles,  forming  as  much  a  part 
of  the  monument  itself  as  the  stonework,  was  most  unjustifiably 
removed  by  Dean  Ireland.* 

"  Thys  queene's  speech  did  winne  all  affections,  and  hir  subjects  did 
trye  to  shew  all  love  to  hir  commandes ;  for  she  would  say,  '  hir  state 
did  require  hir  to  commande,  what  she  knew  hir  people  woudc  willingly 
do  from  their  owne  love  to  hir.'  Herein  she  did  shewe  her  wisdome 
fullie  ;  for  who  did  chuse  to  lose  her  confidence  ;  or  who  woude  wyth- 
olde  a  shewe  of  love  and  obedience,  when  their  Sovereign  said  it  was 
their  own  choice,  and  not  hir  compulsion  ?  .  .  .  We  did  all  love  hir, 
for  she  said  she  loved  us,  and  muche  wysdome  she  shewed  in  thys 
matter.  She  did  well  temper  herself  towards  all  at  home,  and  put  at 
variance  all  abroad ;  by  which  means  she  had  more  quiet  than  hir 
neighbours.  .  .  .  When  she  smiled,  it  was  a  pure  sunshine,  that  every- 
one did  chuse  to  baske  in,  if  they  could  ;  but  anon  came  a  storm  from 
a  sudden  gathering  of  clouds,  and  the  thunder  fell  in  wondrous  manner 
on  all  alike.  I  never  did  fynde  greater  shew  of  understandinge  and 
learninge,  than  she  was  blest  wythe,  and  whoever  liveth  longer  than  1 
can,  will  look  backe  and  become  laudator  temporis  acti." — Sir  John 
Haringtotfs  Letter  to  Robert  Markham  in  1606,  three  years  after  the 
death  of  Elizabeth. 

In  the  same  tomb  is  buried  Mary  I.  (1558).  Her  obsequies,  con- 
ducted by  Bishop  Gardiner,  were  the  last  funeral  service  celebrated  in 
the  Abbey  according  to  the  Roman  Catholic  ritual,  except  the  requiem 
ordered   by  Elizabeth   for   Charles   V.     The  stones  of  the   altars  in 

♦the  almost  adoration  with  which  Elizabeth  was  regarded  after  her  death 
caused  her  so-called  "monument,"  with  a  metrical  epitaph,  curiously  varied,  to 
be  set  up  in  all  the  principal  London  churches;  notably  so  in  St.  Saviours, 
Southwark;  St.  Mary  Woolnoth ;  ."t.  I  awrence  Jewry;  St.  Mildred,  Poultry; 
and  St.  Andrew  Undershaft.     Several  of  theso  "  monuments  "  still  exist. 


28o  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Henry  VII. 's  Chapel  destroyed  at  the  Reformation  were  used  in  hei 
vault.  At  her  funeral  "  all  the  people  plucked  down  the  hangings  and 
the  armorial  bearings  round  about  the  abbey,  and  every  one  tore  him 
a  piece  as  large  as  he  could  catch  it."  James  I.  wrote  the  striking 
inscription  upon  the  monument  —  "Regno  consortes  et  urna,  hie 
obdormimus  Elizabetha  et  Maria  sorores,  in  spe  resurrectionis."  "  In 
those  words,"  says  Dean  Stanley,  "the  long  war  of  the  English 
Reformation  is  closed." 

*  The  eastern  end  of  this  aisle  has  been  called  the  Innocents'1  Corner. 
In  its  centre  is  the  tomb  erected  in  1674  bv  Charles  II.  over  the  bones 
found  at  the  foot  of  the  staircase  in  the  Tower,  supposed  to  be  those 
of  the  murdered  boys,  Edward  V.  and  Richard,  Duke  of  York. 

*  On  the  left  is  Princess  Mary,  third  daughter  of  James  I.  (1607),  who 
died  at  two  years  old,  about  whom  her  Protestant  father  was  wont  to 
say  that  he  "would  not  pray  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  but  for  the  Virgin 
Mary."  *  Her  epitaph  tells  how  she,  "  received  into  heaven  in  early 
infancy,"  found  joy  for  herself,  but  "left  longings  "  to  her  parents. 

"  Such  was  the  manner  of  her  death,  as  bred  a  kind  of  admiration  in 
us  all  that  were  present  to  behold  it.  For  whereas  the  new-tuned 
organs  of  speech,  by  reason  of  her  great  and  wearisome  sickness,  had 
been  so  greatly  weakened,  that  for  the  space  of  twelve  or  fourteen 
hours  at  least,  there  was  no  sound  of  any  word  breaking  from  her  lips  ; 
yet  when  it  sensibly  appeared  that  she  would  soon  make  a  peaceable 
end  of  a  troublesome  life,  she  sighed  out  these  words,  'I  go,  I  go,'  and 
when,  not  long  after,  there  was  something  to  be  ministered  unto  her 
by  those  that  attended  her  in  the  time  of  her  sickness,  fastening  her 
eye  upon  them  with  a  constant  look,  she  repeated,  '  Away,  I  go  !  ' 
And  yet  a  third  time,  almost  immediately  before  she  offered  herself,  a 
sweet  virgin  sacrifice,  unto  Him  that  made  her,  faintly  cried,  '  I  go,  I 
go.'  .  .  .  And  whereas  she  had  used  many  other  words  in  the  time  of 
her  extremity,  yet  now,  at  the  last,  she  did  aptly  utter  these,  and  none 
but  these."— Funeral  Sermon  for  the  Princess  Mary,  by  J.  Leech, 
preached  in  Henry  VII. 's  Chapel,  Sept.  23,  1607. 

*  On  the  right  is  Princess  Sophia  (1606),  fourth  daughter  of  James  L, 
who  died  at  Greenwich  three  days  after  her  birth.  It  is  a  charming 
little  monument  of  an  infant  in  her  cradle— "  a  royal  rose-bud,  plucked 
by  premature  fate,  and  snatched  away  from  her  parents,  that  she 
might  nourish  again  in  the  rosary  of  Christ." 

"  This  royal  babe  is  represented  sleeping  in  her  cradle,  wherewith 

•  Fuller's  "  Worthies,"  i.  490. 


NORTH  AISLE   OF  CHOIR, 


Vol 


vulgar  eyes,  especially  of  the  weaker  sex,  are  more  affected  fas  level  to 
their  cognizance,  more  capable  of  what  is  pretty  than  what  is  pompous) 
than  with  all  the  magnificent  monuments  in  Westminster." — Fuller's 

Worthies. 

At  the  foot  of  the  steps  leading  to  Henry  VIL's  Chapel 


Chaiitry  of  Henry  V.,  Westminster. 


is  the  grave  of  Edward  Hyde,  Earl  of  Clarendon  (1673), 
grandfather  of  Queen  Mary  II.  and  Queen  Anne,  who  died 
in  exile  at  Rouen,  having  been  impeached  for  high-treason. 
We  must  look  back  from  the  northern  ambulatory  upon  the 
richly  sculptured  arch  of  Henry  V.'s  chantry.    It  is  this  arch 


282  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

which  was  so  greatly  admired  by  Flaxman.  The  Corona- 
tion of  Henry  V.  is  here  represented  as  it  was  performed 
in  this  church  by  Thomas  Arundel,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, and  Henry  Beaufort,  the  uncle  of  the  king.  Over 
the  canopies  which  surmount  the  figures  are  the  alternate 
badges  of  the  Antelope  and  Swan  (from  the  king's  mother, 
co-heiress  of  the  Bohuns,  and  the  same  animals  appear  on 
the  cornices  chained  to  a  tree,  on  vhich  is  a  flaming  cresset, 
a  badge  which  was  borne  by  Henry  V.  alone,  and  which  was 
intended  as  typical  of  the  light  by  which  he  hoped  to  "  guide 
his  people  to  follow  him  in  all  honour  and  virtue."* 

On  the  left  are  the  beautiful  tombs  of  Queen  Eleanor  and 
of  Henry  III.,  and  beyond  these  the  simple  altar-tomb  of 
Edward  I.     On  the  right  are  the  tombs  of — 

William  Pulteney,  Earl  of  Bath  (1767),  by  Wilton. 
Admiral  Holmes,  1761. 

Entering  the  Chapel  of  St.  Paul,  we  see  before  us  the 

noble  altar-tomb  of — 

*  Sir  Giles  Daubeny  (1507)  and  his  wife  Elizabeth.  He  was  Lord 
Lieutenant  of  Calais  and  Chamberlain  to  Henry  VII.  His  effigy, 
which  is  executed  with  the  minutest  care,  is  in  plate  armour,  with  the 
insignia  of  the  Order  of  the  Garter.  Observe  the  kneeling  and  weep- 
ing monks  in  relief  on  the  soles  of  his  shoes. 

Near  this  is  the  stupid  colossus,  whose  introduction  here 
is  the  most  crying  evidence  of  the  want  of  taste  in  our 
generation :  a  monument  wholly  unsuited  in  its  character 
to  the  place,  and  in  its  association  with  its  surroundings — 
which,  on  its  introduction,  burst  through  the  pavement  by 
its  immense  weight,  laid  bare  the  honoured  coffin^  beneath, 

•  See  Brooke  in  Cough's  "  Sepulchral  Monuments,"  cut  xv. 


CHAPEL   OF  ST.  PAUL.  283 

and  fell  into  the  vaults  below,  but  unfortunately  was  no* 
broken  to  pieces. 

James  Watt  (1819),  "who  directing  the  force  of  an  original  genius 
early  exercised  in  philosophic  research  to  the  improvement  of  the 
steam-engine,  enlarged  the  resources  of  his  country  and  increased  the 
power  of  man,  and  rose  to  an  eminent  place  among  the  most  illustrious 
followers  of  science  and  the  real  benefactors  of  the  world."  The  in- 
scription is  by  Lord  Brougham,  the  statue  by  Chantrey. 

Making  the  circuit  of  the  chapel  from  the  right,  we  see  the 
monuments  of — 

*  Lidowick  Robsart  (1431),  and  his  wife  Elizabeth,  heiress  of  Bartho- 
lomew Bourchier,  after  his  marriage  with  whom  he  was  created  Lord 
Bourchier.  He  was  distinguished  in  the  French  wars  under  Henry  V., 
and  made  the  king's  standard-bearer  for  the  courage  which  he  displayed 
upon  the  field  of  Agincourt.  On  the  marriage  of  Henry  V.  to  Katharine 
de  Valois  he  was  immediately  presented  to  the  queen,  and  appointed 
the  especial  guardian  of  her  person.  His  tomb,  which  forms  part  of  the 
screen  of  the  chapel,  is,  architecturally,  one  of  the  most  interesting  in 
the  Abbey.  It  has  an  oaken  roof  in  the  form  called  "en  dos  d'ane," 
and  the  whole  was  once  richly  gilt  and  coloured,  the  rest  of  the  screen 
being  powdered  with  gold  Catherine-wheels. 

Anne,  Lady  Cottington  (1633),  a  bust  greatly  admired  by  Strype  fot 
its  simplicity  and  beauty.  Beneath  is  the  reclining  effigy  of  Francis, 
Lord  Cottington  (1652),  ambassador  for  Charles  I.  in  Spain,  who  "for 
his  faithfull  adherence  to  ye  crowne  (ye  usyrpers  prevayling)  was 
forc't  to  fly  his  country,  and,  during  his  exile,  dyed  at  Valladolid." 
Clarendon  *  describes  him — 

"  A  very  wise  man,  by  the  long  and  great  experience  he  had  in  busi- 
ness of  all  kinds ;  and  by  his  natural  temper,  which  was  not  liable  to 
any  transport  of  anger,  or  any  other  passion,  but  could  bear  contradic- 
tion, and  even  reproach,  without  being  moved,  or  put  out  of  his  way  : 
for  he  was  very  steady  in  pursuing  what  he  proposed  to  himself,  and 
had  a  courage  not  to  be  frighted  with  any  opposition.  .  .  .  He  was  of 
an  excellent  humour,  and  very  easy  to  live  with ;  and,  under  a  grave 
countenance,  covered  the  most  of  mirth,  and  caused  more  than  any 
man  of  the  most  pleasant  disposition.  He  never  used  anybody  ill, 
but  used  many  very  well  for  whom  he  had  no  regard ;  his  greatest 

•  vi.  465,  d6-». 


284  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

fault  was,  that  he  could  dissemble,  and  make  men  believe  that  he  loved 
them  very  well,  when  he  cared  not  for  them.  He  had  not  very  tender 
affections,  nor  bowels  apt  to  yearn  at  all  objects  which  deserved  com- 
passion :  he  was  heartily  weary  of  the  world,  and  no  man  was  more 
willing  to  die ;  which  is  an  argument  that  he  had  peace  of  conscience. 
He  left  behind  him  a  greater  esteem  of  his  parts  than  love  to  his 
person." 

Frances  Sidney,  Countess  of  Sussex  (aunt  of  Sir  Philip),  1589.  She 
was  the  foundress  of  Sidnej  -Sussex  College  at  Cambridge.  Her  recum- 
bent statue  affords  a  fine  specimen  of  the  rich  costume  of  the  period : 
at  her  feet  is  her  crest,  a  porcupine,  in  wood. 

Dudley  Carleton,  Viscount  Dorchester  (1631),  Secretary  of  State 
under  Charles  I.*  This  tomb  was  executed  by  Nicholas  Stone  for 
^200. 

Sir  Tliomas  Bromley  (1587),  who  succeeded  Sir  Nicholas  Bacon  as 
Lord-Chancellor  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  and  presided  at  the  trial  of 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots.  The  alabaster  statue  represents  the  chancellor 
in  his  robes  :  the  official  purse  appears  at  the  back  :  his  children,  by 
Lady  Elizabeth  Fortescue,  kneel  at  an  altar  beneath. 

Sir  James  Fullerton  (1630-31),  and  Mary  his  wife.  He  was  first 
Gentleman  of  the  Bedchamber  to  Charles  I.  "  He  dyed  fuller  of  faith 
than  of  feare,  fuller  of  resolv'ion  than  of  paiennes ;  fuller  of  honvr 
than  of  dayes." 

[Near  the  foot  of  this  monument  Archbishop  Usher  was  buried  in 
state,  March,  1655-56,  at  the  cost  of  Oliver  Cromwell.  He  died  at 
Reigate.  His  chaplain,  Nicholas  Barnard,  preached  his  funeral  ser- 
mon in  the  Abbey  on  the  text,  '"And  Samuel  died,  and  all  the 
Israelites  were  gathered  together.'  "] 

Sir  John  Puckering  (1596),  who  prosecuted  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots, 
and  became  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal  under  Elizabeth.  The  monu- 
ment was  erected  by  his  widow,  who  added  her  own  statue ;  their 
eight  children  kneel  below. 

Sir  Henry  Belasyse  of  Brancepeth  (171 7),  "linealy  descended  from 
Belasius,  one  of  the  Norman  Generals  who  came  into  England  with 
"William  the  Conqueror  and  was  knighted  by  him."  The  monument 
is  by  Scheemakers. 

*  There  are  fine  portraits  of  Dudley  Carleton  and  his  wife,  by  Cornelius  Jansen, 
m  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 


SHRINE   OF  ST.  ERASMUS. 


285 


The  entrance  to  the  next  chapel,  or,  more  properly,  the 
Shrine  of  St.  Erasmus,  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque  "  bits  " 
in  the  Abbey,  dating  from  the  time  of  Richard  II.  It  is  a 
low  arch  supported  by  clustered  pillars.  The  shield  on  the 
right  bears  the  arms  of  old  France  and  England  quarterly, 


r--«fe      , 


fi£n 


;l  ...v?Qmtft 


Shrine  of  St.  Erasmus. 


viz.  semee  of  fleurs-de-lis  and  three  lions  passant  gard- 
ant,  and  that  on  the  left  the  arms  of  Edward  the  Confessor. 
Above  is  "Sanctus  Erasmus"  in  black  (once  golden)  letters, 
and  over  this  an  exquisitely  sculptured  niche  with  a  mould- 
ing of  vine-leaves.  The  iron  stanchion  which  held  a  lamp 
still  remains  by  the  entrance,  and  within   are  a  holy-water 


286  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

basin  and  a  bracket  for  the  statue  of  St.  Erasmus  (a  Bishop 
of  Campania  martyred  under  Diocletian),  with  the  rays 
which  once  surrounded  the  head  of  the  figure  still  remaining 
on  the  wall.  Near  the  entrance  is  the  little  monument  ol 
Jane,  wife  of  Sir  Clippesly  Crewe  (1639),  with  a  curious 
relief  representing  her  death. 

Through  this  shrine  we  enter  the  Chapel  of  St.  John 
Baptist,  of  which  the  screen  is  formed  by  tombs  of  bishops 
and  abbots.     In  the  centre  is  the  tomb  of — 

Thomas  Cecil,  Earl  of  Exeter  (1622),  eldest  son  of  Lord  Burleigh, 
and  his  first  wife  Dor;thy  Nevile.  The  vacant  space  on  the  earl's  left 
side  was  intended  for  his  second  wife,  Frances  Brydges,  but  she  indig- 
nantly refused  to  allow  her  effigy  to  lie  on  the  left  side,  though  she 
is  buried  with  her  husband. 

Making  the  circuit  of  the  chapel  from  the  right,  we  see 
the  monuments  of — 

Mrs.  Mary  Kendall  (1709-10),  who  "  desired  that  her  ashes  might  not 
be  divided  in  death  from  those  of  her  friend  Lady  Catharine  Jones.* 

George  Fascet,  Abbot  of  Westminster  (1500),  an  altar-tomb  with  a 
stone  canopy.  On  it  rests  the  stone  coffin  of  Abbot  Thomas  Millyng, 
(1474),  godfather  of  Edward  V.,  who  was  made  Bishop  of  Hereford  by 
Edward  IV.  in  reward  for  the  services  he  had  rendered  to  Elizabeth 
Woodville  when  she  was  in  sanctuary  at  Westminster.  His  coffin 
was  probably  removed  from  the  centre  of  the  chapel  when  the  tomb  of 
the  Earl  of  Exeter  was  placed  there. 

Thomas  Ruthall,  Bishop  of  Durham  (1522),  who  died  at  Durham 
Place  in  the  Strand,  from  grief  at  having  sent  the  inventory  of  all  his 
great  riches  to  Henry  VIII.  in  mistake  for  the  "  Breviate  of  the  State 
of  the  Land,"  which  he  had  been  commissioned  to  draw  up.  He  had 
been  Secretary  to  Henry  VIL,  and  had  made  a  good  use  of  his  immense 
wealth,  having  paid  a  third  of  the  expense  of  building  the  great  bridge 
of  Newcastle-on-Tyne.     The  tomb  once  had  a  canopy. 

•  The  charitable   daughter  of  the  Earl   of  Ranelagh,  who  built  a  school  at 
Chelsea  for  the  education  of  the  daughters  of  the  Poor  Chelsea  Pensioners. 


CHAPEL    OF  ST.  JOHN  BAPTIST.  287 

Abbot  William  of  Colchester  (1420),  who  conspired,  with  the  earls 
and  dukes  imprisoned  in  the  abbot's  house  by  Henry  IV.,  in  favour 
of  the  dethroned  monarch,  and  swore  to  be  faithful  to  death  to  King 
Richard.*  The  effigy  is  robed  in  rich  vestments  :  there  are  two  angels 
at  the  pillow,  and  a  spaniel  lies  at  the  feet. 

(On  the  site  of  the  altar)  Henry  Carey,  Lord  Hunsdon  (1596),  the 
first-cousin  t  and  most  faithful  friend  and  chamberlain  of  Queen 
Elizabeth.  He  is  said  to  have  died  of  disappointment  at  the  long 
delay  in  his  elevation.  The  queen  visited  him  on  his  death-bed,  and 
commanded  the  robes  and  patent  of  an  earl  to  be  placed  before  him. 
"  It  is  too  late,"  he  said,  and  declined  the  offered  dignity.  The  Corinthian 
tomb  of  alabaster  and  marble,  erected  by  his  son,  is  one  of  the  loftiest 
in  England  (36  feet). 

TJiomas  Carey  (1649),  second  son  of  the  Earl  of  Monmouth,  a 
Gentleman  of  the  Bedchamber  to  Charles  I.,  who  died  of  grief  for  the 
execution  of  his  master.  By  this  monument  may  be  seen  remains  of 
the  ancient  lockers  for  the  sacred  vestments  and  plate. 

*  (Beneath)  Hugh  and  Mary  Bohun,  children  of  Humphrey  Bohun, 
Earl  of  Hereford,  and  the  Princess  Isabella,  sixth  daughter  of  Edward  I. 
A  grey  marble  monument  close  to  the  wall,  removed  by  Richard  II. 
from  the  Chapel  of  the  Confessor  to  make  room  for  Anne  of  Bohemia. 

Colonel  Edward  Popham  (1651),  and  Anne  his  wife.  As  he  was 
a  general  in  the  Parliamentary  army,  his  body  was  removed  at  the 
Restoration,  but  the  monument  was  allowed  to  remain,  on  condition 
of  the  inscription  being  turned  to  the  wall. 

Sir  Thomas  Vaughan,  Treasurer  to  Edward  IV.     The  tomb  has  a 
beautiful  but  mutilated  brass.     Under  the  canopy  is  preserved  a  frag 
ment  of  the  canopy  of  Bishop  Ruthall's  tomb. 

The  banners  which  still  wave  in  this  chapel  are  those  carried  at  the 
funerals  of  those  members  of  the  ancient  Northumbrian  family  of 
Delaval  who  are  buried  beneath  —  Susannah,  Lady  Delaval,  1783; 
Sarah  Hussey,  Countess  of  Tyrconnel,  1800;  John  Hussey,  Lord 
Delaval,  1806. 

Opposite  the  Chapel  of  St.  John  is  the  staircase  by  which 
visitors  usually  ascend  to  the  centre  of  interest  in  the  Abbey 

*  See  Shakspcare's  Richard  II. 

t  Being  son  of  Mary  Boleyn,  who  married  William  Caruy,  a  penniless  but 
nobly  born  *;uire>  without  her  lather's  consent. 


288  WALKS  JN  LONDON. 

—one  may  say  in  England — the  Chapel  of  St.  Edward  tfu 

Confessor. 

"  Mortality,  behold,  and  feare, 

What  a  change  of  flesh  is  here  I 

Think  how  many  royall  bones 

Sleep  within  these  heaps  of  stones ; 

Here  they  lye,  had  realmes,  had  lands, 

Who  now  want  strength  to  stir  their  hands ; 

Where  from  their  pulpits  seal'd  with  dust, 

They  preach,  '  In  greatnesse  is  no  trust.' 

Here's  an  acre  sown  indeed, 

With  the  richest,  royall'st  seed, 

That  the  earth  did  ere  suck  in, 

Since  the  first  man  died  for  sin : 

Here  the  bones  of  birth  have  cry'd, 

'  Though  gods  they  were,  as  men  they  dy'd :  * 

Here  all  souls,  ignoble  things, 

Dropt  from  the  ruin'd  sides  of  kings. 
Here's  a  world  of  pomp  and  state 
Buried  in  dust,  once  dead  by  fate." 

Francis  Beaumont,  1 586 — 1616. 
"  A  man  may  read  a  sermon,  the  best  and  most  passionate  that  ever 
man  preached,  if  he  shall  but  enter  into  the  sepulchres  of  kings.  .  .  . 
Where  our  kings  have  been  crowned,  their  ancestors  lie  interred,  and 
they  must  walk  over  their  grandsire's  head  to  take  his  crown.  There 
is  an  acre  sown  with  royal  seed,  the  copy  of  the  greatest  change,  from 
rich  to  naked,  from  ceiled  roofs  to  arched  coffins,  from  living  like  gods 
to  die  like  men.  There  is  enough  to  cool  the  flames  of  lust,  to  abate 
the  heights  of  pride,  to  appease  the  itch  of  covetous  desires,  to  sully 
and  dash  out  the  dissembling  colours  of  a  lustful,  artificial,  and  imagi- 
nary beauty.  There  the  warlike  and  the  peaceful,  the  fortunate  and 
the  miserable,  the  beloved  and  the  despised  princes  mingle  their  dust, 
and  pay  down  their  symbol  of  mortality,  and  tell  all  the  world,  that, 
when  we  die,  our  ashes  shall  be  equal  to  kings',  and  our  accountg 
easier,  and  our  pains  or  our  "crowns  shall  be  less." — Jeremy  Taylor's 
Holy  Dying,  ch.  i.  sec.  II. 

This  chapel,  more  than  any  other  part  of  the  Abbey, 
remains  as  it  was  left  by  its  second  founder,  Henry  III. 
He  made  it  a  Holy  of  Holies  to  contain  the  shrine  of  his 


CHAPEL    OF  EDWARD   THE   CONFESSOR.        289 

sainted  predecessor.  For  this  he  moved  the  high  altar 
westward,  and  made  the  choir  project  far  down  into  the 
nave,  like  the  coro  of  a  Spanish  cathedral ;  for  this  he  raised 
behind  the  high  altar  a  mound  of  earth,  "  the  last  funeral 
tumulus  in  England."  For  this  he  imported  from  Rome 
"  Peter,  the  Roman  citizen  "  (absurdly  supposed  by  Wal- 
pole  and  Virtue  to  be  the  famous  mosaicist  Pietro  Caval- 
lini,  who  was  not  born  till  1279,  six  years  after  the 
date  of  the  shrine),  who  has  left  us  the  pavement  glow- 
ing with  peacock  hues  of  Opus  Alexandrinum,  which  recalls 
the  pavements  of  the  Roman  basilicas,  and  the  twisted 
pillars  of  the  shrine  itself,  which  are  like  those  of  the 
cloisters  in  S.  Paolo  and  S.  Giovanni  Laterano. 

Edward  the  Confessor  died  in  the  opening  days  of  1066, 
when  his  church  at  Westminster  had  just  been  consecrated 
in  the  presence  of  Edith  his  queen.  He  was  buried  before 
the  high  altar  with  his  crown  upon  his  head,  a  golden  chain 
and  crucifix  around  his  neck,  and  his  pilgrim's  ring  upon  his 
finger.  Thus  he  was  seen  when  his  coffin  was  opened  by 
Henry  I.  in  the  presence  of  Bishop  Gundulf,  who  tried  to 
steal  a  hair  from  his  white  beard.  Thus  he  was  again  seen  by 
Henry  II.,  in  whose  reign  he  was  transferred  by  Archbishop 
Becket  to  a  new  and  "precious  feretry,"  just  after  his 
canonization  (Feb.  7,  1161)  by  Pope  Alexander  III.,  who 
enjoined  "  that  his  body  be  honoured  here  on  earth,  as  his 
soul  is  glorified  in  heaven."  Henry  III.  also  looked  upon 
the  "  incorrupt "  body,  before  its  translation  to  its  present 
resting-place,  on  the  shoulders  of  the  royal  Plantagenet 
princes,  whose  own  sepulchres  were  afterwards  to  gather 
around  it.  The  body  lies  in  a  stone  coffin,  iron-bound, 
within  the  shrine  of  marble  and  mosaic.     It  appears  from 

vol..  11  u 


290  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

an  illumination  in  the  "  Life  of  St.  Edward  "  in  the  Univer- 
sity Library  at  Cambridge  that,  after  his  canonization,  one 
end  of  the  shrine  was  for  some  time  left  open,  that  sick 
persons  might  creep  through  and  touch  the  coffin.  The 
seven  recesses  at  the  sides  of  the  shrine  were  intended  for 
pilgrims  to  kneel  under.  The  inlaid  wooden  wainscoting 
on  the  top  was  added  by  Abbot  Feckenham  in  the  reign  of 
Mary  I.,  by  whom  the  shrine  was  restored,  for  it  had  been 
partially,  if  not  wholly,  displaced  at  the  Dissolution.  Be- 
fore that  it  probably  had  a  Gothic  canopy.  At  the  corona- 
tion of  James  II.  both  shrine  and  coffin  were  broken  by 
the  fall  of  some  scaffolding.  It  was  then  robbed  for  the 
last  time.  Henry  Keepe,  who  wrote  the  "  Monumenta 
Westmonasteriensia,"  relates  that  he  himself  put  in  his 
hand  and  drew  forth  the  chain  and  crucifix  of  the  Con- 
fessor, which  were  accepted  by  the  last  of  the  Stuart  kings. 
The  shrine,  which  was  one  of  the  most  popular  points  of 
pilgrimage  before  the  Reformation,  is  still  the  object  of 
pilgrimages  with  Roman  Catholics.  Around  the  Confessor 
lie  his  nearest  relations.  On  his  left  rests  his  wife,  "  Edith, 
of  venerable  memory"  (1073),  the  daughter  of  Earl  God- 
win, and  sister  of  Harold.  On  his  right  (moved  from 
the  old  Chapter-house  by  Henry  III.)  lies  his  great-niece, 
another  Edith  (rn8),  whose  Saxon  name  was  changed  to 
the  Norman  Maud,  the  daughter  of  Malcolm  Canmore  of 
Scotland,  granddaughter  of  Edward  Atheling,  and  wife  of 
Henry  I.  She  had  been  accustomed  frequently  to  pass  days 
and  nights  together,  kneeling,  bare-footed  and  dressed  in 
haircloth,  before  her  uncle's  shrine,  and  had  herself  the 
reputation  of  a  saint.  She  was  "  the  very  mirror  of  piety, 
humility,   and    princely   bounty,"  says   Florence   of  Wor- 


CHAFE L    OF  EDWARD    THE  CONFESSOR.        291 

cester.  "  Her  virtues  were  so  great,"  say  the  "  Annals  of 
Waverley,"  that  "  an  entire  clay  would  not  suffice  to  recount 
them."  Before  the  shrine,  as  Pennant  says,  the  spolia 
opima  were  offered,  the  Scottish  regalia,  and  the  sacred 
stone  from  Scone ;  and  here  the  little  Alphonso,  son  of 
Edward  I.,  offered  the  golden  coronet  of  Llewelyn,  Prince 
of  Wales.*  Here  also  the  unfortunate  Joanna,  widow  of 
Henry  IV.,  was  compelled  to  make  a  public  thank-offering 
for  the  victory  of  Agincourt,  in  which  her  brother  and  son- 
in-law  were  killed  and  her  son  taken  prisoner.  Behind 
the  shrine,  where  the  chantry  of  Henry  V.  now  stands, 
were  preserved  the  relics  given  by  St.  Edward  to  the 
church — a  tooth  of  St.  Athanasius,  a  stone  which  was  be- 
lieved to  have  been  marked  by  the  last  footprint  of  the 
Saviour  at  His  Ascension,  and  a  phial  of  the  precious 
blood. 

The  fantastic  legend  of  the  Confessor  is  told  in  the  four- 
teen rude  sculptures  on  the  screen  which  divides  the 
chapel  from  the  choir.     We  see — 

1.  The  Bishop  and  Nobles  swear  fealty  to  the  yet  unborn  child  of 

Queen  Emma,  wife  of  Elhelred  the  Unready. 

2.  The  child,  Edward,  is  born  at  fslip  in  Oxfordshire. 

3.  His  Coronation  on  Easter  Day,  1043. 

4.  He  sees  the  Devil  dancing  on  the  casks  in  which  his  tax  of  Dane- 

gelt  was  collected  and  decides  to  abolish  it. 

5.  He  warns  a  scullion  who  has  been  stealing  from  his  treasure- chest 

to  escape  before  Hugolin  his  treasurer  returns  and  catches  him. 

6.  He  sees  Our  Saviour  in  a  vision,  standing  on  the  altar  of  the 

church,  where  he  is  about  to  receive  the  sacrament. 

7.  He  has  a  vision  of  the  King  of  Denmark,  who  is  drowned  on  his 

way  to  invade  England. 

8.  The  boys  Tosti  and   Harold,  brothers-in-law  of  the  king,  have  a 

quarrel  at  ths  king's  table,  prophetic  of  their  future  feuds. 

•  Gou^h.     "Sepulchral  I  fEgies,"  i.  7. 


2Q2  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

9.  The  Confessor,  seated  in  the  midst  of  his  courtiers,  has  a  vision 
of  the  seven  Sleepers  of  Ephesus,  who  turn  suddenly  from  thr 
right  side  to  the  left,  portending  great  misfortunes. 

10.  The  Confessor  meets  with  St.  John  the  Evangelist  as  a  pilgrim 

and  beggar,  and  having  no  alms,  presents  him  with  a  ring. 

11.  The  blind  are  rastored  to  sight  by  the  water  in  which  the  Confessor 

has  washed. 

12.  St.  John  meets  two  English  pilgrims  at  Ludlow  and  bids  them 

restore  the  ring   to  Edward,   and   warn  him   that  within  six 
months  he  would  meet  him  in  Paradise. 

13.  The  pilgrims  deliver  the  ring  and  message  to  the  king. 

14.  Edward,  warned  of  his  approaching  death,  completes  the  dedica- 

tion of  the  Abbey.* 

On  the  left  of  the  t^ps  by  which  we  ascended  is  the  tomb 
of  the  founder,  Henry  III.  (1272). 

"Quiet  King  Henry  III.,  our  English  Nestor  (not  for  depth  of 
brains,  but  for  length  of  life),  who  reigned  fifty-six  years,  in  which  term 
he  buried  all  his  contemporary  princes  in  Christendom  twice  over. 
All  the  months  in  the  year  may  be  in  a  manner  carved  out  of  an  April 
day ;  hot,  cold,  dry,  moist,  fair,  foul  weather  being  oft  presented 
thereiu.  Such  the  character  of  this  king's  life — certain  only  in  uncer- 
tainty ;  sorrowful,  successful ;  in  plenty,  in  penury ;  in  wealth,  in  want : 
conquered,  conqueror." — Fuller's  Cliurch  History. 

Henry  died  at  Bury  St.  Edmunds  on  the  day  of  St.  Edmund 
of  Canterbury.  His  body  was  brought  to  London  in  state 
by  the  Knights  Templar,!  whom  he  had  first  introduced 
into  England,  and  his  effigy  was  so  splendidly  attired  "  that," 
says  Wykes,  "he  shone  more  magnificent  when  dead  than 
he  had  appeared  when  living."  On  the  day  of  St.  Edmund, 
king  and  martyr,  he  was  buried  here  before  the  high  altar,  in 
the  coffin  in  which  Henry  II.  had  hid  the  Confessor,  and 

*  The  date  of  this  screen  is  uncertain,  but  it  must  have  been  later  than  the  time 
of  Richard  II  ,  as  part  of  the  canopy  of  his  tomb  has  been  cut  away  to  make  room 
for  its  stonework.  The  subjects  of  the  sculptures  are  taken  from  Abbot  Ailred'i 
•*  Life  and  Miracles  of  St.  Edward,"  written  in  the  time  of  Edward  II, 

t  See  Gough,  i.  58. 


CHAPEL   OF  EDWARD   THE   CONFESSOR.        293 

whence  he  himself  had  removed  him.  His  son  Edward,  then 
returning  from  Palestine,  who  had  lately  heard  of  the  death 
of  his  sons  Henry  and  John,  broke  into  passionate  grief  on 
hearing  the  news  of  this  third  bereavement — "God  may 
give  me  more  sons,  but  not  another  father."  He  brought 
from  abroad  the  "  diverse-coloured  marbles  and  glittering 
stones,"  and  "  the  twisted  or  serpentine  columns  of  the 
same  speckled  marble,"*  with  which  the  tomb  was  con- 
structed by  "  Peter,  the  Roman  citizen;"  and  thither  he 
transferred  his  father's  body,  at  the  same  time  fulfilling  a 
promise  which  Henry  had  made  to  the  abbess  of  Fonte» 
vault  by  delivering  his  heart  to  her,  to  be  enshrined  in  the 
Norman  abbey  where  his  mother  Isabella,  his  uncle 
Richard  I.,  his  grandfather  Henry  II.,  and  his  grandmother 
Eleanor  were  buried.  The  effigy  of  the  king,  by  the  Eng- 
lish artist  William  Torel,  is  of  gilt  brass.  The  king  wears 
a  coronet,  and  a  long  mantle  reaching  to  his  feet. 

Lying  at  her  father-indaw's  feet  is  "  the  queen  of  good 
memory,"  the  beautiful  Queen  Eleanor  (1290),  wife  of 
Edward  I.,  and  daughter  of  Ferdinand  III.  of  Castile. 
Married  in  her  tenth  year  to  a  husband  of  fifteen,  she  was 
separated  from  him  till  she  was  twenty,  and  then  won  his 
intense  affection  by  a  life  of  heroic  devotion,  especially 
during  the  perils  of  the  Crusades,  through  which  she  insisted 
upon  accompanying  him,  saying  in  answer  to  all  remon- 
strances, "  Nothing  ought  to  part  those  whom  God  has 
joined,  and  the  way  to  heaven  is  as  near  from  Palestine  as 
from  England."  She  was  the  mother  of  four  sons,  of  whom 
only  one  (Edward  II.)  survived  her,  and  of  nine  daughters, 
of  whom  only  four  married.     "  To   our  nation,"  says  Wal- 

*  Keepe. 


2g4  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

singham,  "  she  was  a  loving  mother,  the  column  and  pillai 
of  the  whole  realm.  She  was  a  godly,  modest,  and  merciful 
princess.  .  .  .  The  sorrow-stricken  she  consoled  as  became 
her  dignity,  and  she  made  them  friends  that  were  at 
discord."  She  was  taken  ill  at  Hardeby,  near  Grantham, 
while  Edward  was  absent  on  his  Scottish  wars,  and  died 
before  he  could  reach  her.  His  passionate  grief  ex- 
pended itself  in  the  line  of  nine  crosses,  erected  at  the 
townr  where  her  body  rested  on  its  progress  to  London. 
Every  Abbot  of  Westminster,  as  he  entered  on  his  office, 
was  bound  by  oath  to  see  that  a  hundred  wax  lights  were 
burning  round  her  grave  on  St.  Andrew's  Eve,  the  anniver- 
sary of  her  death.  Her  heart  was  given  to  the  convent  of 
Blackfriars. 

The  Queen's  tomb,  of  Petworth  marble,  is  by  William 
Torel,  an  English  artist,  who  built  the  furnace  in  which  the 
statue  was  cast,  in  St.  Margaret's  Churchyard.  The  beautiful 
features  of  the  dead  queen  are  expressed  in  the  most  serene 
quietude :  her  long  hair  waves  from  beneath  the  circlet  on 
her  brow.  One  can  see  the  character  which  was  always 
able  to  curb  the  wild  temper  of  her  husband — the  wife,  as 
he  wrote  to  the  Abbot  of  Cluny,  whom  "  living  he  loved,  and 
dead  he  should  never  cease  to  love." 

Edward  I.  himself  (1307)  lies  on  the  same  side  of  the 
chapel,  near  the  screen.  He  died  at  Burgh  on  Sohvay 
Frith,  after  a  reign  of  thirty-four  years,  was  buried  for  a 
time  at  Waltham,  and  then  removed  hither  to  a  site  between 
his  father's  tomb  and  that  of  his  brother  Edmund.  His 
body  was  embalmed  like  a  mummy,  bound  in  cere-cloth, 
and  robed  in  cloth  of  gold,  with  a  crown  on  his  head,  a 
sceptre  in   one  hand,  and   the  rod  with    the    dove   in   the 


CHAPEL    OF  EDWARD    THE   CONFESSOR.        295 

other.  Thus  he  was  seen  when  the  tomb  was  opened  in 
177  r.  A  wooden  canopy  once  overshadowed  the  tomb, 
but  this  was  broken  down  in  a  tumult  at  the  funeral  of 
Pulteney,  Earl  of  Bath.  Now  the  monument  of  the  greatest 
of  the  Plantagenets  is  one  of  the  plainest  in  the  Abbey. 
Five  slabs  of  grey  marble  compose  it,  and  it  bears  the 
inscription,  "  Edvardus  Primus  Scotorum  malleus  hie  est. 
130S.     Pactum  Serva." 

"  Is  the  unfinished  tomb  a  fulfilment  of  that  famous  *  pact,'  which 
the  dying  king  required  of  his  son,  that  his  flesh  should  be  boiled,  his 
bones  carried  at  the  head  of  the  English  army  till  Scotland  was  sub- 
dued, and  his  heart  sent  to  the  Holy  Land,  which  he  had  vainly  tried 
in  his  youth  to  redeem  from  the  Saracens  ?  It  is  true  that  with  the 
death  of  the  king  all  thought  of  the  conquest  of  Scotland  ceased.  But 
it  may  possibly  have  been  '  to  keep  the  pact  '  that  the  tomb  was  left 
in  this  rude  state,  which  would  enable  his  successors  at  any  moment  to 
take  out  the  corpse  and  carry  off  the  heart ; — and  it  may  have  been 
with  a  view  to  this  that  a  singular  provision  was  left  and  enforced. 
Once  every  two  years  the  tomb  was  to  be  opened,  and  the  wax  of  the 
king's  cere-cloth  renewed.  The  renewal  constantly  took  place  as  long 
as  his  dynasty  lasted,  perhaps  with  a  lingering  hope  that  a  time  would 
come  when  a  victorious  English  army  would  once  more  sweep  through 
Scotland  with  the  conqueror's  skeleton,  or  another  crusade  embark  for 
Palestine  with  that  true  English  heart.  The  hour  never  came,  and 
when  the  dynasty  changed  with  the  fall  of  Richard  II.,  the  renewal  of 
the  cerement  ceased." — Dean  Stanley. 

At  Edward's  death  he  left  his  second  wife,  Marguerite  of 
France,  a  widow  of  twenty-six.  She  kept  a  chronicler,  John 
o'  London,  to  record  the  valiant  deeds  of  her  husband,  and 
when  Edward  died  the  people  of  England  were  edified  by 
her  breaking  forth,  through  his  pen,  into  a  lamentation  like 
that  for  Saul  and  Jonathan — "At  the  foot  of  Edward's 
monument  with  my  little  sons,  I  weep  and  call  upon  him. 
When  Edward  died  all  men  died  to  me,"  &c* 

•  See  Strickland's  "  Life  of  Marguerite  of  France." 


296  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Neai  the  tomb  of  Edward  was  preserved  in  a  gold  cup 
the  heart  of  Henry  d'Almayne,  nephew  of  Henry  III., 
murdered  (1271)  by  Simon  de  Montfort  in  the  cathedral  of 
Viterbo.  On  the  other  side  of  the  shrine  lie  some  children 
of  his  cousin,  Aylmer  de  Valence. 

The  next  tomb  in  point  of  date  is  that  of  Queen  Philippa 
(1369),  daughter  of  William,  Earl  of  Hainault,  and  wife  of 
Edward  III.,  by  whom  she  was  the  mother  of  fourteen  chil- 
dren. In  this  she  only  fulfilled  expectations,  for  we  learn 
from  Hardyng  that  when  the  king  was  sending  to  choose 
one  of  the  earl's  daughters,  an  English  bishop  advised  him 
to  choose  the  lady  of  largest  frame,  as  promising  the  most 
numerous  progeny.*  She  was  the  foundress  of  Queen's 
College  at  Oxford.  The  figure  which  lies  upon  her  tomb, 
executed  by  Hawkin  Liege,  a  Flemish  artist,  is  remarkable 
for  its  cushioned  headdress,  and  is  the  first  attempt  at  a 
portrait.  Around  the  tomb  were  placed  the  figures  of  thirty 
royal  persons  to  whom  she  was  related.  "  The  open-work 
of  the  niches  over  the  head  of  the  effigy  itself  has  been  filled 
in  with  blue  glass.  The  magnificence  of  the  entire  work 
may  be  imagined  when  it  is  known  that  it  contained,  when 
perfect,  more  than  seventy  statues  and  statuettes,  besides 
several  brass  figures  on  the  surrounding  railing."  + 

"  When  the  good  queen  perceived  her  end  approaching,  she  called 
to  the  king,  and  extending  her  right  hand  from  under  the  bed-clothes, 
put  it  into  the  right  hand  of  the  king,  who  was  very  sorrowful  at  heart, 
and  thus  spoke  :  '  We  have  enjoyed  our  union  in  happiness,  peace,  and 
prosperity :  I  entreat,  therefore,  of  you,  that  on  our  separation  you  will 
grant  me  three  requests.'  The  king,  with  sighs  and  tears,  replied, 
'  Lady,  ask :  whatever  you  request  shall  be  granted.'  '  My  Lord,  I  beg 
you  will  acquit  me  of  whatever  engagements  I  may  have  entered  into  for- 

•  See  Hardyng-,  cap.  178. 

+  Sir  G.  Scott's  "  Gleanings." 


CHAPEL   OF  EDWARD   THE  CONFESSOR.        297 

merly  with  merchants  for  their  wares,  as  well  on  this  as  on  the  other  side 
the  sea.  I  beseech  you  to  fulfil  whatever  gifts  or  legacies  I  may  have 
made.  Thirdly,  I  entreat  that,  when  it  shall  please  God  to  call  you 
hence,  you  will  not  choose  any  other  sepulchre  than  mine  and  that  you 
will  lie  beside  me  in  the  cloister  of  Westminster.'  The  king,  in  tears, 
replied,  '  Lady,  I  grant  them.'  Soon  after,  the  good  lady  made  the 
sign  of  the  cross  on  her  breast,  and  having  recommended  to  God  the 
king  and  her  youngest  son,  Thomas,  who  was  present,  gave  up  her 
spirit,  which,  I  firmly  believe,  was  caught  by  the  holy  angels,  and 
carried  to  the  glory  of  Heaven  :  for  she  had  never  done  anything,  by 
thought  or  deed,  that  could  endanger  her  losing  it." — Froissart. 

Thomas  of  Woodstock,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  the  son  who  was 
present  at  Philippa's  death-bed,  is  the  only  one  buried  beside 
her.  At  five  years  old  he  had  been  left  guardian  of  the 
kingdom  while  his  parents  were  absent  in  French  wars,  and 
had  represented  his  father  by  sitting  on  the  throne  before 
parliaments.  He  married  a  Bohun  heiress,  and  was  a  great 
patron  of  literature,  especially  of  Gower  the  poet.  He  was 
smothered  at  Calais  in  1397,  by  order  of  his  nephew, 
Richard  II.,  and  rests  under  a  large  stone  which  once  bore 
a  brass,  in  front  of  his  mother's  tomb.  Gower  in  his  "  Vox 
Clamantis  "  has  a  Latin  poem  on  the  Duke  of  Gloucester, 
in  which  the  following  lines  record  his  death — 

"  Heu  quam  tortorum  quidam  de  sorte  malorum, 
Sic  Ducis  electi  plumarum  pondere  lecti ; 
Corporis  quassatum  jugulantque  necant  jugulatum." 

In    accordance    with    the  promise    made    to    the    dying 

Philippa,  the    next  tomb    on  the  south   is   that   of  King 

Edward  III.,  1377  — 

"  The  honourable  tomb 
That  stands  upon  your  royal  grandsire's  bones," 

mentioned  in  Shakspeare's  Richard  II.  He  died  at 
Sheen,  was  carried,  with  face  uncovered,  through  the  streets 


298  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

of  London,  followed  by  his  many  children,  and  was  laid  in 
Philippa's  grave.  The  features  of  the  effigy  which  lies 
upon  the  tomb  are  believed  to  have  been  cast  from  the  king's 
face  as  he  lay  in  death,  and  "  the  head  is  almost  ideal  in  its 
beauty."  * 

"  Corpore  fuit  elegans,  statura  quse  i.ec  justum  excederet  nee  nimis 
depressioni  succumberet,  vultnm  habens  humana  mortalitate  magis 
venerabilem,  similem  angelo,  in  quo  relucebat  tarn  mirifica  gratia  ut 
si  quis  in  ejus  faciem  palam  respexisset  vel  nocte  de  illo  somniasset  eo 
proculdubio  die  sperabat  sibi  jocunda  solatia  proventura."—  Walsing- 
ha?n. 

In  the  words  of  his  epitaph,  he  was  "flos  regum 
preteritorum,  forma  futurorum."  All  his  children  were 
represented  around  the  tomb  in  brass :  six  only  remain- 
Edward  the  Black  Prince,  Joan  de  la  Tour,  Lionel  Duke 
of  Clarence,  Edward  Duke  of  York,  Henry  of  Brittany,  and 
William  of  Hatfield.  We  have  seen  two  other  children  in 
the  Chapel  of  St.  Edmund.  + 

"  Mighty  victor !  mighty  lord, 

Low  on  his  funeral  couch  he  lies ; 
No  pitying  heart,  no  eye,  afford 
A  tear  to  grace  his  obsequies. 
Is  the  sable  warrior  fled  ? 
Thy  son  is  gone  :  he  rests  among  the  dead ! 
The  swarm  that  in  thy  noontide  beam  were  bom 
Gone  to  salute  the  rising  morn."— Gray. 

The  Black  Prince  was  buried  at  Canterbury,  but  Richard 
II,  his  son  by  the  Fair  Maid  of  Kent,  who  succeeded  his 
grandfather,   Edward   III.,  in  his  eleventh  year,  removed 

•  lord  Lindsay,  "Christian  Art,"  iii. 

t  Processor  Westmacott  in  his  lecture  on  the  "  Sculpture  of  Westminster 
Abbey  "  remarks  on  the  shoes  of  this  effigy  being  "left  and  right,"  erroneously 
lupposcd  to  be  a  jiodcrn  fashion  of  shoemaking. 


CHAPEL    OF  EDWARD    THE   CONFESSOH. 


■-99 


the  Bohun  grandchildren  of  Edward  I.  that  he  might  lie 
near  him,  and  on  the  death  of  his  beloved  first  wife,  Queen 
Anne  of  Bohemia  (1397),  sister  of  the  Emperor  Wenceslaus 
(who  first  introduced  the  use  of  pins  and  side-saddles  into 
England),  in  the  twelfth  year  of  her  married  life,  he  erected 
her  tomb  in  its  place.  On  it  Nicholas  Broker  and  Godfrey 
Prest,  Citizens  and  Coppersmiths  of  London,  were  ordered  to 
represent  her  effigy  with  his  own,  their  right  hands  tenderly 
clasped  together,  so  that  they  might  always  bear  witness  to 
his  devotion  to  the  wife  whom  he  lamented  with  such 
extravagant  grief,  that  he  caused  the  palace  of  Sheen  to  be 
razed  to  the  ground,  because  it  had  been  the  scene  of  her 
death.  The  effigies  aie  partly  of  brass  and  partly  of 
copper.  That  of  the  king  is  attired  like  an  ecclesiastic,  his 
hair  curls,  and  he  has  a  pointed  beard,  but  not  much  trace 
of  the  "  surpassing  beauty  fur  which  he  was  celebrated." 
The  king's  robe  is  decorated  with  the  brooms-cods  of  the 
Plantagenets,  and  "  the  sun  rising  through  the  dark  clouds 
of  Crecy."  The  arms  of  the  loving  couple  have  been  stolen, 
with  the  pillows  which  supported  the  royal  heads,  the  two 
lions  which  once  lay  at  Richard's  feet,  and  the  eagle  and 
leopard  which  supported  those  of  the  queen.  The  canopy 
is  decorated  within  with  half-obliterated  paintings  of  the 
Almighty  and  of  the  Virgin  with  the  Saviour,  on  a  diapered 
ground  like  that  of  the  portrait  of  Richard  II.  Here  also, 
when  the  feeble  London  light  allows,  may  be  seen  the  arms 
of  Queen  Anne — the  two-headed  eagle  of  the  empire,  and 
the  lion  rampant  of  Bohemia.  After  the  death  (probably 
the  murder)  of  King  Richard  II.  in  Pomfret  Castle  in  1399, 
his  body  was  brought  to  London,  by  order  of  Henry  IV,, 
and  exposed  in  St.  Paul's — "  his  visage  left  opyn,  that  men 


jcu  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

myght  see  and  knowe  his  personne,"  and  was  then  interred 
in  the  church  of  the  Preaching  Friars  at  Langley  in  Hert- 
fordshire. There  it  lay  till  the  accession  of  Henry  V.,  who, 
soon  after  his  coronation  (being  then  suitor  for  the  hand  of 
Katherine,  sister  of  Richard's  widow),  exhumed  it,  seated 
it  in  a  chair  of  state,  and,  with  his  whole  court,  followed  in 
the  strange  procession  which  bore  it  to  Westminster,  and 
laid  it  in  the  grave  of  Queen  Anne.  The  king's  epitaph 
is  very  curious  as  bearing  witness  to  the  commencement  of 
the  struggle  with  the  early  Reformers — 

*'  Corpore  procerus,  animo  prudens  ut  Homerus, 
Obruit  haereticos,  et  eorum  stravit  amicos." 

The  epitaph  begins  on  the  north  side  :  the  first  letter  con- 
tains a  feather  with  a  scroll,  the  badge  of  Edward  III.* 

By  especial  desiie  of  Richard  II.  his  favourite  John 
of  Waltham  (1395),  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  Keeper  of  the 
Privy  Seal  and  Lord  High  Treasurer,  was  buried  here 
amongst  the  kings,  and  lies  under  a  large  stone  in  front  of 
the  tomb  of  Edward  I. 

We  must  now  turn  to  the  eastern  end  of  the  chape1, 
where  the  grand  tomb  of  Henry  V.  (1422),  "Henry  of 
Monmouth,"  the  hero  of  Agincourt,  the  greatest  king 
England  had  known  till  that  time,  rises  on  a  site,  for  which 
even  the  sacred  relics  collected  by  the  Confessor  were 
removed  and  placed  in  a  chest  between  the  shrine  and  the 
tomb  of  Henry  III. 

Henry  V.  died  at  Vincennes  in  his  thirty-fourth  year,  and 
his  funeral  procession  from  thence  to  Calais,  and  from  Dover 
to  London,  was  the  most  magnificent  ever  known.  Katherine 

•  "  Londiniana,"  vol.  i. 


CHAPEL    OF  EDWARD    THE   CONFESSOR.        301 

de  Valois,  his  widow,  followed  the  corpse,  with  Jnmes  I.  of 
Scotland,  as  chief  mourner.  On  reaching  London  the 
funeral  rites  were  celebrated  first  at  St.  Paul's  and  then  at 
the  Abbey.  Here  the  king's  three  chargers  were  led  up  to 
the  altar  behind  the  waxen  effigy  of  the  king,  which  was 
first  used  in  this  instance.     All  England  mourned. 

"  Hung  be  the  heavens  with  black,  yield  day  to  night ! 
King  Henry  the  Fifth,  too  famous  to  live  long ! 
England  ne'er  lost  a  king  of  so  much  worth." 

"  The  tomb  of  Henry  towers  above  the  Plantagenet  graves  be- 
neath, as  his  empire  towered  above  their  kingdom.  As  ruthlessly  as 
any  improvement  of  modern  times,  it  devoured  half  the  beautiful 
monuments  of  Eleanor  and  Philippa.  Its  structure  is  formed  out  of  the 
first  letter  of  his  name — H.  Its  statues  represent  not  only  the  glories 
of  Westminster,  in  the  persons  of  its  two  founders,  but  the  glories  of 
'.he  two  kingdoms  which  he  had  united — St.  George,  the  patron  of 
England  ;  St.  Denys,  the  patron  of  France.  The  sculptures  round  the 
chapel  break  out  in  a  vein*altogether  hew  in  the  abbey.  They  de- 
scribe the  personal  peculiarities  of  the  man  and  his  history — the  scenes 
of  his  coronation,  with  all  the  grandees  of  his  court  around  him,  and 
his  battles  in  France.  Amongst  the  heraldic  emblems — the  swans  and 
antelopes  derived  from  the  Bohuns — is  the  flaming  beacon  or  cresset  light 
which  he  took  for  his  badge,  '  showing  thereby  that,  although  his  virtues 
and  good  parts  had  been  formerly  obscured,  and  lay  as  a  dead  coal 
seeking  light  to  kindle  it,  by  reason  of  tender  years  and  evil  company, 
notwithstanding,  he  being  now  come  to  his  perfecter  years  and  ripei 
understanding,  had  shaken  oil  his  evil  counsellors,  and  being  now  on 
his  high  imperial  throne,  that  his  virtues  should  now  shine  as  the 
light  of  a  cresset,  which  is  no  ordinary  light.'  Aloft  were  hung  his 
large  emblazoned  shield,  his  saddle,  and  his  helmet,  after  the  example 
of  the  like  personal  accoutrements  of  the  Black  Prince  at  Canterbury. 
Th2  shield  has  lost  its  splendour,  but  is  still  there.  The  saddle  is  that 
on  which  he 

•Vaulted  with  such  ease  into  his  scat, 
As  if  an  angel  dropp'd  down  from  the  clouds, 
'  To  witch  the  world  with  noble  horsemanship.' 

The  helmet — which  from  its  elevated  position  has  almost  become  a 


3^2  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

part  of  the  architectural  outline  of  the  abbey,  and  on  which  many  a 
Westminster  boy  has  wonderingly  gazed  from  his  place  in  the  choir — 
is  in  all  probability  '  that  very  casque  that  did  affright  the  air  at  Agin- 
court,'  which  twice  saved  his  life  on  that  eventful  day— still  showing 
in  its  dints  the  marks  of  the  ponderous  sword  of  the  Duke  of  Alencon 
—'the  bruised  helmet,'  which  he  refused  to  have  borne  in  state  before 
him  on  his  triumphal  entry  into  London,  '  for  that  he  would  have  the 
piaise  chiefly  given  to  God  ; ' 

'  Being  free  from  vainness  and  self-glorious  pride, 
Giving  full  trophy,  signal,  and  ostent, 
Quite  from  himself,  to  God.' 

Below  is  his  tomb,  which  still  bears  some  marks  of  the  inscription 
which  makes  him  the  Hector  of  his  age.  Upon  it  lay  his  effigy 
stretched  out,  cut  from  the  solid  heart  of  an  English  oak,  plated  with 
silver-gilt,  with  a  head  of  solid  silver.  It  has  suffered  more  than  any 
other  monument  in  the  abbey.  Two  teeth  of  gold  were  plundered  in 
Edward  IV. 's  reign.  The  whole  of  the  silver  was  carried  off  by  some 
robbers  who  had  'broken  in  the  night-season  into  the  Church  of 
Westminster,'  at  the  time  of  the  Dissolution.  But,  even  in  its 
mutilated  form,  the  tomb  has  always  excited  the  keen  interest  of 
Englishmen.  The  robbery  '  of  the  image  of  King  Henry  of  Mon- 
mouth' was  immediately  investigated  by  the  Privy  Council.  Sir 
Philip  Sidney  felt,  that  '  who  goes  but  to  Westminster,  in  the  church 
may  see  Harry  the  Fifth  ;  '  and  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley's  anger  was  roused 
at  the  sight  of  the  lost  head :  '  Some  Whig,  I'll  warrant  you.  You 
ought  to  lock  up  your  kings  better,  they'll  carry  off  the  body  too,  if 
you  don't  take  care.'  "—Dean  Stanley,  Memorials  of  Weslminsier. 

From  the  Chantry  above  the  tomb  (only  shown  by  special 
order),  where  Henry  ordained  that  masses  were  to  be  for 
ever  offered  up  for  his  soul  by  "  sad  and  solemn  priests," 
one  can  look  down  into  the  shrine  of  the  Confessor,  and 
see  the  chest  it  contains. 

Queen  Katherine  de  Valois,  who  married  the  Welsh 
squire  Owen  Tudor  after  her  husband's  death,  was  buried 
at  first  in  the  Lady  Chapel  (1437).  When  this  was  pulled 
down,  to  make  room   for  the   chapel  of  Henry  VII.,  her 


THE    CORONATION  CHAIR.  303 

coffin  was  placed  by  the  side  of  her  husband's  tomb,  where 
Pepys,  writing  Feb.  22,  1668-9,  sa>'s — 

"  Here  we  did  see,  by  particular  favour,  the  body  of  Queen  Kathe- 
rine  of  Valois  ;  arid  I  had  the  upper  part  of  her  body  in  my  hands,  and 
I  did  kiss  her  mouth,  reflecting  upon  it  that  I  did  kiss  a  queene,  and 
that  this  was  my  birthday,  thirty-six  years  old,  that  I  did  kiss  a 
queene." — Diary. 

She  now  lies  in  the  Chapel  of  St.  Nicholas.  Close  to 
Edward  III.'s  monument  is  the  little  tomb  of  the  infant 
Princess  Margaret  of  York  (1397),  daughter  of  Edward 
IV.  and  Elizabeth  Woodville ;  and  opposite  it  that  of 
Princess  Elizabeth  Tudor,  daughter  of  Henry  VII.,  who  died 
at  Ekham,  aged  three. 

In  front  of  the  screen,  facing  the  foot  of  St.  Edward's 
shrine,  stand  the  Coronation  Chairs,  which,  at  coronations, 
are  moved  to  the  middle  of  the  chancel.  That  on  the 
scratched  and  battered  by  irreverent  visitors,  as  full  of 
varied  colour  as  a  mountain  landscape,  is  the  chair 
decorated  by  "William  the  Painter"  for  Edward  I.  In  it 
was  enclosed  by  Edward  III.  (1328)  the  famous  Prophetic 
or  Fatal  Stone  of  Scone,  on  which  the  Scottish  kings  were 
crowned,*  and  with  which  the  destinies  of  the  Scottish  rule 
were  believed  to  be  enwoven,  according  to  the  old  metrical 
prophecy — 

"  Ni  fallit  fatum.  Scoti  quocunque  locatum 
Invenient  lapidem,  regnare  tenentur  ibidem." 

The  legend  of  the  stone  relates  that  it  was  the  pillow  on 
which  the  Patriarch  Jacob  slept  at  Bethel  when  he  saw  the 

*  The  custom  of  inaugurating  a  king  upon  a  stone  was  of  eastern  origin  and 
became  general  among  Celtic  and  Scandinavian  nation.      Soy, 
Saxon  kin^s  wore  crowned  on  "the  King's  Stone"  which  still  remains  in  the 
street  of  Kingston-011-  lhanies. 


304  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Vision  of  the  Ladder  reaching  to  heaven.  From  Bethel  the 
sons  of  Jacob  carried  the  Stone  into  Egypt.  Thither  came 
Gathelus  the  Greek,  the  son  of  Cecrops,  the  builder  of 
Athens,  who  married  Scota,*  the  daughter  of  Pharaon,  but 
being  alarmed  at  the  judgments  pronounced  against  Egypt 
by  Moses,  who  had  not  then  crossed  the  Red  Sea,  he  fled 
to  Spain,  where  he  built  the  city  of  Brigantia.  With  him 
he  took  the  Stone  of  Bethel,  seated  upon  which  "  he  gave 
lawes  and  administered  justice  unto  his  people,  thereby  to 
menteine  them  in  wealth  and  quietnesse."f  In  after  days 
there  was  a  king  in  Spain  named  Milo,  of  Scottish  origin, 
and  one  of  his  younger  sons,  named  Simon  Brek,  beloved 
by  his  father  beyond  all  his  brothers,  was  sent  to  conquer 
Ireland  with  an  army,  that  he  might  reduce  it  to  his 
dominion,  which  he  did,  and  reigned  there  many  years. 
His  prosperity  was  due  to  a  miracle,  for  when  his  ships  first 
lay  off  the  coast  of  Ireland,  as  he  drew  in  his  anchors,  the 
famous  Stone  was  hauled  up  with  the  anchors  into  the  ship. 
Received  as  a  precious  boon  from  heaven,  it  was  placed 
upon  the  sacred  hill  of  Tarah,  where  it  was  called  Lia-fail, 
the  "  Fatal  Stone,"  and  gave  the  ancient  name  of  Innis-fail, 
or  "the  Island  of  Destiny,"  to  the  kingdom.]:  On  the  hill 
of  Tarah,  Irish  antiquaries  maintain  that  the  real  Stone  still 
remains,  but  others  assert  that  about  330  years  before 
Christ,  Fergus,  the  founder  of  the  Scottish  monarchy,  bore 

•  According  to  the  Chronicle  of  Robert  of  Gloucester  Scotland  was  named 
from  Scota. 

"  The  Scottes  yclupped  were 
After  a  woman  that  ^cote  hyght,  the  dawter  of  Pharaon, 
Yat  broghte  into  ."-cotlond  a  whyte  marble  ston, 
Yat  was  orde3-ed  Tor  thare  King,  whan  he  coroned  wer, 
And  for  a  grete  Jewyll  long  hit  was  yhold  ther." 

♦  Holinshod.  %  Sir  James  Waie, 


THE   CORONATION   CHAIR.  305 

the  Stone  across  the  sea  to  Dunstaffhage,  where  an  ancient 
sculpture  has  been  found  of  a  king  with  a  book  of  the  laws 
in  his  hand,  seated  in  the  ancient  chair  "  whose  bottom 
was  the  Fatal  Stone."  *  But  from  Dunstaffhage  the  Stone 
was  again  removed  and  carried  to  Iona  by  Fergus,  who 

"  Broucht  pis  stane  wythin  Scotland 

Fyrst  qwhen  he  come  and  wane  pat  land, 
And  fyrst  it  set  in  lkkolmkil."t 

It  was  Kenneth  IT.  who,  in  a.d.  840,  brought  the 
Stone  to  Scone,  and  there  enclosed  it  in  a  chair  of  wood, 
"endeavouring  to  confirm  his  royal  authority  by  mean  and 
trivial  things,  almost  bordering  on  superstition  itself."  %  At 
Scone  all  the  succeeding  kings  of  Scotland  were  inaugurated 
till  the  time  of  John  Baliol,  who,  according  to  Hardynge, 
was  crowned 

"In  the  Minster  of  Scone,  within  Scotlad  grond, 
Sittyng  vpon  the  regal  stone  full  sound, 
As  all  the  Kynges  there  vsed  had  afore, 
On  Sainct  Andrewes  day,  with  al  joye  therefore." 

After  Edward  I.  had  defeated  Baliol  near  Dunbar  in  1296, 
he  is  said,  before  he  left  the  country,  to  have  been  himself 
crowned  King  of  Scotland  upon  the  sacred  Stone  at  Scone. 
However  this  may  be,  on  his  return  to  England  he  carried 
off  as  trophies  of  his  conquest,  not  only  the  Scottish 
regalia,  but  the  famous  "  Fatal  Stone,"  "  to  create  in  the 
Scots  a  belief  that  the  time  of  the  dissolution  of  their 
monarchy  was  come."§     Placing  the  Stone  in  the  Abbey  of 

•  Pennant's  "  Tour  to  the  Hebrides."  t  Winlownis  Chio-Jdl. 

X  Buchanan's  "  History  of  Scotland." 

\  See  Kapin's  "  History  of  England,"  i.  375. 

VOL.  II.  X 


306 


WALK'S  IN  LONDON. 


Westminster,  he  ordered  that  it  should  be  enclosed  in  a 
chair  of  wood,  "for  a  masse  priest  to  sit  in.'*  Various 
applications  were  afterwards  made  for  the  restoration  of  the 
Stone  to  the  northern  kingdom,  and  the  immense  importance 


The  Coronation  Chair. 


which  the  Scotch  attached  to  it  is  shown  by  its  having  been 
the  subject  of  a  political  conference  between  Edward  III. 
an  I  David  II.  King  of  Scots.  In  1328  Edward  III.  actually 
agreed  to  deliver  it  up:f  the  Scottish  regalia  was  sent  back, 
but  when  it  came  to  giving  up  the  Stone,  "  the  people  of 

*  Hardyng's  Chronicle. 
t  Ayliffe's  Calendars,  p.  58. 


THE   CORONATION  CHA2R.  307 

London  would  by  no  means  allow  it  to  depart  from  them- 
selves." 

The  Stone  (which,  geologically,  is  of  such  sandy  sienite 
as  may  be  found  on  the  western  coast  of  Scotland)  is 
inserted  beneath  the  seat  of  the  chair,  with  an  iron  handle 
on  either  side  so  that  it  may  be  lifted  up.  The  chair 
is  of  oak  and  has  once  been  entirely  covered  with  gilding 
and  painting,  now  worn  away  with  time  and  injured  by  the 
nails  which  have  been  driven  in  when  it  has  been  covered 
with  cloth  of  gold  at  the  coronations.  At  the  back  a  strong 
lens  will  still  discover  the  figure  of  a  king,  seated  on  a 
cushion  diapered  with  lozenges,  his  feet  resting  on  a  lion, 
and  other  ornaments.* 

In  this  chair  all  the  kings  of  England  since  the  time 
of  Edward  I.  have  been  crowned ;  even  Cromwell  was 
installed  in  it  as  Lord  Protector  in  Westminster  Hall,  on 
the  one  occasion  on  which  it  has  been  carried  out  of  the 
church. 

When  Shakspeare  depicts  Eleanor,  Duchess  of  Gloster, 
imparting  her  aspirations  to  her  husband  Humphrey,  she 
says — 

"  Methinks  I  sate  in  seat  of  majesty 
In  the  Cathedra]  Church  of  Westminster, 
And  in  that  Chair  where  kings  and  queens  are  crov\Tied." 

2  Henry  VI.  Act  i.  Sc.  2. 

The  second  chair  was  made  for  the  coronation  of  Mary 
II.  and  has  been  used  ever  since  for  the  queen's  consort. 

Between  the  chairs,  leaning  against  the  screen,  are  pre- 
served the  state  Shield  and  Sword  of  Edward  III.,  which 

•  Nearly  nil  these  and  many  other  particulars  concerning  the  Coronation  Chan 
will  be  found  in  an  article  in  Braj  ley's  "  Londiniana,"  vol.  2. 


3oS  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

were  carried  before  him  in  France.  This  is  "the  monumental 
sword  that  conquer'd  France,"  mentioned  by  Dryden  :  it  is 
7  feet  long  and  weighs  18  lbs. 

"  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley  laid  his  hand  upon  Edward  the  Third's 
sword,  and  leaning  upon  the  pommel  of  it,  gave  us  the  whole  history 
of  the  Black  Prince ;  concluding,  that  in  Sir  Richard  Baker's  opinion 
Edward  the  Third  was  one  of  the  greatest  princes  that  ever  sat  upon 
the  English  throne." — Spectator,  No.  329. 

Before  leaving  the  chapel  we  must  glance  at  its  upper 
window,  filled  with  figures  of  saints,  executed  in  stained 
glass,  of  the  kind  called  "  Pot-metal "  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  VI. 

"  A  feeling  sad  came  o'er  me  as  I  trod  the  sacred  ground 
Where  Tudors  and  Plantagenets  were  lying  all  around ; 
I  stepp'd  with  noiseless  foot,  as  though  the  sound  of  mortal  tread, 
Might  burst  the  bands  of  the  dreamless  sleep  that  wraps  the  mighty 
dead." 

Ingoldsby  Legends. 

Returning  to  the  aisle,  we  may  admire  from  beneath, 
where  we  see  them  at  their  full  height,  three  beautiful 
tombs  of  the  family  of  Henry  III. 

*  Edmund  Crouchback,  Earl  of  Lancaster  (1296),  second  son  of 
Henry  III.,  who  fought  in  the  Crusades.  His  name  of  Crouchback  is 
believed  to  have  had  its  origin  in  the  cross  or  crouch  which  he  wore 
embroidered  on  his  habit  after  he  had  engaged  to  join  in  a  crusade  in 
1269. 

"  Edward  above  his  menne  was  largely  seen, 

By  his  shoulders  more  hei  and  made  full  clene. 

Edmond  next  hym  the  comeliest  Prince  alive, 

Not  croke-backed,  ne  in  no  wyse  disfigured. 

As  some  menne  wrote,  the  right  lyne  to  deprive, 

Through  great  falsehed  made  it  to  be  scriptured." — Hardynge. 

He  received  an  imaginary  grant  of  the  kingdom  of  Sicily  and 
Apulia  from  Pope  Innocent  TV.  when  he  was  only  eight  years  old, 
which  led  to  the  extortions  of  Henry  for  the  support  of  his  claim. 


NORTH  AISLE   OF  CHOIR.  309 

On  the  death  of  Simon  de  Montfort,  he  was  made  Earl  of  Leicester 
and  Seneschal  of  England  by  his  father.  At  the  base  of  the  monu- 
ment are  figures  of  the  gallant  party  who  went  together  to  the  Crusades 
— Edmund,  his  brother  Edward  L,  his  uncle  William  de  Valence,  three 
other  earls,  and  four  knights.  The  effigy  of  Edmund  himself  is  exceed- 
ingly noble  and  dignified.  Sculptured  on  his  tomb  are  the  roses  of 
the  House  of  Lancaster,  a  badge  first  introduced  from  the  roses  which 
he  brought  over  from  Provins  ("  Provence  roses "),  where  they  had 
been  planted  by  Crusaders.  The  House  of  Lancaster  claimed  the 
throne  by  descent  from  this  prince,  and  his  second  wife,  Blanche,  Queen 
of  Navarre. 

*  Aylmer  de  Valence,  Earl  of  Pembroke  (1323),  third  son  of  William 
de  Valence,  and  nephew  of  Henry  III.  He  fought  in  the  Scottish 
wars  of  Edward  I.  and  Edward  II.  against  the  barons  under  Thomas, 
Earl  of  Lancaster,  and  connived  at  his  sentence.  This  proved  fatal 
to  him.  He  went  into  France  with  Queen  Isabel,  and  there  died 
— "  sodenly  murdered  by  the  vengeance  of  God,  for  he  consented 
to  the  death  of  St.  Thomas."  *  The  sculpture  of  this  tomb  is 
decidedly  French  in  character.  Two  angels,  at  the  head  of  the  effigy, 
support  the  soul  of  Aylmer,  which  is  ascending  to  heaven. 

"  The  monuments  of  Aylmer  de  Valence  and  Edmund  Crouchback 
are  specimens  of  the  magnificence  of  our  sculpture  in  the  reigns  of  the 
two  first  Edwards.  The  loftiness  of  the  work,  the  number  of  arches 
and  pinnacles,  the  lightness  of  the  spires,  the  richness  and  profusion  of 
foliage  and  crockets,  the  solemn  repose  of  the  principal  statue,  the 
delicacy  of  thought  in  the  group  of  angels  bearing  the  soul,  and  the 
tender  sentiment  of  concern  variously  expressed  in  the  relations  ranged 
in  order  round  the  basement,  forcibly  arrest  the  attention,  and  carry 
the  thoughts  not  only  to  other  ages,  but  to  other  stales  of  existence. ': 
— Flaxman. 

Aveline,  Countess  of  Lancaster  (1273).  The  tomb  is  concealed  on 
this  side  by  the  ugly  monument  of 

Field  Marshal  Lord  Ligonier  (1770),  celebrated  as  a  military 
commander  in  all  the  wars  of  Anne,  George  I.,  and  George  II.,  and 
who  died  at  ninety-two  in  the  middle  of  the  reign  of  George  III.  The 
Muse  of  History  is  represented  as  holding  a  scroll,  with  the  names  of 
his  battles.  This  was  the  witty  Irishman  who,  when  George  II.  reviewed 
hU  regiment  and  remarked — "Your  men  look  like  soldiers,  but  fhe 
horses  are  poor,"  answered — "  The  men,  Sire,  are  Irish,  and  gentlemen 
too  ;  but  the  horses  are  English."     The  monument  is  by  J.  F.  Moore. 

•  Leland,  from  a  Chronicle  in  Peter  House  Library. 


310  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

(Below  Ligonier)  Sir  John  Harpendon  (1457),  a  low  altar  tomb  with 
a  brass  effigy,  its  head  resting  on  a  greyhound,  its  feet  on  a  lion.  Sir 
John  was  a  knight  of  Henry  V.,  and  the  fifth  husband  of  the  cele- 
brated Joan  de  la  Pole,  Lady  Cobham,  whose  fourth  husband  was  Sir 
John  Oldcastle. 

(In  the  pavement)  the  gravestone,  which  once  bore  brasses,  of  Thomas 
Brown  and  Humphrey  Roberts,  monks  of  Westminster,  1508. 

Facing  the  tomb  of  Edmund  Crouchback  is  the  beautiful 
perpendicular  Chapel  of  Abbot  Islip,  1532,  who  laid  the 
foundation  stone  of  the  greater  perpendicular  chapel  of 
Henry  VII.  His  name  appears — twice  repeated — in  the 
frieze,  on  which  we  may  also  see  the  rebus  of  the  abbot — an 
eye,  and  a  hand  holding  a  slip  or  branch.  The  acts  of  Islip 
and  his  magnificent  funeral  obsequies  are  pictured  in  tho 
exceedingly  curious  "  Islip  Roll  "  in  the  Library  of  the 
Society  of  Antiquaries.  In  the  centre  of  the  chapel,  rich 
in  exquisitely  finished  perpendicular  carving,  he  was  buried, 
but  his  curious  tomb,  which  bore  his  skeleton  in  alabaster, 
is  destroyed,  as  well  as  a  fresco  of  the  Crucifixion  with 
abbot's  figure  in  prayer  beneath,  and  the  words — 

"En  cruce  qui  pendes  Islip  miserere  Johannis, 
Sanguine  perfuso  reparasti  quern  pretioso." 

In  this  chapel,  without  a  monument,  is  buried  Anne 
Mowbray,  the  heiress  who  was  betrothed  to  Richard,  Duke 
of  York,  the  murdered  son  of  Edward  IV.  On  the  eastern 
wall  is  the  monument  of  Sir  Christopher  Hatton  (1619), 
great  nephew  of  the  famous  Lord  Chancellor. 

An  especial  order  from  the  Dean  is  required  to  gain 
admittance  by  a  winding  stair  to  the  chamber  above  the 
Islip  Chapel,  which  contains  the  few  remains  of  the  exceed- 
ingly curious  waxwork  effigies,  which  were  carried  at  the 


THE    WAX  EFFIGIES.  3:1 

public  funerals  of  great  personages  in  the  Abbey.  The 
first  sovereign  who  was  thus  represented  was  Henry  V., 
who  died  in  France  and  was  brought  home  in  his  coffin ; 
previously  the  embalmed  bodies  of  the  kings  and  queens 
had  been  carried,  with  faces  uncovered,  at  their  funerals. 
Nevertheless,  commemorative  effigies  of  the  Henrys  and 
Edwards  were  made  for  the  Abbey,  but  of  these  little  remains 
beyond  their  wooden  framework.  When  perfect  they  we\e 
exhibited  in  presses :  thus  Dryden  saw  them — 

"  And  now  the  presses  open  stand, 
And  you  may  see  them  all  a-row." 

Stow  mentions  the  effigies  of  Edward  ITT.,  Philippa, 
Henry  V.,  Katherine  de  Valois,  Henry  VII.,  Elizabeth  of 
York,  Elizabeth,  Henry  Prince  of  Wales,  James  I.,  and 
Anne  of  Denmark.  The  exhibition  of  the  waxwork  figures 
was  formerly  found  to  produce  a  valuable  addition  for  the 
small  income  of  the  minor  canons,  though  it  was  much 
ridiculed  as  "  The  Ragged  Regiment "  and  "  The  Play  of 
DeadVolks."*  After  the  show  the  "cap  of  General  Monk" 
used  to  be  sent  round  for  contributions. 

"  I  thought   on  Naseby,  Marston  Moor,  and  Worcester's   crowning 
fight, 
When  on  my  ear  a  sound  there  fell,  it  filled  me  with  affright ; 
As  thus,  in  low  unearthly  tones,  I  heard  a  voice  begin — 
This  here's  the  cap  of  General  Monk !    Sir,  please  put  summut  in." 

Inguidsby  Legends. 

The  waxwork  figures  have  not  been  publicly  exhibited 
since  1839,  though  they  are  of  the  deepest  interest,  being 
effigies  of  the  time  of  those  whom  they  represent,  robed  by 
the  hands  of  those  who  knew  them  and  their  characteristic 

*  Sec  Pope's  "  Lite  of  Seth  Ward." 


312  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

habits  of  dress.  The  most  interesting  of  the  eleven  existing 
figures  is  that  of  Elizabeth,  a  restoration  by  the  chapter,  in 
1760,  of  the  original  figure  carried  at  her  funeral,  which  had 
fallen  to  pieces  a  few  years  before.  She  looks  half  witch 
and  half  ghoul.  Her  weird  old  head  is  crowned  by  a 
diadem,  and  she  wears  the  huge  ruff  laden  with  a  century 
of  dust,  the  long  stomacher  covered  with  jewels,  the 
velvet  robe  embroidered  with  gold  and  supported  on 
paniers,  and  the  pointed  high-heeled  shoes  with  rosettes, 
familiar  from  her  pictures.  The  effigy  was  carried  from 
Whitehall  at  her  funeral,  April  28,  1603. 

"At  which  time,  the  whole  city  of  Westminster  was  surcharged 
with  multitudes  of  all  sorts  of  people,  in  the  streets,  houses,  windows, 
leads,  and  gutters,  who  came  to  see  the  obsequy.  And  when  they 
beheld  her  statue,  or  effigy,  lying  on  the  coffin,  set  forth  in  royal  robes, 
having  a  crown  upon  the  head  thereof,  and  a  ball  and  a  sceptre  in 
either  hand,  there  was  such  a  general  sighing,  groaning,  and  weeping, 
as  the  like  hath  not  been  seen  or  known  in  the  memory  of  man ; 
neither  doth  any  history  mention  any  people,  time,  or  state,  to  make 
like  lamentation  for  the  death  of  their  sovereign."— Stow. 

Next  in  point  of  date  of  the  royal  effigies  is  that  of 
Charles  1 I,  robed  in  red  velvet,  with  lace  collar  and  ruffles.  It 
long  stood  over  his  grave  in  Henry  VII. 's  Chapel,  and  served 
as  his  monument.  By  his  side  once  stood  the  now  ruined 
effigy  of  General  Monk,  dressed  in  armour.  Mary  II.  and 
William  III.  stand  together  in  an  oblong  case,  on  either  side 
of  a  pedestal.  Mary,  who  died  at  thirty-two,  is  a  large  woman 
nearly  six  feet  high.  The  effigy  was  cast  from  her  dead 
face.  She  wears  a  purple  velvet  bodice,  three  brooches  of 
diamonds  decorate  her  breast,  and  she  has  pearl  earrings 
and  a  pearl  necklace  a  la  Sevig?ie.  The  headdress  is  not 
well   preserved,  but  it   was  recorded  as  curious  that  the 


THE    WAX  EFFIGIES.  313 

effigy  of  Mary  was  originally  represented  as  wearing  a 
foutange,  a  streaming  riband  on  the  top  cf  a  high  headdress 
(just  introduced  by  the  Duchesse  de  Fontange,  the  short- 
lived mistress  of  Louis  XIV.),  as  it  was  an  article  of  dress 
which  the  queen,  who  set  up  as  a  reformer  of  female  attire, 
especially  inveighed  against.  William  III.  is  represented  as 
much  shorter  than  his  wife,  which  was  the  case.  Next  conies 
the  figure  of  Anne,  fat,  with  hair  flowing  on  her  shoulders, 
wearing  the  crown  and  holding  the  orb  and  sceptre.  This 
figure,  which  was  carried  on  her  coffin,  is  still  the  only 
sepulchral  memorial  to  this  great  queen-regnant.  There  is 
no  figure  of  her  husband. 


"O" 


"  A  cloud  of  remembrances  come  to  mind  as  we  gaze  upon  the  kindly 
pale  face  and  somewhat  homely  form,  set  out  with  its  brocaded  silk 
robes  and  pearl  ornaments.  We  know  that  this  is  the  figure  that  lay 
upon  the  funeral  car  of  the  royal  lady,  and  that  the  dress  is  such  as  she 
was  known  to  wear,  and  would  be  recognised  as  part  of  her  present- 
ment by  the  silent  crowds  that  gazed  upon  the  solemn  procession ;  the 
same,  too,  that  her  numerous  little  children,  all  lying  in  a  vault  close 
by,  would  have  recognised  had  they  lived  to  grow  to  an  age  of  recog- 
nition. .  .  .  We  think  of  the  Augustan  age  over  which  she  pre- 
sided, her  friendships,  her  tenderness,  her  bounty,  with  peculiar  interest, 
and  turn  from  it  with  lingering  regret." — The  Builder,  July  7,  1877. 

The  Duchess  of  Richmond  (La  Belle  Stuart)  is  represented 
with  her  favourite  parrot  by  her  side,  dressed  in  the  robes 
which  she  wore  at  Queen  Anne's  coronation.  Her  effigy 
used  to  stand  near  her  grave  in  Henry  VI I. 's  Chapel,  an  i 
is  one  <  f  the  most  artistic  of  the  figures,  yet,  as  we  look  at 
it,  we  can  scarcely  realise  that  this  was  the  lady  who  was 
persuaded  to  sit  as  "  Britannia"  for  the  effigy  on  our  pence 
in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  Catherine,  Duchess  of  Bud 
hamshire  (1743),  piepared  for  her  own  funeral  in  her  life- 


314  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

time,  and  her  one  anxiety  en  her  death-bed  was  to  see  its 
pomps  prepared  before  she  passed  away  out  of  the  world, 
her  last  request  being  that  the  canopy  of  her  hearse  might 
be  sent  home  for  her  death-bed  admiration.  "  Let  them 
send  it,  even  though  the  tassels  are  not  all  finished."  Her 
effigy,  with  that  of  her  young  son,  long  stood  by  her  grave 
in  Henry  VII.'s  Chapel.  Near  these  reclines  the  sleeping 
effigy  of  her  son,  Edmund  Sheffield,  Duke  of  Buckingham- 
shire, who  died  at  Rome  in  1735.  This  was  the  figure 
Duchess  Catherine  asked  her  friends  to  visit,  saying  that,  if 
they  had  a  mind  to  see  it,  she  could  "  let  them  in  con- 
veniently by  a  back  door."  *  The  figure  of  Lord  Chatham 
is  unimportant,  having  been  only  made  in  (1779)  to  increase 
the  attraction  of  the  waxworks ;  but  the  figure  of  Nelson, 
made  as  a  counter-attraction  to  his  tomb  in  the  rival 
church  of  St.  Paul's,  is  interesting,  since,  with  the  exception 
of  the  coat,  the  dress  was  actually  his. 

A  ghastly  cupboard,  which  recalls  the  "  El  Pudridero  "  of 
the  Escurial,  between  the  figures  of  Anne  and  Lord  Chat- 
ham, contains  the  remains  of  the  earlier  effigies,  crowded 
together.  In  some  of  these  the  wooden  framework  is  entire, 
with  the  features,  from  which  the  wax  has  peeled  off,  rudely 
blocked  out.  One  of  them,  supposed  to  be  Philippa,  wears 
a  crown.     Of  others  merely  the  mutilated  limbs  remain. 

The  Chest  in  which  the  remains  of  Major  Andre)  were 
brought  from  America  to  England  in  1821  is  preserved  in 
this  chamber. 

As  we  descend  the  staircase,  the  ghoul-like  face  of 
Elizabeth  in  her  corner  stares  at  us  over  tfie  intervening 
cases,  and  will  probably  leave  a  more  distinct  impression 

*  Walpole's  "  Reminiscences,"  i.  234. 


NORTH  AISLE   OF  CHOIR.  315 

upon  those  who  have  looked  upon  her  than  anything  else 
in  the  Abbey,  especially  when  they  consider  it  as  represent- 
ing one  who  only  a  year  before  had  allowed  the  Scottish 
ambassador  (as  if  by  accident)  to  see  her  "  dancing  high 
and  containedly,"  that  he  might  disappoint  the  hopes  of  his 
master  by  his  report  of  her  health  and  spirits. 
Opposite  the  Islip  Chapel  we  find — 

The  gravestone  of  Brian  Duppa  (1662),  the  tutor  to  Charles  II.  who 
visited  him  on  his  death-bed,  and  the  friend  of  Charles  I.  who,  wheD 
imprisoned  in  Carisbrooke,  thought  himself  happy  in  the  society  of  so 
good  a  man.  He  was  in  turn  Bishop  of  Chichester,  Salisbury,  and 
Winchester. 

Beyond  the  chapel  is  the  monument  of — 

General  Wolfe  (1759),  who  fell  in  the  defeat  of  the  French  at 
Quebec,  to  which  we  owe  the  subjugation  of  Canada. 

"  The  fall  of  Wolfe  was  noble  indeed.  He  received  a  wound  in  the 
head,  but  covered  it  from  his  soldiers  with  his  handkerchief.  A  second 
ball  struck  him  in  the  belly:  but  that  too  he  dissembled.  A  third 
hitting  him  in  the  breast,  he  sank  under  the  anguish,  and  was  carried 
behind  the  ranks.  Yet,  fast  as  life  ebbed  out,  his  whole  anxiety 
centred  on  the  fortune  of  the  day.  He  begged  to  be  borne  nearer  to  the 
action;  but  his  sight  being  dimmed  by  the  approach  of  death,  he 
entreated  to  be  told  what  they  who  supported  him  saw  :  he  was 
answered,  that  the  enemy  gave  ground.  He  eagerly  repeated  the 
question,  heard  the  enemy  was  totally  routed,  cried  '  I  am  satisfied ' 
— and  expired." — Walpole's  Memoirs. 

Wolfe  was  buried  at  Greenwich,  but  so  great  was  the  enthusiasm  tor 
him,  that  Dean  Zachary  Pearce  had  actually  consented  to  remove  the 
glorious  tomb  of  Aylmer  de  Valence  to  make  room  for  his  monument, 
and  was  only  prevented  by  the  remonstrances  of  Horace  Wal] 
sacrificing  instead  the  screen  of  St.  Michael's  Chapel  and  most  of  the 
tomb  of  Abbot  Esteney.  The  monument  is  the  first  public  work  of 
Joseph  Wilton,  and  presents  the  ludicrous  figure  of  a  half-naked  man 
(in  shirt  and  stockings)  in  the  arms  of  a  full  equipped  Grenadier, 
receiving  a  wreath  and  palm-branch  from  Victoiy.  On  the  basement 
is  a  bronze  relief  by  Capizzoldi,  representing  the  landing  of  the  British 
troops  and  the  ascent  of  the  heights  of  Abraham. 


ji6  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

"  It  is  full  of  truth,  and  gives  a  lively  image  of  one  of  the  most 
daring  exploits  that  any  warriors  ever  performed.  Veterans,  who  had 
fought  on  that  memorable  day,  have  been  observed  lingering  for  hours, 
following  with  the  end  of  their  staff  the  march  of  their  comrades  up 
the  shaggy  precipice,  and  discussing  the  merits  of  the  different 
leaders. ' ' — A  lian  Cunningham. 

(In  front  of  Wolfe)  the  brass  of  Abbot.Esieney  (1498),  moved  from 
the  tomb  which  formed  part  of  the  screen  he  erected  for  St.  Michael's 
Chapel.  He  is  represented  in  his  abbatical  vestments,  under  a  three- 
fold canopy.  His  right  hand  is  raised  in  benediction,  his  left  holds  a 
crozier,  and  proceeding  from  his  mouth  are  the  words  "  Exultabo  in 
Deo  Jhu'  meo."  The  tomb  was  opened  in  1 706,  and  the  abbot  was 
found  entire,  in  a  crimson  silk  gown  and  white  silk  stockings,  lying  in  a 
coffin  quilted  with  yellow  satin. 

We  now  enter  a  chapel  formed  by  the  three  Chapels  of 
St.  John,  St.  Michael,  and  St.  Andrew*  once  divided  by 
screens,  and  entered  from  the  north  transept,  but  muti- 
lated and  thrown  together  for  the  convenience  of  the 
monuments,  many  of  which  are  most  unworthy  of  their 
position.  In  examining  the  tombs  we  can  only  regard  the 
chapels  as  a  whole.  Two  great  monuments  break  the  lines 
of  the  centre. 

*  Sir  Francis  Vere  (1609),  who  commanded  the  troops  in  Holland 
in  the  wars  of  Elizabeth,  and  gained  the  Battle  of  Nieuport.  This 
noble  tomb  was  erected  by  his  widow,  and  is  supposed  to  be  copied 
from  that  of  Count  Engelbrecht  II.  of  Nassau  at  Breda.  Sir  Francis 
is  represented  in  a  loose  gown,  lying  low  upon  a  mat,  while  four 
knights  bear  as  canopy  a  slab  supporting  his  armour,  in  allusion  to  his 
having  fallen  a  victim  in  sickness  to  the  death  he  had  vainly  courted 
on  the  battle-field — 

"  When  Vere  sought  death  arm'd  with  the  sword  and  shield, 
Death  was  afraid  to  meet  him  in  the  field ; 
But  when  his  weapons  he  had  laid  aside, 
Death  like  a  coward  struck  him  and  he  died."T 

»  Relics  of  St.  Andrew  are  said  to  have  been  given  to  the  Abbey  by  King 
Athelstan,  relics  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist  by  "good  Queen  Jdaude,"  wife  of 
Henry  I. 

t  Epitapn  on  Sir  Francis  Vere  given  in  Lord  Pettigrew*s  collection. 


ST.  JOHN,  ST.  MICHAEL,  AND  ST.  ANDREW.     317 

The  supporting  knights  are  noble  figures.  One  day  Gayfere,  the 
Abbey  mason,  found  Roubiliac,  who  was  superintending  the  erection  of 
the  Nightingale  monument,  standing  with  folded  arms,  and  eyes  fixed 
upon  one  of  them,  unconscious  of  all  around.  "  Hush,  he  vill  speak 
presently,"  said  the  sculptor,  deprecating  the  interruption.  This 
tomb  "is  one  of  the  last  works  executed  in  the  spirit  of  our  Gothic 
monuments,  and  the  best."* 

Henry,  Lord  Norris  (1601),  and  his  wife  Margaret,  the  heiress  of 
Rycote  in  Oxfordshire.  He  was  the  son  of  Sir  Henry  Norris,  the 
gallant  friend  of  Anne  Boleyn,  who  maintained  her  innocence  to  the 
scaffold.  Hence  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  the  murdered  queen,  regarded 
him  with  peculiar  favour,  and,  in  her  eighth  year,  knighted  him  in  his 
own  house  at  Rycote,  where  she  was  placed  under  his  guardianship. 
She  nicknamed  Lady  Norris  "  my  own  crow  "  from  her  swarthy  com- 
plexion, and  wrote  to  condole  with  her  on  the  death  of  one  of  her  sons 
by  this  designation.  The  tomb  is  Corinthian,  with  eight  columns 
supporting  a  canopy,  beneath  which  lie  the  figures  of  Lord  Norris 
(created  a  baron  for  his  services  as  ambassador  in  France)  and  his  wife. 
Around  the  base  kneel  their  eight  sons,  "a  brood  of  martial-spirited 
men,  as  the  Netherlands,  Portugal,  Little  Bretagne,  and  Ireland  can 
testify."f  William,  the  eldest,  was  Marshal  of  Berwick.  Sir  John  had 
three  horses  shot  under  him  while  fighting  against  the  Spaniards  in  the 
Netherlands.  Sir  Thomas,  Lord  Justice  of  Ireland,  died  of  a  slight 
wound  "not  well  looked  after."  Sir  Henry  died  of  a  wound  about 
the  same  time.  Maximilian  was  killed  in  the  wars  in  Brittany,  and 
Edward,  Governor  of  Ostend,  was  the  only  survivor  of  his  parents.  J 
Thus,  while  the  others  are  represented  as  engaged  in  prayer,  he  is 
cheerfully  looking  upwards.  All  the  brothers  are  in  plate-armour,  but 
unhelmeted,  and  with  trunk  breeches.  "  They  were  men  of  a  haughty 
courage,  and  of  great  experience  in  the  conduct  of  military  affairs ; 
and,  to  speak  in  the  character  of  their  merit,  they  were  persons  of 
such  renown  and  worth,  as  future  times  must,  out  of  duty,  owe  them 
the  debt  of  honourable  memory." 

"  The  Norrises  were  all  martis  pulli,  men  of  the  sword,  and  never  out 
of  military  employment.  Queen  Elizabeth  loved  the  Norrises  for 
themselves  and  herself,  being  sensible  that  she  needed  such  martial 
men  for  her  service." — Fuller  s  Worthies. 

Making  the  round  of  the  walls  from  the  right,  we  see  the 
monuments  of — 

•  Allan  Cunningham's  "  Life  of  Roubiliac." 

tCamden's  "  Brittania."  t  >'ee  Fuller's  "  Worthies." 


3i 8  WALKS  2N  LONDON. 

Captain  Edward  Cooke,  1790,  who  captured  the  French  frigate 
La  Forte  in  the  bay  of  Bengal,  and  died  of  his  wounds, — with  a  relief 
by  Bacon. 

General  Sir  George  Holies  (1626),  a  figure  in  Roman  armour, 
executed  for^ioo  by  Nicholas  Stone,  for  the  general's  brother,  John, 
Earl  of  Clare.  On  the  base  is  represented  in  relief  the  Battle  of 
Nieuport,  in  which  Sir  George  was  distinguished.  The  advent  of 
classical  art  may  be  recognised  in  this  statue,  as  the  tomb  of  Sir  F. 
Vere  was  the  expiring  effort  of  gothic. 

Sir  George  Pocock  (1 792),  the  hero  of  Chandernagore.  The  tomb, 
by  John  Bacon,  supports  an  awkward  figure  of  Britannia  defiant. 

*  Lady  Elizabeth  Nightingale  (1734),  daughter  of  Earl  Ferrers; 
sister  of  Selina,  the  famous  Countess  of  Huntingdon ;  and  wife  of 
Joseph  Gascoigne  Nightingale  of  Mamhead  in  Devonshire.  This 
tomb,  "  more  theatrical  than  sepulchral,"*  is  the  last  and  greatest  work 
of  Roubiliac.  The  skeleton  figure  of  Death  has  burst  open  the  iron 
doors  of  the  grave  and  is  aiming  his  dart  at  the  lady,  who  shrinks  back 
into  the  arms  of  her  horror-stricken  husband,  who  is  eagerly  but  vainly 
trying  to  defend  her.  In  his  fury,  Death  has  grasped  the  dart  at  the 
end  by  the  feathers. 

"  The  dying  woman  would  do  honour  to  any  artist.  Her  right  arm 
and  hand  are  considered  by  sculptors  as  the  perfection  of  fine  workman- 
ship. Life  seems  slowly  receding  from  her  tapering  fingers  and  her 
quivering  wrist.  Even  Death  himself — dry  and  sapless  though  he  be — 
the  very  fleshless  cheeks  and  eyeless  sockets  seem  flashing  with  malig- 
nant joy." — Allan  Cunningham. 

"  It  was  whilst  engaged  on  the  figure  of  Death,  that  Roubiliac  one 
day,  at  dinner,  suddenly  dropped  his  knife  and  fork  on  his  plate,  fell 
back  in  his  chair,  and  then  darted  forwards,  and  threw  his  features  into 
the  strongest  possible  expression  of  fear— fixing  his  eye  so  expressively 
on  the  country  lad  who  waited,  as  to  fill  him  with  astonishment.  A 
tradition  of  the  abbey  records  that  a  robber,  coming  into  the  abbey  by 
moonlight,  was  so  startled  by  the  same  figure  as  to  have  fled  in  dismay, 
and  left  his  crowbar  on  the  pavement." — Dean  Stanley. 

Sarah,  Duchess  of  Somerset  (1692),  daughter  of  Sir  Edward  Alston, 
afterwards  married  to  Henry  Hare,  second  Lord  Coleraine.  Her  figure 
half  reclines  upon  a  sarcophagus.  The  two  weeping  charity  boys  at  the 
sides  typify  her  beneficence  in  founding  the  Froxfield  alms-houses  in 
Wiltshire.     Behind  this  tomb  are  the  remains  of  three  out  cif  the  seven 

*  Walpole,  "  Anecdotes  of  Painting." 


ST.  JOHN,  ST.  MICHAEL,  AND  ST.  ANDREW.      319 

arches  which  formed  the  ancient  reredos  of  St.  Michael's  altar.  The 
ancient  altar  stone  has  also  been  discovered.  At  the  entrance  of  St. 
Andrew's  Chapel,  one  of  the  pillars  (left)  retains  the  original  polish  of 
the  thirteenth  century  (having  been  long  enclosed  in  a  screen),  and 
may  be  taken  as  an  example  of  what  all  the  Purbeck  marble  pillars 
were  originally. 

Theodore  Phalinlogus  (1644),  descended  from  the  last  Christian 
emperors  of  Greece,  whose  name  was  Pakeologus. 

John  Philip  Kemble  (1823),  represented  as  "Cato"  in  a  statue  by 
Flaxman. 

Dr.  Thomas  Young  (1829),  learned  in  Egyptian  hieroglyphics — a 
tablet  by  Chantrey. 

Sarah  Siddons  (1831),  the  great  tragedian — a  poor  statue  by 
Thomas  Campbell,  which  rises  like  a  white  discordant  ghost  behind  the 
Norris  tomb. 

Sir  Humphry  Davy  (1829),  celebrated  for  his  discoveries  in  physical 
science.     Buried  at  Geneva.     A  tablet. 

Matthew  Baillie,  the  anatomist  (1823) — a  bust  by  Chantrey. 

Thomas  Telford  (1834),  who,  the  son  of  a  shepherd,  rose  to  eminence 
as  an  engineer,  and  constructed  the  Menai  Bridge  and  the  Bridgwater 
Canal,  but  is  scarcely  entitled  to  the  space  so  unsuitably  occupied  by 
his  huge  ugly  monument  by  Baily. 

Rear  Admiral  Thomas  Totty  (1702) — a  monument  by  the  younger 
Bacon. 

Anastasia,  Countess  of  Kerry  (1799).  The  monument  bears  an 
affecting  inscription  by  her  husband,  "  whom  she  rendered  during 
thirty-one  years  the  happiest  of  mankind."  He  was  laid  by  her  side  in 
18 18.     By  Buckham. 

Abbot  Kyrton  (1466),  a  slab  in  the  pavement,  which  once  bore  a 
brass  from  his  tomb,  destroyed  under  Anne.  Kyrton  erected  the 
screen  of  St.  Andrew's  Chapel. 

Admiral  Richard  Kempenfelt  (1 782),  who  perished  in  the  sinking  of 
the  Royal  George  at  Spithead — 

"  When  Kempenfelt  went  down 
With  twice  four  hundred  men.'* 


320  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

His  body  was  washed  ashore  and  buried  at  Alverstoke,  near  Gosport. 
The  sinking  ship  and  the  apotheosis  of  its  admiral  are  represented 
on  a  column,  by  the  younger  Bacon. 

Algernon,  Earl  of  Mountrath,  and  his  Countess,  Diana.  The  monu- 
ment is  by  Joseph  Wilton,  the  sculptor  of  Wolfe's  memorial ;  but  few 
will  understand  now  the  tumult  of  applause  with  which  it  was  received 
— "  the  grandeur  and  originality  of  the  design  "  being  equally  praised 
by  contemporary  critics,  with  the  feathering  of  the  angels'  win<^s 
"  which  has  a  lightness  nature  only  can  surpass." 

Sir  John  Franklin  (1847),  the  Arctic  explorer.    A  bust. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

WESTMINSTER  ABBEY.— II 

We  now  enter  the  North  Transept  of  the  Abbey,  of  which 
the  great  feature  is  the  beautiful  rose-window  (restored  1722J, 
thirty-two  feet  in  diameter.  This  transept  was  utterly  unin- 
vaded  by  monuments  till  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  was  buried 
here  two  hundred  years  ago.  Since  then  it  has  become  the 
favourite  burial-place  of  admirals,  and  since  Pitt,  Earl  of 
Chatham,  was  laid  here  in  1778,  the  central  aisle  has  been 
"  appropriated  to  statesmen,  as  the  other  transept  by  poets." 
The  whole  character  of  the  monuments  is  now  changed  ; 
while  the  earlier  tombs  are  intended  to  recall  Death  to 
the  mind,  the  memorials  of  the  last  two  centuries  are 
entirely  devoted  to  the  exaltation  of  the  Life  of  the  person 
commemorated.  In  this  transept,  especially,  the  entire 
space  between  the  grey  arches  is  filled  by  huge  monuments 
groaning  under  pagan  sculpture  of  offensive  enormity,  emu- 
lating the  tombs  of  the  Popes  in  St.  Peter's  in  their  size, 
and  curious  as  proving  how  taste  is  changed  by  showing 
the  popularity  which  such  sculptors  as  Nollekens,  Schee- 
makers,  and  Bacon  long  enjoyed  in  England.  Through  the 
remainder  of  the  Abbey  the  monuments,  often  interesting 
from  their  associations,  are  in  themselves  chiefly  remarkable 

VOL.  II. 


322  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

for  their  utter  want  of  originality  and  variety.  Justice  and 
Temperance,  Prudence  and  Mercy,  are  for  ever  busy 
propping  up  the  tremendous  masses  of  masonry  upon 
which  Britannia,  Fame,  and  Victory  are  perpetually  seen 
crowning  a  bust,  an  urn,  or  a  rostral  column  with  their 
wreaths  ;  while  beneath  these  piles  sit  figures  indicative  of 
the  military  or  naval  professions  of  the  deceased,  plunged 
in  idiotic  despair.  As  we  continue  our  walk  through  the 
church  we  descend  gradually  but  surely,  after  we  leave  the 
fine  conceptions  and  graphic  portraiture  of  Roubiliac  and 
Rysbrack.  Even  Bacon  and  Flaxman  are  weighed  down 
by  the  pagan  mania  for  Neptunes,  Britannias,  and  Victorys, 
and  only  rise  to  anything  like  nobility  in  the  single  figures 
of  Chatham  and  Mansfield.  The  abundant  works  of 
Chantrey  and  Westm^cott  in  the  Abbey  are,  with  one  or 
two  exceptions,  monoto  ""is  and  commonplace.  But  it  is 
only  when  utterly  wearied  by  the  platitudes  of  Nollekens  or 
Cheere,*  that  we  appreciate  what  lower  depths  of  degrada- 
tion sculpture  has  reached  in  the  once  admired  works  of 
Taylor  and  Nathaniel  Read  and  in  most  of  the  works  of  Bird. 

When  he  came  back  from  Rome  and  saw  his  works  in 
Westminster  Abbey,  Roubiliac  exclaimed,  "  By  God !  my 
own  work  looks  to  me  as  meagre  and  starved,  as  if  made 
of  nothing  but  tobacco-pipes." 

We  may  notice  among  the  monuments — 

Sir  Robert  Peel  (1850),  represented  as  an  orator,  in  a  Roman  toga, 
by  Gibson. 

Vice-Admiral  Sir  Peter  Warren  (1752).  The  monument  by 
Roubiliac  is  especially  ridiculed  in  Churchill's  "Foundling  Hospital 
for  Wit."     It  pourtrays  a  figure  of  Hercules  placing  the  bust  of  the 

*  It  would  scarcely  be  believed  from  his  works  that  Cheere  was  the  master  of 
Roubiliac. 


THE  NORTH   TRANSEPT.  323 

deceased  upon  a  pedestal.  Navigation  sits  by  disconsolate,  with  a 
withered  olive-branch.  Behind  the  tomb  is  seen  the  beautiful  screen 
of  Abbot  Kyrton. 

Against  the  adjoining  pillar  is  the  monument  of  Grace  Scot  (1645), 
wife  of  the  regicide  Colonel  cruelly  executed  at  the  Restoration.  It 
bears  the  lines — 

"  He  that  will  give  my  Grace  but  what  is  hers, 
Must  say  her  death  has  not 
Made  only  her  dear  Scot 
But  Virtue,  Worth,  and  Sweetness,  widowers." 

Sir  Johti  Malcolm  (1833).  Statue  by  Chantrey.  "He  who  was 
always  so  kind,  always  so  generous,  always  so  indulgent  to  the  weak- 
nesses of  others,  while  he  was  always  endeavouring  to  make  them 
better  than  they  were, — he  who  was  unwearied  in  acts  of  benevolence, 
ever  aiming  at  the  greatest,  but  never  thinking  the  least  beneath  his 
notice, — who  could  descend,  without  feeling  that  he  sank,  from  the 
command  of  armies  and  the  government  of  an  empire,  to  become  a 
peacemaker  in  village  quarrels,— he  in  whom  dignity  was  so  gentle,  and 
wisdom  so  playful,  and  whose  laurelled  head  was  girt  with  a  chaplet  of 
all  the  domestic  affections, — the  soldier,  statesman,  patriot,  Sir  John 
Malcolm."— y.  C.  Hare. 

William  Cavendish,  the  " Loyall  Duke  of  Newcastle,"  who  lost 
£941,308  by  his  devotion  to  the  cause  of  Charles  I.,  and  his  Duchess, 
Margaret  Lucas,  who,  as  her  epitaph  tells,  came  of  "a  noble  family, 
for  all  the  brothers  were  valiant,  and  all  the  sisters  virtuous."  This 
Duchess,  commemorated  in  "  Peveril  of  the  Peak,"  was  a  most 
voluminous  writer,  calling  up  her  attendants  at  all  hours  of  the  night, 
"  to  take  down  her  Grace's  conceptions,*  much  to  the  disgust  of  her 
husband,  who,  when  complimented  on  her  learning,  said,  '  Sir,  a  very 
wise  woman  is  a  very  foolish  thing.'  "  Walpole  calls  her  "  a  fertile 
pedant,  with  an  unbounded  passion  for  scribbling."  She  is,  however, 
commemorated  here  as  "  a  very  wise,  wittie,  and  learned  lady,  which  her 
many  bookes  do  well  testifie.  She  was  a  most  virtuous,  and  loveing, 
and  careful!  wife,  and  was  with  her  lord  all  the  time  of  his  banishment 
and  miseries,  and  when  he  came  home  never  parted  from  him  in  his 
solitary  retirement."  "The  whole  story  of  this  lady,"  wrote  P< 
"is  a  romance,  and  all  she  does  is  romantic."  Conceit  about  her  own 
works  was  certainly  not  her  fault,  for  she  said,  in  writing  to  a  friend— 
"  You  will  find  my  works  like  infinite  nature,  that  hath  neither  beginning 
nor  end  ;  and  as  confused  as  the  chaos,  wherein  is  neither  method  nor 

•  Sec  Newcastle   House,  ClerVenwell. 


3^4  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

order,  but  all  mixed  together,  without  separation,  like  light  and 
darkness." 

The  Duke  was  also  an  author,  and  wrote  several  volumes  on  horse- 
manship. He  is  extolled  by  Shadwell  as  the  "  greatest  master  of  wit, 
the  most  exact  observer  of  mankind,  and  the  most  accurate  judge  of 
humour"  he  ever  knew.  Cibber  speaks  of  him  as  "one  of  the  most 
finished  gentlemen,  as  well  as  the  most  distinguished  patriot,  general, 
and  statesman  of  his  age."  His  liberality  to  literary  men  caused 
him  to  be  regarded  as  "the  English  Maecenas."*  "Nothing," 
says  Clarendon,  "  could  have  tempted  him  out  of  those  paths  of 
pleasure  which  he  enjoyed  in  a  full  and  ample  fortune  (which  he 
sacrificed  by  his  loyalty,  and  lived  for  a  time  in  extreme  poverty), 
but  honour  and  ambition  to  serve  the  king  when  he  saw  him  in  distress, 
and  abandoned  by  most  of  those  who  were  in  the  highest  degree 
obliged  to  him." 

The  Duke  is  represented  in  a  coroneted  periwig.  The  dress  of  the 
Duchess  recalls  the  description  of  Pepys,  who  met  her  (April  26th, 
1667)  "  with  her  black  cap,  her  hair  about  her  ears,  many  black 
patches,  because  of  pimples  about  her  mouth,  naked  necked,  without 
anything  about  it,  and  a  black  just  au  corps."  Her  open  book  and  the 
pen-case  and  ink-horn  in  her  hand  recall  her  passion  for  authorship. 

Charles,  Earl  Canning,  Viceroy  of  India  (i860) — a  statue  by  Foley. 

George  Canning,  the  Prime  Minister  (1827) — a  fine  statue  by 
Chantrey. 

"John  Holies,  Earl  of  Clare  and  Duke  of  Newcastle  (1711).  He 
filled  many  public  offices  during  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  and  was 
created  Duke  upon  his  marriage  with  Margaret,  daughter  of  the  Duke 
William  Cavendish,  who  lies  beside  him.  His  enormous  wealth  caused 
him  to  be  regarded  as  the  "  richest  subject  that  had  been  in  the  kingdom 
for  some  ages,"  and  his  only  daughter  and  heiress,  Henrietta  Cavendish 
Holies  Harley,  bore  witness  to  it  with  filial  devotion  in  this  immense 
monument.  The  admirable  architecture  is  by  Gibbs,  but  the  ludicrous 
figure  of  the  Duke  is  by  Bird.  The  statues  of  Prudence  and  Sincerity 
are  said  to  have  "  set  the  example  of  the  allegorical  figures  "  in  the 
abbey.* 

(Right  of  north  entrance)  Edward  Vernon,  Admiral  of  the  White 
(1757),  stigmatized  by  Byron  as  "  the  Butcher  "  in  the  opening  canto 
of'DonJuan."  After  his  capture  of  Porto  Bello  in  November,  1739,  by 
which  he  was  considered  in  the  words  of  his  epitaph  to  have  "  con- 
quered as  far  as  naval  force  could  carry  victory,"  he  became  the  populai 

"  Longbaina's  "  Dramatick  Poets."  +  Dean  Stanley. 


THE   NORTH   TRANSEPT.  325 

hero  of  the  day,  and  his  birthday  was  kept  with  a  public  illumination 
and  bonfires  all  over  London ;  yet,  only  six  years  afterwards,  he  was 
dismissed  the  service  for  exposing  the  abuses  of  the  Navy  in  Parliament. 
The  monument,  by  Rysbrack,  represents  Fame  crowning  the  bust  of 
the  admiral :  it  was  erected  by  his  nephew  Lord  Orwell  in  1763. 

(Left  of  north  entrance)  Sir  Charles  Wager,  Admiral  of  the 
While  (1743).  A  feeble  monument  by  Scheemakers,  representing  Fame 
lamenting  over  a  medallion  supported  by  an  infant  Hercules.  The 
description  of  the  admiral  given  in  the  epitaph  is  borne  out  by  Walpole 
(i.  248),  who  says,  "  Old  Sir  Charles  Wager  is  dead  at  last,  and  has 
left  the  fairest  character." 

William  Pitt,  Earl  of  Chatham  (1778).  The  great  statesman,  who 
was  seized  by  his  last  illness  in  the  House  of  Lords,  was  first  buried  at 
Hayes,  but  in  a  few  weeks  was  disinterred  and  brought  to  Westminster. 
"  Though  men  of  all  parties,"  says  Macaulay,*  "  had  concurred  in 
decreeing  posthumous  honours  to  Chatham,  his  corpse  was  attended  to 
the  grave  almost  exclusively  by  opponents  of  the  government.  The 
banner  of  the  lordship  of  Chatham  was  borne  by  Colonel  Barre,  attended 
by  the  Duke  of  Richmond  and  Lord  Rockingham.  Burke,  Savile,  and 
Dunning  upheld  the  pall.  Lord  Camden  was  conspicuous  in  the  pro- 
cession.    The  chief  mourner  was  young  William  Pitt." 

The  colossal  monument  (thirty-three  feet  in  height),  by  Bacon,  was 
erected  for  the  king  and  parliament  at  a  cost  of  ^6000.  Britannia 
triumphant  is  seated  upon  a  rock,  with  Earth  and  Ocean  recumbent 
below.  Above,  on  a  sarcophagus,  are  statues  of  Prudence  and 
Fortitude ;  lastly  the  figure  of  Lord  Chatham,  in  his  parliamentary 
robes,  starts  from  a  niche  in  an  attitude  of  declamation.  It  was  of 
this  tomb  that  Cooper  wrote — 

"  Bacon  there 
Gives  more  than  female  beauty  to  a  stone, 
And  Chatham's  eloquence  to  marble  lips." 

The  inscription,  which  is  also  by  Bacon,  drew  forth  the  injunction  of 
George  III.,  who,  while  approving  it.  said,  "Now,  Bacon,  mind  you 
do  not  turn  author,  stick  to  your  chisel."  When  Bacon  was  retouching 
the  statue  of  Chatham,  a  divine,  and  a  stranger,  tapped  him  on  the 
shoulder,  and  said,  in  allusion  to  the  story  of  Zeuxis,  "Take  care  what 
you  are  doing,  you  work  for  eternity."  This  reverend  person  then 
stept  into  the  pulpit  and  began  to  preach.  When  the  sermon  was  over, 
Bacon  touched  his  arm  and  said,  "  Take  care  what  you  io,  you  work 
for  eternity." — Allan  Cunningham. 

*  Essays,  vi.  229. 


326  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Henry  G rattan  (1820),  the  eloquent  advocate  of  the  rights  of 
Ireland,  lies  buried  in  front  of  Chatham's  monument,  near  the  graves 
of  Pitt,  Fox,  Castlereagh,  "VVilberforce,  the  two  Cannings,  and 
Palmerston.  Pitt  and  Fox  died  in  the  same  year,  and  arc  buried  close 
together. 

Here — "  taming  thought  to  human  pride — 

The  mighty  chiefs  sleep  side  by  side. 

Drop  upon  Fox's  grave  the  tear, 

'Twill  trickle  to  his  rival's  bier. 

O'er  Pitt's  the  mournful  requiem  sound, 

And  Fox's  shall  the  notes  rebound. 

The  solemn  echo  seems  to  cry — 

Here  let  their  discord  with  them  die  ; 

Speak  not  for  those  a  separate  doom 

Whom  Fate  made  brothers  in  the  tomb." 

Scott's  Marmion,  Intr.  to  Canto  i. 

Henry  John  Temple,  Viscount  Palmerston  (1865).  A  statue  by 
Jackson,  erected  by  Parliament. 

"  The  Three  Captains'1'' — William  Bayne,  William  Blair,  and  Lord 
Robert  Manners,  who  fell  in  1 782  mortally  wounded  in  naval  engage- 
ments in  the  West  Indies,  under  Admiral  Rodney.  In  the  colossal 
tomb  by  Nollekens  (next  to  that  of  Watt,  the  most  offensive  in  the 
abbey),  Neptune,  reclining  on  the  back  of  a  sea-horse,  directs  the 
attention  of  Britannia  to  the  medallions  of  the  dead,  which  hang  from 
a  rostral  column  surmounted  by  a  figure  of  Victory. 

Robert,  Viscount  Castlereagh,  second  Marquis  of  Londonderry 
(1822).  A  statue  by  Owen  Thomas,  erected  by  his  successor  to  "  the 
best  of  brothers  and  friends." 

William  Murray,  Earl  of  Mansfield  ( 1 793),  who  "  from  the  love  which 
he  bore  to  the  place  of  his  early  education  desired  to  be  buried  in  this 
cathedral  (privately)."  This  huge  monument  was  erected  by  funds  left 
for  the  purpose  by  A.  Bailey  of  Lyons  Inn.  The  noble  statue,  by 
Flaxman,  is  taken  from  a  picture  by  Sir  J.  Reynolds.  It  is  supported 
by  the  usual  allegorical  figures.  Behind,  at  the  foot  of  the  pedestal,  is 
the  figure  of  a  condemned  criminal. 

"  The  statue  of  Mansfield  is  calm,  simple,  severe,  and  solitary — he  sits 
alone,  '  above  all  pomp,  all  passion,  and  all  pride  ; '  and  there  is  that 
in  his  look  which  would  embolden  the  innocent  and  strike  terror  to  the 
guilty.  The  figure  of  the  condemned  youth  is  certainly  a  fine  conception 
—  hope  has  forsaken  him,  and  already  in  his  ears  is  the  thickening  hum 
of  the  multitude,  eager  to  see  him  make  his  final  account  with  time. 


THE   NORTH  TRANSEPT.  327 

This   work   raised   high   expectations — Banks   said    when   he   sa\?    It, 
'  This  little  man  cuts  us  all  out.'  "—Allan  Cunningham. 

"  Here  Murray  long  enough  his  country's  pride, 
Shall  be  no  more  than  Tully  or  than  Hyde."—  Pope. 

"Lord  Mansfield's  is  a  character  above  all  praise, — the  oracle  of  law, 
the  standard  of  eloquence,  and  the  pattern  of  all  virtue,  both  in  public 
and  private  life." — Bishop  Newton. 

"  His  parliamentary  eloquence  never  blazed  into  sudden  flashes  ot 
dazzling  brilliancy,  but  its  clear,  placid,  and  mellow  splendour  was 
never  for  an  instant  overclouded.  ...  In  the  House  of  Peers,  Chat- 
ham's utmost  vehemence  and  pathos  produced  less  effect  than  the 
moderation,  the  reasonableness,  the  luminous  order,  and  the  serene 
dignity  which  characterised  the  speeches  of  Lord  Mansfield." — 
Macaulay's  Essays,  ii.  27,  iii.  536. 

(Turning  round  the  screen  of  monuments)  Sir  William  Webb  Foiled 
(1845),  Attorney-General — a  statue  by  Behnes. 

George  Gordon,  Fourth  Earl  of  Aberdeen  (i860),  Prime  Minister — a 
bust  by  Noble. 

*  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Warren,  wife  of  the  Bishop  of  Bangor  (1816).  Her 
charities  are  typified  by  the  lovely  figure  of  a  beggar  girl  holding  a 
baby,  by  Westmacott. 

Sir  George  Cornewall  Lewis  (1863),  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  and 
Secretary  of  State — a  bust  by  Weekes. 

General  Sir  Eyre  Coote  (1783),  who  expelled  the  French  from  the 
coasts  of  Coromandel,  and  defeated  the  forces  of  Hyder  Ally.  In  the 
huge  and  hideous  monument  by  Thomas  Banks  Victory  is  represented 
as  hanging  the  medallion  of  the  hero  upon  a  trophy :  the  mourning 
Mahratta  captive  and  the  little  elephant  in  front  recall  the  scene  of  his 
actions.  "The  Mahratta  captive  is  praised  by  artists  for  its  fine  ana- 
tomy, and  by  artists  for  its  finer  expression."  * 

Charles  Buller  (1848),  who  "united  the  deepest  human  sympathies 
with  wide  and  philosophic  views  of  government  and  mankind,  and  pur- 
sued the  noblest  political  and  social  objects,  above  party  spirit  and 
without  an  enemy."     A  bust. 

Brigadier-General  Hope,  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Quebec  (1789). 
Monument  by  Bacon. 

Warren  Hastings  (1818),  Governor  of  Bengal.  He  was  buried  at  his 
home  of   Daylesford,  though—"  with   all   his   faults,  and   they  were 

•  Allan  Cunningham. 


328  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

neither  few  nor  small,  only  one  cemetery  was  worthy  to  contain  his 
remains.  In  that  Temple  of  silence  and  reconciliation  where  the 
enmities  of  twenty  generations  lie  buried,  in  the  Great  Abbey  which 
has  during  many  ages  afforded  a  quiet  resting-place  to  those  whose 
minds  anil  bodies  have  been  shattered  by  the  contentions  of  the  great 
Hall,  the  dust  of  the  illustrious  accused  should  have  mingled  with  the 
dust  of  the  illustrious  accusers."  * 

Jonas  Hanway  (1786),  "the  friend  and  father  of  the  poor,"  chiefly 
known  as  the  first  person  in  England  who  carried  an  umbrella.  He 
wrote  some  interesting  accounts  of  his  foreign  travels,  and  then  pub- 
lished a  dull  journal  of  an  English  tour.  "Jonas,"  says  Dr.  Johnson, 
"  acquired  some  reputation  by  travelling  abroad,  but  lost  it  all  by  tra- 
velling at  home."     The  monument  has  a  medallion  by  Moore. 

Sir  Herbert  Edwardes  (1868),  the  hero  of  the  Punjab.     A  bust. 

Richard  Cobden  (1865),  distinguished  by  his  efforts  for  the  repeal  of 
the  Corn-Laws.     A  bust  by  Woolner. 

George  Montagu  Dunk,  Earl  of  Halifax  (1771),  Secretary  of  State, 
who  "  contributed  so  largely  to  the  commerce  and  splendour  of 
America  as  to  be  styled  the  Father  of  the  Colonies."  The  capital  of 
Nova  Scotia  takes  its  name  from  him.  A  monument  by  John  Bacon- 
Vice  Admiral  Charles  Watson  (175  7),  who  delivered  the  prisoners 
in  the  black  hole  of  Calcutta.  A  frightful  monument  by  Scheemakers, 
erected  by  the  East  India  Company. 

Sir  William  Sanderson  (1676),  the  adulatory  historian  of  Mary 
Stuart,  James  I.,  and  Charles  I. ;  and  his  wife  Dame  Bridget — "  Mother 
of  the  Maids  of  Honour  to  the  Queen-Mother,  and  to  her  Majesty  that 
now  is."  The  monument  is  supported  by  figures  of  Wisdom  and 
Justice. 

(West  Wall)  General  Joshua  Guest,  "  who  closed  a  sendee  of  sixty 
years  by  faithfully  defending  Edinburgh  Castle  against  the  rebels  in 
1745."     A  monument  and  bust. 

Sir  John  Balchen  (1744),  Admiral  of  the  White,  Commander-in- 
Chief,  lost  on  board  the  Victory  in  a  violent  storm  in  the  channel, 
"from  which  sad  circumstance,"  says  the  epitaph,  "we  may  learn 
that  neither  the  greatest  skill,  judgment,  or  experience,  joined  to  the 
most  pious,  unshaken  resolution,  can  resist  the  fury  of  the  winds  and 
waves."  The  monument,  by  Scheemakers,  bears  a  relief  representing 
the  shipwreck. 

•Macaulay's  "  Essajn." 


THE  MUSICIANS'   AISLE.  329 

John    Warren,   Bishop   of  Bangor  (1800).     A   monument   by   R. 

Weitmacott. 

Lord  Aubrey  Beauclerk  (1740),  killed  in  a  naval  engagement  under 
Admiral  Vernon  off  the  Spanish  coast.  A  monument  by  Schee- 
makers. 

"  Sweet  were  his  manners,  as  his  soul  was  great, 
And  ripe  his  worth,  though  immature  his  fate. 
Each  tender  grace  that  joy  and  love  inspires 
Living,  he  mingled  with  his  martial  fires; 
Dying,  he  bid  Britannia's  thunder  roar. 
And  Spain  still  felt  him  when  he  breath'd  no  more." 

(The  window   above   this   tomb  commemorates  the  loss  of  H.M.S. 
Captain,  Sept.  7,  1870.) 

General  Hon.  Percy  Kirk  (1741),  and  his  wife  Diana  Dormer  of 
Rousham.     A  monument  by  Scheemakers. 

Richard  Kane  (1736),  distinguished  in  the  wars  of  William  III.  and 
Anne,  and  for  his  defence  of  Gibraltar  for  George  I.  He  was  rewarded 
by  George  II.  with  the  governorship  of  Minorca,  where  he  is  buried. 
A  monument  by  Rysbrack,  with  a  tine  bust. 

Samuel  Bradford,  Bishop  of  Rochester  (173 1),  "  proesul  humillimus, 
humanissimus,  et  vere  evangelicus."     A  monument  by  Cheere. 

Hugh  Boulter,  Bishop  of  Bristol,  who  "  was  translated  to  the  Arch- 
bishopric of  Armagh  (1733),  and  from  thence  to  heaven"  (174-). 
Monument  by  Cheere. 

Entering  the  north  aisle  of  the  Choir,  the  "  Aisle  of  the 
Musicians,"  we  find — 

(Left  Wall)  Sir  Thomas  Fowell  Di/xton,  the  philanthropist,  chiefly 
known  from  his  exertions  in  the  cause  of  Prison  Discipline  and  for  the 
suppression  of  Suttees  in  India.     A  statue  by  Thrup'p. 

Sir  Thomas  Hesketh  (1605),  an  eminent  lawyer  of  the  time  of  Eliza- 
beth.    A  handsome  monument  of  the  period,  with  a  reclining  figure. 

Hugh  Chamberlen  (1728),  an  eminent  physician  and  benefactor  to 
the  science  of  midwifery,  on  which  he  published  many  works.  His 
monument,  by  Scheemakers  and  Delvaux,  was  erected  for  Edward, 
Duke  of  Buckinghamshire,  and  his  elaborate  epitaph  is  by  Atterbury, 
whom  he  visited  in  the  Tower.  In  the  time  of  its  erection  tins  was 
considered  "  one  of  the  best  pieces  ia  the  Abbey !  "  • 

•  Strype. 


330  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

(In  front  ot  Chamberlen's  tomb  is  the  fine  brass  of  Dr.  y.  II.  Mmh, 
Bishop  of  Gloucester  and  Bristol,  sometime  Canon  of  this  church,  1859.) 

Samuel  Arnold  (1802),  the  composer  and  organist  of  the  Abbey — a 
tablet. 

Henry  Purcell  (1695  V  composer  and  organist — a  tablet.  The  epitaph, 
by  Lady  Elizabeth  Howard,  the  wife  of  Dryden,  tells  how  he  is  "gone 
to  that  blessed  place  where  only  his  harmony  can  be  exceeded."  The 
air,  "Britons,  strike  home,"  is  one  of  the  best  known  of  Purcell's  pro- 
ductions. 

Sir  Stamford  Raffles  (1826),  Governor  of  Java  and  First  President 
of  the  Zoological  Society  of  London.     A  statue  by  Chantrey. 

Almeric  de  Courcy,  Baron  of  Kins  ale  (1719),  who  commanded  a 
troop  of  horse  under  James  II.  His  epitaph  tells  how  he  was  "de- 
scended from  the  famous  John  de  Courcy,  Earl  of  Ulster,  who,  in  the 
reign  of  King  John,  in  consideration  of  his  great  valour,  obtained  that 
extraordinary  privilege  to  him  and  his  heirs  of  being  covered  before  the 
king." 

*  William  Wilberforce  (1833),  "whose  name  will  ever  be  specially 
identified  with  those  exertions  which,  by  the  blessing  of  God.  removed 
from  England  the  guilt  of  the  African  Slave  trade.  The  peers  and 
commons  of  England,  with  the  Lord  Chancellor  and  the  Speaker  at 
their  head,  carried  him  to  his  fitting  place  among  the  mighty  dead 
around."  A  statue  by  Joseph,  perhaps  the  most  characteristic  modern 
statue  in  the  Abbey. 

Sir  Thomas  Duppa  (1694),  who  waited  upon  Charles  II.  when 
Prince  of  Wales,  and  after  the  Restoration  was  made  Usher  of  the 
Black  Rod. 

Dame  Elizabeth  Carteret  (1717).  Above  are  inscriptions  to  the 
different  members  of  the  Greville  family  buried  in  the  tomb  of  their 
relative,  Monk,  Duke  of  Albemarle. 

Turning  to  the  Right  Wall  we  find — 

Dr.  John  Blow  (1708),  organist  and  composer,  the  master  of  Purcell. 
A  canon  in  four  parts  with  the  music  is  seen  beneath  the  tablet. 

"  Challenged  by  James  II.  to  make  an  anthem  as  good  as  that  of 
one  of  the  King's  Italian  composers,  Blow  by  the  next  Sunday  pro- 
duced, '  I  beheld,  and  lo  a  great  multitude  !  !  '  The  King  sent  the 
Jesuit,  Father  Peter,  to  acquaint  him  that  he  was  well  pleased  with  it, 
'but.'   added  Peter,    'I  myself  think  it  too  long.'      'That,'  replied 


THE   NAVE.  331 

Blow,  'is  the  opinion  of  but  one  fool,  and  I  heed  it  not.'     This  quarrel 
was,  happily,  cut  short  by  the  Revolution  of  1C88." — Dean  Stair 

Charles  Burney  (1814),  author  of  the  "History  of  Music,"  the 
friend  of  Dr.  Johnson,  and  father  of  Madame  d'Arblay.  A  tablet. 
"Dr.  Burney  gave  dignity  to  the  character  of  the  modem  musician, 
by  joining  to  it  that  of  the  scholar  and  philosopher." — Sir  IV.  Jones, 

William  C?-oft  (1727),  composer  and  organist.  He  died  of  his 
exertions  at  the  coronation  of  George  II.  "  Ad  coelitum  demigravit 
chorum,  prresentior  angelorum  concentibus  suum  additurus  Hallelu- 
jah."    A  tablet  and  bust. 

Temple  West,  Admiral  of  the  White  {1757),  the  son-in-law  of  Bal- 
chen,  celebrated  for  his  victories  over  the  French.     A  bust. 

Richard  Le  Neve,  who  was  lulled  while  commanding  the  Edgar  in 
the  Dutch  wars,  1673. 

(Above  the  last)  Sir  George  Staunton  (1801),  who  concluded  the 
treaty  with  Tippoo  Saib  in  1 784.     Monument  by  Cliantrey. 

Peter  Heylin  (1662),  the  independent  canon  of  Westminster  who 
defied  Dean  Williams  from  the  pulpit.  He  was  ousted  by  the  Com- 
monwealth, returned  at  the  Restoration,  and  was  buried  under  his 
seat  as  sub-dean,  in  accordance  with  his  own  desire,  for  he  related 
that  on  the  night  before  he  was  seized  with  his  last  illness  he  dreamed 
that  "his  late  Majesty"  Charles  I.  appeared  to  him  and  said,  "  Peter, 
I  will  have  you  buried  under  your  seat  in  church,  for  you  are  rarely  seen 
but  there  or  at  your  study." 

Charles  Agar,  Earl  of  Normanton  and  Archbishop  of  Dublin  (1809). 
A  monument  by  Bacon. 

We  now  enter  the  Nave  (length  166  ft.;  breadth,  with 
aisles,  71  ft.  9  in.). 

(First  Arch)  Philip  Carteret  (17 10),  son  of  Lord  George  Carteret,  who 
died  a  Westminster  scholar.  A  figure  of  Time  bears  a  scroll  with 
some  pretty  Sapphic  verses  by  Dr.  Freind,  then  second  master  of  the 
school.     Monument  by  David. 

(Third  Arch)  Dr.  Richard  Mead  (1754),  the  famous  physician,  who 
refused  to  prescribe  for  Sir  R.  Walpole  till  Dr.  John  Freind  was 
released  from  the  Tower.  He  "lived  more  in  the  broad  sunshine  of 
life  than  almost  any  man,"*  being  for  nearly  half  a  century  at  the  lu  ad 

•  Boswell's  Juhnson,  iv.  222. 


332  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

of  his  profession.  He  was  a  great  collector  of  books  and  pictures,  and 
is  extolled  by  Dibdin *  as  the  "ever-renowned  Richard  Mead,  whose 
fiharmacopceal  reputation  is  lost  in  the  blaze  of  his  bibliomaniacal 
glory."     Pope  speaks  of — 

"  Rare  monkish  manuscripts  for  Hearne  alone, 
And  books  for  Mead,  and  butterflies  for  Sloane."f 

Mead  is  buried  in  the  Temple  Church.  His  monument  here  has  a  bust 
by  Scheemakers. 

Spencer  Perceval,  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  (1812),  assassinated 
in  the  lobby  of  the  House  of  Commons  by  Bellingham.  His  recum- 
bent effigy  with  figures  of  Truth  and  Temperance  at  his  feet  lies  in  a 
window  too  high  up  to  be  examined.  A  bas-relief  represents  the 
murder.     The  monument  is  by  Westmacott. 

Against  the  choir  screen  are  two  large  monuments — 

(Left)  Sir  Isaac  Newton  (1727),  the  author  of  the  "Principia,"  and 
the  greatest  philosopher  of  which  any  age  can  boast.  His  body,  after 
lying  in  state  in  Jerusalem  Chamber,  was  carried  in  state  to  the  grave, 
his  pall  being  borne  by  the  Lord  Chancellor  and  such  Dukes  and  Earls 
as  were  Fellows  of  the  Royal  Society.     His  tomb,  by  Rysbrack,  is 

inscribed — 

"  Isaacus  Newtonius, 
Quem  Immortalem 
Testantur  Tempus,  Natura,  Ccelum ; 
Mortalem 
Hoc  marmor  fatetur." 
"  Nature  and  Nature's  laws  lay  hid  in  night ; 
God  said,  Let  Newton  be,  and  all  was  light."  J 

The  grave  beneath  the  monument  bears  the  words — "  Hie  depositum 
quod  mortale  fuit  Isaaci  Newtoni." 

"  No  one  ever  left  knowledge  in  a  state  so  different  from  that  in 
which  he  found  it.  Men  were  instructed  not  only  in  new  truths,  but 
in  new  methods  of  discovering  old  truth  :  they  were  made  acquainted 
with  the  great  principle  which  connects  together  the  most  distant 
regions  of  space  as  well  as  the  most  remote  periods  of  duration,  and 
which  was  to  lead  to  further  discoveries  far  beyond  what  the  wisest  or 
most  sanguine  could  anticipate."— Dr.  Play/air.    Prelim.  Dissert. 

"In  Sir  Isaac  Newton  two  kinds  of  intellectual  power — which  have 
little  in  common  and  which  are  not  often  found  together  in  a  very 

•"Bibliomania,"  ed.  1842,  364.  +  Epist.  4.  t  Pope,  iii.  378. 


THE  NAVE.  333 

high  degree  of  vigour,  but  which,  nevertheless,  are  equally  nccessan  in 
the  most  sublime  departments  of  natural  philosophy — were  united  as 
they  have  never  been  united  before  or  since.  There  may  have  been 
minds  as  happily  constituted  as  his  for  the  cultivation  of  pure  mathe- 
matical science  ;  there  may  have  been  minds  as  happily  constituted  for 
the  cultivation  of  science  purely  experimental ;  but  in  no  other  mind 
have  the  demonstrative  faculty  and  the  inductive  faculty  co-existed  in 
such  supreme  excellence  and  perfect  harmony." — Macaulay.  Hist,  of 
England,  i.  iii. 

(Right  of  entrance)  James,  Earl  Stanhope  (1718),  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  and  Secretary  of  State.  The  second  and  third  Earls  Stan- 
hope are  commemorated  in  the  same  monument,  which  was  designed 
by  Kent  and  executed  by  Rysbrack.    They  are  all  buried  at  Chevening. 

Following  the  North  Aisle  we  may  notice — 

(Fourth  Arch)  7ane  Hill  (1631).  A  curious  small  black  effigy,  in- 
teresting as  the  only  ancient  monument  in  the  nave. 

Mrs.  Mary  Beanfoy  (1705).  The  monument  is  interesting  as  the 
work  of  Grinling  Gibbons. 

(Fifth  Arch)  Thomas  Banks,  the  sculptor  (1805),  buried  at  Pad- 
dington. 

(In  front  of  Banks)  Sir  Robert  T.  Wilson  (1849)  and  his  wife.  A 
modem  brass.  He  is  represented  in  plate  armour ;  his  children  are 
beneath. 

John  Hunter  (1793),  the  famous  anatomist,  moved  by  the  College 
of  Surgeons  from  his  first  burial-place  at  St.  Martin's-iii-the-Fields. 
A  brass. 

(At  the  feet  of  Hunter)  A  small  square  stone  bearing  the  words,  "  O 
Rare  Ben  Jonson."  He  was  buried  here  standing  upright,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  favour — "eighteen  inches  of  square  ground  in  West- 
minster Abbey  "—which  he  had  asked  from  Charles  I.,  having  died  in 
great  poverty.  The  inscription,  says  Aubrey,  "  was  done  at  the  charge 
of  Jacob  Young  (afterwards  knighted),  who,  walking  there  when  the 
grave  was  covering,  gave  the  fellow  eighteenpence  to  cut  it." 

"  His  name  can  never  be  forgotten,  having  by  his  own  good  learning, 
and  the  severity  of  his  nature  and  manners,  very  much  reformed  the 
stage,  and  indeed  the  English  poetry  itself." — Clarendon. 

(Beyond  the  grave  of  Wilson)  Sir  Charles  Lyell  (1875),  who 
"  throughout  a  long  and  laborious  life  sought  the  means  of  deciphering 
the  fragmentary  records  of  the  world's  history." 


334  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

(Sixlh  Arch)  Dr.  John  Woodward  (1728),  Professor  of  Physic  at 
Gresham  College,  author  of  many  geological  works,  and  founder  of  the 
geological  professorship  at  Cambridge.  His  medallion  is  by  Schee- 
makers. 

"  Who  Nature's  treasures  would  explore, 
Her  mysteries  and  arcana  know, 
Must  high  with  lofty  Newton  soar, 

Must  stoop  as  delving  Woodward  low." 

Dr.  Richard  Bentley. 

Captains  Harvey  and  Hutt,  who  fell  off  Brest,  on  board  their  ships 
the  Brunswick  and  Queen  (1794).  An  enormous  and  ugly  monu- 
ment by  the  younger  Bacon.  It  represents  Britannia  decorating  their 
urn  with  wreaths. 

(Seventh  Arch)  General  Stringer  Lawrence  (1766).  A  monument, 
by  Tayler,  erected  by  the  East  India  Company  in  honour  of  the  con- 
quest of  Pondicherry  and  the  relief  of  Trichinopoly.  The  city  is  seen 
in  a  relief. 

At  the  North-  West  Corner—'1  The  Whigs'  Corner  "—are 
the  monuments  of — 

Charles  James  Fox  (1806),  who  died  at  Chiswick,  and  is  buried  in 
the  North  Transept.  The  great  statesman  and  orator  is  represented 
as  a  half-naked  figure  sprawling  into  the  arms  of  Liberty  in  a  monument 
by  Westtnacott,  erected  by  his  private  friends. 

Captain  James  Montagu  (1794),  killed  off  Brest.  The  huge  monu- 
ment by  Flaxman  has  a  relief  of  the  battle.  The  lions,  so  utterly 
wanting  in  life  and  likeness,  were  greatly  admired  at  the  time  of  their 
execution.     Compare  them  with  the  lions  by  Landseer  ! 

Sir  James  Mackintosh  (1832),  "jurist,  philosopher,  historian,  states- 
man," buried  at  Hampstead.     The  monument  is  by  Theed. 

George  Tiemey  (1830),  long  the  leader  of  the  Whig  party  in  the 
House  of  Commons.     Monument  by  R.  West?nacott. 

Henry  R.  Vassal  Fox,  yd  Lord  HoVand  (1840),  nephew  of  the 
statesman,  well  known  as  a  literary  Maecenas.  A  huge  monument  by 
Baily,  representing  "  the  Prison-House  of  Death,"  bearing  a  bust, 
but  with  no  word  of  inscription  to  indicate  whom  it  is  intended  to 
honour. 

Sir  Richard  Fletcher  (1812),  killed  at  the  storming  of  St.  Sebastian. 
Monument  by  Baily. 


THE  NAVE.  335 

James  Rennell  (1830),  the  Asiatic  and  African  geographer.  A  bust 
by  Baily. 

Zachary  Macaulay  (1838)  (father  of  the  historian,  buried  at  the  ceme- 
tery in  Brunswick  Square),  who  fought  by  the  side  of  Wilberforce  in 
the  anti-slavery  movement,  and  "  conferred  freedom  on  eight  hundred 
thousand  slaves."     A  bust  by  U'eekes. 

West  Wall- 
John  Condiritt  (1737),  Master  of  the  Mint,  successor  and  nephew  of 
Sir  Isaac  Newton,  whose  monument  is  opposite.      The  tomb  is  by 
Cheere.     In  the  cornice  an  inscription  is  inserted   commemorative  of 
Jeremiah  Horrocks,  Curate  of  Poole. 

(Over  the  west  door)  William  Pitt  (1806),  Chancellor  of  the  Ex- 
chequer. He  is  represented  in  the  act  of  declamation,  with  History 
recording  his  words,  and  Anarchy  writhing  at  his  feet. 

(Beyond  door)  Admiral  Sir  Thomas  Hardy  (1 732),  distinguished  in 
the  naval  wars  of  Queen  Anne.     Monument  by  Cheere, 

(Outside  Baptistery)  Sir  George  Cornewall  (1743),  killed  in  battle  oft' 
Toulon,  in  honour  of  which  Parliament  voted  this  enormous  monument 
by  Tayler,  in  which  the  whole  sea-fight  is  represented. 

The  stained  glass  of  the  west  window  (Moses,  Aaron, 
and  the  Patriarchs)  was  executed  in  the  reign  of  George  II. 
It  is  from  this  end  of  the  minster  that  its  long  aisles  are 
seen  in  the  full  glory  of  their  aerial  perspective. 

"  The  Abbey  Church  is  beheld  as  a  rare  structure,  with  so  small  and 
slender  pillars  (greatest  legs  argue  not  the  strongest  man)  to  support  so 
weighty  a  fabrick." — Fuller's  Worthies. 

"  The  door  is  closed,  but  soft  and  deep 
Around  the  awful  arches  sweep 
Such  airs  as  soothe  a  hermit's  sleep. 

**  From  each  carv'd  nook  and  fretted  bend 
Cornice  and  gallery  seem  to  send 
Tones  that  with  seraph  hymns  might  blend* 

«*  Three  solemn  parts  together  twine 
In  harmony's  mysterious  line  ; 
Three  solemn  aisles  approach  the  sliriue. 


336  WALKS   IN  LONDON. 

"  Yet  all  are  one — together  all 
In  thoughts  that  awe  but  not  appal 
Teach  the  adoring  heart  tc  fall." 

John  Keble. 

Behind    Cornwall's  tomb   is   the  Baptistery.       It   con- 
tains— 

(At  the  back  of  Cornewall's  tomb)  Hon.  James  Craggs  (1720),  who, 
the  son  of  a  shoemaker,  became  Secretary  of  State,  yet  was  so  conci- 
liating in  his  manners  that  in  his  lifetime  he  was  universally  honoured 
and  beloved.  Pope,  who  was  his  devoted  friend,  took  the  greatest 
interest  in  the  progress  and  erection  of  his  statue,  which  is  by  the 
Italian  sculptor  Guelphi,  and  he  wrote  the  epitaph  so  severely  criticised 
by  Dr.  Johnson — 

"  Statesman,  yet  friend  to  truth!  of  soul  sincere, 
In  action  faithful,  and  in  honour  clear  ! 
Who  broke  no  promise,  serv'd  no  private  end ; 
Who  gain'd  no  title,  and  who  lost  no  friend ; 
Ennobled  by  himself,  by  all  approv'd, 
Prais'd,  wept,  and  honour'd  by  the  Muse  he  lov'd." 

Unfortunately  the  fair  fame  of  Craggs  was  not  untarnished  after 
his  death,  which  was  nominally  caused  by  the  smallpox,  but  is  supposed 
to  have  been  really  due  to  the  anxiety  he  underwent  during  the  Parlia- 
mentary Inquiry  into  the  South  Sea  Swindle,  in  the  subscription  list 
of  which  his  name  was  doM'n  for  the  fictitious  sum  of  ,£659,000. 

William  Wordsworth,  the  poet  (1850),  buried  at  Grassmere — a 
statue  by  Lough. 

John  Keble  (1866),  author  of  "The  Christian  Year,"  buried  at 
Hursley — a  feeble  monument  with  a  bust  by  Woolner. 

Here  also  is  buried,  without  a  monument,  the  famous  Jacobite  Dean, 
Atterbiiry,  Bishop  of  Rochester  (1731-2),  the  brilliant  controversial 
writer  and  orator.  His  devotion  to  the  cause  of  the  Stuarts  led  to  his 
being  committed  to  the  Tower  under  George  I.  and  soon  after  to  his 
banishment.  He  died  at  Paris,  and  was  privately  interred,  as  he 
desired,  "as  far  from  kings  and  kaisers  as  possible." 

On  entering  the  South  Aisle  of  the  Nave  we  see  above  us 
the  oak  gallery  opening  from  the  Deanery,  from  whence  the 


THE  NAVE.  337 

royal  family  have  been  accustomed  to  watch  processions  in 
the  Abbey.     We  may  notice  the  monuments  of — 

(Above  the  door  leading  to  the  Deanery  and  Jerusalem  Chamber} 
Henry  Wharton,  the  favourite  chaplain  of  Archbishop  Sancroft,  author 
of  many  works  on  ecclesiastical  history.  "  His  early  death  was  deplored 
by  men  of  all  parties  as  an  irreparable  loss  to  letters."  *  Archbishop 
Tenison  attended  his  funeral,  and  an  anthem,  composed  for  the  occa- 
sion by  Purcell,  was  sung  over  his  grave. 

William  Congreve  (1728),  the  licentious  dramatist,  so  grossly  extolled 
by  Dryden  in  the  lines — 

'•  Heaven,  that  but  once  was  prodigal  before, 
To  Shakspeare  gave  as  much,  he  could  not  give  him  more." 

The  monument,  with  a  medallion  by  Bird,  was  "  sett  up  by  Henrietta, 
Duchess  of  Marlborough,  as  a  mark  how  dearly  she  remembers  the 
happiness  and  honour  she  enjoyed  in  the  friendship  of  so  worthy  and 
honest  a  man."  "Happiness  perhaps,  but  not  honour,"  said  the  old 
Duchess  Sarah  when  she  heard  of  the  epitaph,  but  the  Duchess 
Henrietta,  to  whom  Congreve  had  bequeathed  ^7000,  which  she  spent 
in  a  diamond  necklace,t  carried  her  adulation  farther  than  this-  stone, 
for  she  had  an  ivory  statue  of  Congreve,  "to  which  she  would  talk  as 
to  the  living  Mr.  Congreve,  with  all  the  freedom  of  the  most  po ate  and 
unreserved  conversation,"  which  moved  by  clockwork,  upon  her  table, 
and  she  had  also  a  wax  figure  of  him  whose  feet  were  blistered  and 
anointed  by  her  doctors,  as  Congreve's  had  been  when  he  was  attacked 
by  the  gout.J 

Beneath  the  monument  of  Congreve,  Mrs.  Anne  Old  field,  the  actress, 
was  buried  with  the  utmost  pomp  in  1730,  "in  a  very  fine  Brussels  lace 
head,  a  Holland  shift,  and  double  ruffles  of  the  same  lace,  a  pair  of  new 
kid  gloves,  and  her  body  wrapped  in  a  winding-sheet."  To  this  Pope 
»dudes  in  the  lines — 

"  Odious,  in  woollen  !  'twould  a  saint  provoke 
(Were  the  last  words  that  poor  Narcissa  spoke) ; 
No,  let  a  charming  chintz  and  Brussels  lace 
Dress  my  cold  limbs  and  shade  my  lifeless  face  ; 
One  would  not,  sure,  be  frightful  when  ons's  dead— 
And — Betty,  give  this  cheek  a  little  red." 

•  Mar;iulay,  *'  Hist,  of  En-Ia-n  !.*'  ii.  t 

♦  Dr.  Young  in  Spenre's  Anecdotes. 
t  Ste  Macaulay's  "  Essays,"  vi.  531. 

VOL.  IT  Z 


338  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Dr.  Joh.71  Freind  (1728),  the  eminent  physician  who  was  imprisoned 
in  the  Tower  for  his  friendship  with  Atterbury,  and  released  by  the 
influence  of  Dr.  Mead  with  Sir  R.  Walpole.  He  is  buried  at  Hitchin. 
The  monument  here  has  a  bust  by  Rysbrack  and  an  epitaph  by  Samuel 
Wesley. 

Thomas  Sprat  (1 713),  Bishop  of  Rochester,  the  royalist  Dean  of 
"Westminster  who  refused  to  allow  the  name  of  the  regicide  Milton  to 
appear  in  the  abbey.  His  son  Thomas,  Archdeacon  of  Rochester,  is 
commemorated  with  him  in  this  monument  by  Bird,  which  was  erected 
by  Dr.  John  Freind. 

11  Unhappily  for  his  fame,  it  has  been  usual  to  print  -his  verses  in 
collections  of  the  British  poets ;  and  those  who  judge  of  him  by  his 
verses  must  consider  him  as  a  servile  imitator,  who,  without  one  spark  of 
Cowley's  admirable  genius,  mimicked  whatever  was  least  commendable 
in  Cowley's  manner ;  but  those  who  are  acquainted  with  Sprat's 
prose  writings  will  form  a  very  different  estimate  of  his  powers.  He 
was,  indeed,  a  great  master  of  our  language,  and  possessed  at  once  the 
eloquence  of  the  orator,  of  the  controversialist,  and  of  the  historian." — 
Macaulay's  Hist,  of  England,  ii.  vi. 

Joseph  WiLocks  (1756),  the  Dean  of  Westminster  under  whom  the 
much-abused  western  towers  of  the  abbey  were  erected  by  Wren. 
They  are  triumphantly  exhibited  on  his  monument  by  Cheere,  and  he 
is  buried  under  the  south-west  tower. 

(Above  these)  Admiral  Richard  Tyrrell  (1766),  an  immense  monu- 
ment like  a  nightmare,  which  closes  three  parts  of  the  window.  The 
admiral,  who  was  a  nephew  of  the  Sir  Peter  Warren  whose  tomb  is  in 
the  north  transept,  was  distinguished  when  commanding  the  Bucking- 
ham against  the  French.  He  died  and  was  buried  at  sea.  Nathaniel 
Read,  a  pupil  of  Roubiliac,  has  represented  his  ascent — a  naked  figure 
■ — from  the  waves  to  heaven.  Beneath  are,  in  wild  confusion,  the 
coralline  depths  of  the  sea,  a  number  of  allegorical  figures,  and  the 
Buckingham  jammed  into  a  rock. 

Zachary  Pearce  (1769),  Bishop  of  Rochester  and  the  Dean  of  West- 
minster who  proposed  to  remove  the  glorious  tomb  of  Aylmer  de 
Valence  to  set  up  the  cenotaph  of  General  Wolfe.*  He  is  buried  at 
Bromley.     The  monument  here  has  a  bust  by  Tyier. 

William  Buckland  (1856),  Dean  of  Westminster  and  first  Professor 
sf  Geology  at  Oxford.     Bust  by  Weekes. 

Mrs.  Katharine  Bovey  (1724) — a  monument  by  Gibbs  the  architect, 
*  See  "Walpo'.e's  Letters. 


THE  NAVE.  339 

erected  by  Mrs.  Mary  Pope,  who  lived  with  her  nearly  forty  years  ib 
perlect  friendship — with  an  astonishing  epitaph. 

John  Thomas  (1793),  Dean  of  Westminster  and  Bishop  of  Rochester. 
A  bust  by  Rysbrack. 

(Above)  John  Ireland  (17 13),  Dean  of  Westminster  and  Founder  of 
the  Ireland  Scholarships.  A  bust  by  Turnouth.  (Over  these,  in  the 
window)  Gen.  Viscount  Howe  (1758),  killed  on  the  march  to  Ticon- 
deroga.  In  the  monument,  by  Scheemakers,  the  genius  of  Massachusetts 
Bay  sits  disconsolate  at  the  foot  of  an  obelisk  bearing  the  arms  of  th/: 
deceased. 

Opposite  these,  in  the  Nave,  are  a  group  of  interesting 
grave-stones :  viz. — 

Thomas  Tompson  (1713),  and  George  Graham  (1751),  the  first 
English  Watchmakers. 

David  Livingstone  (1873),  the  Missionaiy,  Traveller,  and  Philan 
thropist. 

Robert  Stephenson  (1859),  the  famous  engineer — a  brass. 

Sir  Charles  Barry  (i860),  the  architect — a  brass. 

Sir  George  Pollock  (1872),  Constable  of  the  Tower. 

Colin  Campbell,  Lord  Clyde  (1863). 

Returning  to  the  South  Aisle,  beginning  from  the  Cloister 
door,  we  see — 

General  George  Wade  (1748),  celebrated  for  his  military  roads.  The 
monument — in  which  Time,  endeavouring  to  overthrow  the  memory  of 
the  dead  (a  trophical  pillar),  is  repelled  by  Fame — is  a  disgrace  to 
Roubiliac. 

Sir  James  Outram  (1863),  the  Indian  hero — a  bust  by  Noble. 

Col.  Charles  Herries  (18 19) — a  monument  by  Chantrcy. 

Carola  Morland  (1674)  and  Anne  Morland  (1679-80).  Two  monu- 
ments to  the  two  wives  of  Sir  Samuel  Morland,  Secretary  of  Oliver 
Cromwell,  who  wrote  the  "History  of  the  Evangelical  Churches  of 
Piedmont."  He  is  regarded  as  the  inventor  of  the  Speaking  Trumpet 
and  Fire  Engine.  He  has  displayed  his  learning  here  in  inscriptions 
in  Hebrew,  Greek,  Ethiopic,  and  English. 

General  Jamec  Fleming  (1750) — a  monument  by  Roubiliac:. 


340  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Sir  Charles  Harboard  and  Clement  Cottrell  (1672),  friends  who 
perished  with  the  Earl  of  Sandwich  in  the  Royal  James,  destroyed 
by  a  fire-ship  in  a  naval  engagement  with  the  Dutch  off  the  coast  of 
Suffolk. 

(Over  the  last)  William  Har grave  (1750),  Governor  of  Gibraltar. 
On  the  monument  Hargrave  is  seen  rising  from  the  tomb,  while  Time 
has  overthrown  Death,  and  is  breaking  his  dart.  A  much-extolled 
work  of  Roubiliac. 

Sidney,  Earl  of  Godolphin  (1712).  "Prime  Minister  during  the 
first  nine  glorious  years  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne."  Burnet  speaks 
of  him  as  "  the  silentest  and  modestest  man  that  was,  perhaps,  ever 
bred  in  a  court."  The  monument,  by  Bird,  was  erected  by  his  daughter- 
in-law  Henrietta  Godolphin. 

Col.  Roger  Townshend  (1759),  killed  at  Ticonderoga  in  North 
America.  The  architecture  of  the  monument  is  by  R.  Adams  the 
architect,  the  relief  by  Eckstein. 

Sir  Palmer  Fairborne  (1680),  Governor  of  Tangiers.  The  monument 
is  by  T.  Bushnell,  the  epitaph  by  Dryden. 

Major  John  Andre  (1780),  who,  during  the  American  war,  was 
hanged  as  a  spy  by  Washington,  in  spite  of  the  pathetic  petition  that 
he  would  "  adapt  the  mode  of  his  death  to  his  feelings  as  a  man  of 
honour."  He  was  buried  under  the  gallows  near  the  river  Hudson, 
but,  in  1821,  his  remains  were  honourably  restored  by  the  Americans, 
on  the  petition  of  the  Duke  of  York.  The  monument,  erected  for 
George  III.  by  Van  Gelder,  bears  a  relief  representing  Washington 
receiving  the  petition  of  Andre  as  to  the  manner  of  his  death.  The 
head  of  Andre  has  been  twice  knocked  off  and  stolen,  but  that  this 
was  from  no  personal  feeling  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  a  head  is  also 
missing  in  the  relief  on  the  neighbouring  monument  of  R.  Townsend. 
Both  the  heads  being  easy  to  reach,  were  probably  broken  off  "by  the 
Westminster  boys  to  play  at  sconce  with  in  the  cloisters."* 

South  Aisle  of  Choir — 

(Right)  Admiral  George  Churchill  (1710),  brother  of  the  great  Duke 
of  Marlborough. 

Major  Richard  Creed  (1704),  "who  attended  William  III.  in  all  his 
wars,"  and  was  killed  in  the  Battle  of  Blenheim. 

Sir  Richard  Bingham  (1598),  celebrated  in  the  wars  of  Man'  and 
Elizabeth — a  small  black  monument  with  a  curious  epitaph  recounting 
the  varied  scenes  of  his  warfare. 

*  See  Smith's  Life  of  Nollekens. 


SOUTH  AISLE  OF  CHOIR.  341 

Martin  Ffolkes  (1754),  celebrated  as  a  numismatist,  President  of  the 
Royal  Society — buried  at  Hillingdon. 

Dr.  Isaac  Waits  (1674).      "  The  first  of  the  Dissenters  who  couited 
attention  by  the  graces  of  language."  *     Buried  at  Bunhill  Fields 
A  tabtet  witt  a  relief  by  Banks. 

George  Stepney  (1 707),  Ambassador  in  the  reigns  of  William  III.  and 
Anne. 

John  Wesley  (1790)  and  Charles  Wesley  (1780) — medallions. 

William  Wragg  (1 777),  lost  by  shipwreck  on  his  passage  as  a 
refugee  from  South  Carolina.  His  son  floated  on  a  package,  supported 
by  a  black  slave,  till  cast  upon  the  shore  of  Holland.  The  shipwreck 
is  seen  in  a  relief. 

Sir  Cloud esley  Shovel  (1707),  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Fleet.  As 
he  was  returning  with  his  fleet  from  Gibraltar  his  ship  was  wrecked  on 
"  the  Bishop  and  his  Clerks  "  off  the  roast  of  Scilly.  His  body  was 
washed  on  shore,  buried,  disinterred,  and  after  lying  in  state  at  his 
house  in  Soho  Square,  was  laid  in  the  abbey.  In  this  abominable 
monument  by  Bird  he  is  represented  in  his  own  well-known  wig,  but 
with  a  Roman  cuirass  and  sandals  !  "  Sir  Cloudesley  Shovel's  monu- 
ment has  often  given  me  great  offence.  Instead  of  the  brave  rough 
English  Admiral,  which  was  the  distinguishing  character  of  that  plain 
gallant  man,  he  is  represented  on  his  tomb  by  the  figure  of  a  beau, 
dressed  in  a  long  periwig,  and  reposing  himself  upon  velvet  cushions, 
under  a  canopy  of  state.  The  inscription  is  answerable  to  the  monu- 
ment ;  for,  instead  of  celebrating  the  many  remarkable  actions  he  had 
performed  in  the  service  of  his  country,  it  acquaints  us  only  with  the 
manner  of  his  death,  in  which  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  reap  any 
honour." — Spectator,  No.  26. 

(Above  Sir  C.  Shovel)  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller  (1723),  the  great  portrait 
painter  from  the  time  of  Charles  II.  to  George  I.,  the  only  painter 
commemorated  in  the  abbey.  Even  he  is  not  buried  here,  but  at 
Kneller  Hall,  in  accordance  with  his  exclamation  to  Pope  upon  his 
death-bed—"  By  God,  I  will  not  be  buried  in  Westminster,  they  do 
bury  fools  there."  He  designed  his  own  monument,  however:  the 
bust  is  by  Rysbrack,  and  Pope  wrote  the  epitaph — 

"Kneller,  by  Heaven,  and  not  a  master,  taught, 
Whose  art  was  nature,  and  whose  pictures  thought— 
When  now  two  ages  he  has  snatched  from  fate 
Whate'er  was  beauteous,  or  whate'er  was  great— 

•  Dr.  Johnson. 


W  iVALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Rests,  crowned  with  princes'  honours,  poets'  laya, 
Due  to  his  merit  and  brave  thirst  of  praise  : 
Living,  great  Nature  fear'd  he  might  outvie 
Her  works  ;  and  dying,  fears  herself  may  die." 

Left  Wall  (of  Choir)— 

Thomas  Thynne,  of  Longleat  (1681-2),  murdered  at  the  foot  of  the 
fTaymarket  by  the  hired  assassins  of  Count  Konigsmarck,  in  jealousy 
for  his  being  accepted  as  the  husband  of  the  great  heiress  Elizabeth 
Percy,  then  the  child-widow  of  Lord  Ogle.  The  murder  is  graphically 
represented  in  a  relief  upon  the  monument,  by  Quellin. 

"A  Welshman,  bragging  of  his  family,  said  his  father's  effigy  was  set 
up  in  Westminster  Abbey  ;  being  asked  whereabouts,  he  said,  '  In  the 

same  monument  with  Squire  Thynne,  for  he  was  his  coachman.'  " Joe 

fihller's  Jests. 

Thomas  Owen  (1598),  Judge  of  Common  Pleas  in  the  time  of 
Elizabeth — a  fine  old  monument  of  the  period. 

Pasquale  de  Paoli  (1807),  the  Italian  patriot — a  bust  by  Flaxman. 

Dame  Grace  Gethin  (1697),  whose  book  of  devotions  was  published 
after  her  death  by  Congreve,  with  a  prefatory  poem.  He  believed  or 
pretended  that  its  contents  were  original,  "  noted  down  by  the  authoress 
with  her  pencil  at  spare  hours,  or  as  she  was  dressing ;  "  but  the 
"  Reliquiae  Gethinianae  "  are  chiefly  taken  from  Lord  Bacon  and  other 
authors  :  "  the  marble  book  in  Westminster  Abbey  must,  therefore, 
lose  most  of  its  leaves."  * 

*  Sir  Thomas  Richardson  (1634),  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
Judge  of  Common  Pleas,  created  Lord  Chief  Justice  by  Charles  I.  He 
was  known  as  "  the  jeering  Lord  Chief  Justice,"  who,  when  he  was 
reprimanded  by  Laud  for  an  order  he  had  issued  against  the  ancient 
custom  of  wakes,  protested  in  a  fury  that  "  the  lawn  sleeves  had 
almost  choked  him,"  and  who,  when  he  condemned  Prynne,  said  that 
he  "  might  have  the  book  of  martyrs  to  amuse  him."  This  tomb  is  the 
last  till  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  were  past  which  had  any  pretensions 
to  real  art.  It  is  of  black  marble,  and  has  a  most  noble  bust  by 
Hubert  le  S&ur. 

William  Thynne  of  Botterville  (1584),  Receiver  of  the  Marches 
under  Hem-)'  VIII. — a  noble  figure  in  armour,  lying  on  a  mat. 

Andrew  Bell  (1832),  founder  of  the  Madras  system  of  education — a 
tablet  by  Behnes. 

•  D'Israeli,  "  Cuiiositics  of  Literature,"  vol.  iv. 


THE   CHOIR.  343 

We  must  now  enter  the  Choir,  which,  as  has  been  already 
observed,  projects  into  the  nave  after  the  fashion  of  Spanish 
cathedrals.      Its  reredos  was  erected  in  1867. 

Four  of  the  Abbots  of  Westminster  are  buried  in  the 
space  in  front  of  the  altar.  Abbot  Richard  de  Ware  (1284), 
who  brought  the  beautiful  mosaic  pavement  back  with  him 
from  Rome;  Abbot  Wenlock  (1308),  under  whom  the  buildings 
of  Henry  III.  were  completed  ;  the  unworthy  Abbot Kydyngton 
(1315),  whose  election  was  obtained  by  the  influence  of 
Piers  Gaveston  with  Edward  II.;  and  Abbot  Ilcnlcy  (1344). 

On  the  left  are  three  beautiful  royal  monuments  which 
we  have  already  seen  from  the  northern  ambulatory — Ave- 
line,  Aylmerde  Valence,  and  Edmund  Crouchback  ;  but  here 
alone  can  we  examine  the  beautiful  effigy  of  Areline,  Countess 
of  Lancaster  (1273),  daughter  of  William  de  Fortibus,  Earl  of 
Albemarle  and  Holdernesse,  the  greatest  heiress  in  England 
in  the  time  of  Henry  III.,  when  she  was  married  in  the 
Abbey  to  his  younger  son,  Edmund  Crouchback,  in  1273. 
She  is  dressed  in  a  flowing  mantle,  but  wears  the  disfiguring 
gorget  of  white  cambric,  with  a  vizor  for  the  face,  which 
was  fashionable  at  the  time,  as  a  female  imitation  of  the 
helmets  of  the  crusading  knights.  "The  splendour  of  such 
works,  when  the  gilding  and  emblazoning  were  fresh,  may 
easily  be  imagined  ;  but  it  may  be  a  question  whether  they 
do  not  make  a  stronger  appeal  to  the  sentiment  in  their 
more  sombre  and  subdued  colour,  than  they  would  if  they 
were  in  the  freshness  of  their  original  decoration."  • 

On  the  right,  nearest  the  altar,  are  the  scdilia  shown  as 
the  tomb  of  Sebert  and  Ethelgoda,  noticed  from  the 
southern   aisle.       They  were   once  decorated   with   eight 

•  Professor  Wcstmacott, 


344  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

paintings  of  figures,  of  which  two,  Henry  III.  and  Sebert, 
remain :    one    of    the    lost    figures    represented    Edward 
the  Confessor.      Next  is  the  tomb  of  Anne  of  Cleves)\hQ 
repudiated  fourth  wife  of  Henry  VIII.     She  continued  to 
reside  in  England,  treated  with  great  honour  by  her  step- 
children, and  her  last  public  appearance  was  at  the  corona- 
tion of  Mary,  to  which  she  rode  in  the  same  carriage  with 
the  Princess  Elizabeth.     "  She  was,"  says  Holinshed,  "  a 
lady  of  right   commendable    regard,   courteous,  gentle,   a 
good  housekeeper,   and   very   bountiful    to    her   servants." 
She  died  peacefully  at  Chelsea,  1557,  and  was  magnificently 
buried  by  Mary  at  the  feet  of  King  Sebert.  (  Her  tomb  was 
never  finished,  but  may  be  recognised  by  her  initials  A.  and 
C,  several  times  repeated.    "  Not  one  of  Henry's  wives  had 
a  monument,"  wrote  Fuller,   "  except  Anne  of  Cleves,  and 
hers  but  half  a  one."*/  Here  hangs  the  famous  Portrait  0/ 
Richard  II.,   "the  oldest  contemporary  representation   of 
an  English  sovereign  "  (beautifully  restored  by  Richmond), 
which  long  hung  in  the  Jerusalem  Chamber,  but  had  been 
removed  thither  from  its  present  position.    "  That  beautiful 
picture  of  a  king  sighing,"  says  Weever  (1631),  "crowned  in 
a  chaire  of  estate,  at  the  upper  end  of  the  quire  in  this 
church,  is  said  to  be  of  Richard  II.,  which  witnesseth  how 
goodly  a  creature  he  was  in  outward  lineaments."     The 
portrait  represents  a  pale  delicate  face,  with  a  long,  thin, 
weak,  drooping  mouth  and  curling  hair. 

"  Was  this  face  the  face 
That  every  day  under  his  household  roof 
Did  keep  ten  thousand  men  ?    Was  this  the  face 

•  Katherirp  Parr,  buried  at  Sudeley  Cast'.e,  has  \  modern  monument  af  tfa« 
greatest  beauty. 


THE   CHOIR.  i4S 

That,  like  the  sun,  did  make  beholders  wink  ? 
Was  this  the  face  that  fac'd  so  many  follies, 
And  was  at  last  out-fac'd  by  Bolingbroke  ? 
A  brittl*  glory  shiueth  in  this  face." 

Richard  II,  Act.  iv.  sc.  I. 

A.  piece  of  tapestry  now  hangs  here  which  was  brought 
from  Westminster  School ;  the  tapestries  which  adorned  the 
choir  in  the  seventeenth  century  represented  the  story  of 
Hugolin  and  the  robber.* 

In  1378  this  choir  was  the  scene  of  a  crime  which  recalls 
the   murder   of   Becket   in    Canterbury   Cathedral.      Two 
knights,  Sch?_kell  and  Hawle,  who  fought  with  the  Black 
Prince  in  Spain,  had  taken  prisoner  a  Spanish  Count,  whom 
they  compelled  to  the  duties  of  a  valet.     The  delivery  of 
this  prisoner  was  demanded  by  John  of  Gaunt,  who  claimed 
the  crown  of  Castile  in  right  of  his  wife.    The  knights  refused, 
and  fled  into  sanctuary.    Thither  Sir  Alan  Buxhall,  Constable 
of  the  Tower,  and  Sir  Ralph  Ferrars,  with  fifty  armed  men, 
pursued  them.     For  greater  safety  the  knights  fled  into  the 
veiy  choir  itself,  where  high-mass   was   being    celebrated  ; 
but  as  the  deacon  reached  the  words  in  the  gospel  of  the 
day,  "If  the  good  man  of  the  house  had  known  what  time 
the  thief  would  appear,"  their  assailants  burst  in.     Schakell 
escaped,  but  Hawle  fled  round  and  round  the  choir,  pursued 
by  his  enemies,  and  at  length  fell  covered  with  wounds  at 
the  foot  of  the  Prior's  Stall  :  his  servant  and  one  of  the  monks 
were  slain  with  him.     This  flagrant  violation  of  sanctuary 
occasioned  unspeakable  horror.     The  culprits  were  excom- 
municated and  heavily  fined,  the  desecrated    Abbey   was 
closed  for  four  months,  and  Parliament  was  not  permitted 
to  sit  within  the  polluted  precincts. 

•  See  AVeever,  "  Funeral  Monument*." 


346  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

A  door  at  tl  e  eastern  angle  of  Poets'  Corner  is  the 
approach  to  the  noble  Crypt  under  the  Chapter  House. 
It  has  a  short  massive  round  pillar  in  the  centre,  from 
which  eight  simple  groins  radiate  over  the  roof.  The  pillar 
has  two  cavities  supposed  to  have  been  used  as  hiding- 
places  for  treasures  of  the  church.  Six  small  windows 
give  light  to  the  crypt.  On  the  east  is  a  recess  for 
an  altar,  with  an  ambrey  on  one  side  and  a  piscina  on  the 
other. 

The  southern  bay  of  the  South  Transept  was  formerly 
partitioned  off  as  the  Chapel  of  St.  Blaise.  Dort  mentions 
that  its  entrance  was  "  enclosed  with  three  doors,  the  inner 
cancellated,  the  middle,  which  is  very  thick,  lined  with 
skins  like  parchment,  and  driven  full  of  nails.  These 
skins,  they,  by  tradition,  tell  us,  were  some  skins  of  the 
Danes,  tanned  and  given  here  as  a  memorial  of  our  delivery 
from  them."  Only  one  of  the  doors  remains  now,  but  the 
others  existed  within  the  memory  of  man,  and  traces  of 
them  are  still  visible.  Owen  Tudor,  uncle  of  Henry  VII. 
and  son  of  Queen  Katherine  de  Valois,  who  became  a  monk 
in  the  Abbey,  was  buried  in  the  Chapel  of  St.  Blaise,  with 
Abbot  Littlington,  1386,  and  Benson,  first  abbot  and  then 
dean,  1549. 

Beneath  the  monument  of  Oliver  Goldsmith  is  the 
entrance  to  the  Old  Revestry,  or  Chapel  of  St.  Faith,  which 
is  a  very  lofty  and  picturesque  chamber,  half  passage,  half 
chapel.  An  enormous  buttress  following  the  line  of  the 
pillars  in  the  transept  cuts  off  the  tracery  of  the  arches  on 
the  south.  At  the  western  end  is  a  kind  of  bridge,  by 
which  the  monks  descended  from  the  dormitory,  entering 
the  church  '  by  a  winding    staircase,   which    was  probably 


THE   CHAPTER   HOUSE.  347 

removed  to  make  way  for  the  Duke  of  Argyle's  monument.* 
Over  the  altar  is  a  figure  shown  by  Abbot  Ware's  "  Customs 
of  the  Abbey"  to  have  been  intended  to  represent  St.  Faith; 
below  is  a  small  representation  of  the  Crucifixion,  and  on 
one  side  a  kneeling  monk,  with  the  lines — 

"  Me,  quein  culpa  gravis  premit,  erige  Virgo  suavis ; 
Fac  mihi  placatum  Christum,  dcleasque  reatum," 

which  has  led  to  the  belief  that  it  was  the  penitential  offei- 
ing  of  a  monk. 

From  hence  (if  the  door  is  open  f)  we  can  enter  the 
beautiful  portico  leading  from  the  cloisters  to  the  Chapter 
House,  finished  in  1253  ;  the  original  paving  remains  ;  it  is 
deeply  worn  by  the  feet  of  the  monks.  Here  Abbot  Byrch- 
eston  (1349)  is  buried,  who  died  of  the  plague  called  the 
Black  Death,  with  twenty-six  of  his  monks.  Here  also  a 
group  of  persons  connected  with  the  earliest  history  of  the 
abbey  were  buried — King  Sebert  and  Queen  Ethelgoda 
(or  Actelgod),  who  lay  here  before  they  were  moved  to  the 
choir,  with  Ricula,  the  king's  sister;  Hugolin,  the  treasurer 
of  Edward  the  Confessor ;  Edwin,  the  first  abbot ;  and 
Sulcardus,  the  monk  who  was  the  first  historian  of  the 
abbey4     Flete  gives  the  epitaph  which  hung  over  Edwin's 

grave — 

"Iste  locellus  habet  bina  cadavera  cl  aus1.ro; 
Uxor  Seberti,  prima  tarn  en  minima ; 
Defracta  capitis  testa,  clarus  Hugolinus 
A  claustro  noviter  hie  translatus  erat ; 
Abbas  Edvinus  et  Sulcardus  caenobita; 
Sulcardus  major  est. — Deus  assit  eis." 

•  Sir  G.  Scott's  "  Gleaning." 

\  If  not,  :;o  round  by  Dean's  Yard  to  tlie  Cloister*. 

t  His  MS.  is  in  the  Cottonian  Library. 


348  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

On  the  left  of  the  steps  3s  a  Roman  stone  coffin  bearing 
an  inscription  saying  that  it  was  made  for  Valerius  Araan- 
dinus  by  his  two  sons.  A  Maltese  cross  on  the  lid  and 
traces  of  a  cope  show  that  it  was  afterwards  appropriated  for 
an  ecclesiastic.  It  was  found  near  the  north  side  of  the 
Chapter  House. 

The  Chapter  House  of  Westminster,  which  is  the  largest  in 
England  except  that  of  Lincoln,  was  built  by  Henry  III.  in 
1250,  upon  the  ancient  crypt  of  the  Chapter  House  of 
Edward  the  Confessor.  Matthew  Paris  (1250)  says  of 
Henry  III.,  "  Dominus  Rex  asdificavit  capitulum  incompa- 
rable," and  at  the  time  it  was  built  there  was  nothing  to  be 
compared  to  it.  Hither  his  granddaughter,  Eleanor,  Duchess 
of  Bar,  eldest  daughter  of  Edward  I.,  was  brought  from 
France  for  burial  in  1298. 

Here  the  monks,  at  least  once  a  week,  assembled  to  hold 
their  chapters,  in  which  all  the  affairs  of  the  monastery 
were  discussed.  The  abbot  and  the  four  chief  officers  took 
their  seats  in  the  ornamented  stalls  opposite  the  entrance, 
the  monks  on  the  stone  benches  round.  In  front  of  the 
stalls  criminals  were  tried,  and,  if  found  guilty,  were  publicly 
flogged  against  the  central  pillar  of  Purbeck  marble  (35  ft. 
high),  which  was  used  as  a  whipping-post. 

But  the  monks  had  not  sole  possession  of  the  Chapter 
House,  for,  as  early  as  1282,  when  the  Houses  of  Lords  and 
Commons  were  separated,  the  House  of  Commons  began 
to  hold  its  sittings  here,  and  for  three  hundred  years  it  con- 
tinued to  hold  them,  sometimes  in  the  Refectory,  but 
generally  in  the  Chapter  House.  This  chamber  has  there- 
fore witnessed  the  principal  acts  which  have  been  the 
foundation  of  the  civil  and  religious  liberties  of  England, 


THE   CHAPTER   HOUSE.  349 

The  Speaker  probably  occupied  the  abbot's  stall,  and  the 
members  the  benches  of  the  monks  and  the  floor  of  the 
house.  The  placards  of  the  business  of  the  House  were 
affixed  to  the  central  pillar.  Among  the  special  assemblies 
convened  here  was  that  of  Henry  V.,  who  in  142 1  sum- 
moned sixty  abbots  and  priors  and  three  hundred  monks 
to  discuss  the  reform  of  the  Benedictine  Order,  and  that  of 
Wolsey,  who  in  1523,  as  Cardinal  Legate,  summoned  the 
convocations  of  Canterbury  and  York  to  a  spot  where  they 
might  be  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury. 

The  last  Parliament  which  sate  here  was  on  the  last  day 

,  of  the  life  of  Henry  VIII.,  when  the  act  of  attainder  was 

passed  on   the   Duke  of  Norfolk,  and   here,   while   it  was 

sitting,    must    the   news   have    been    brought    in    that    the 

terrible  king  was  dead. 

"Within  the  Chapter  House  must  have  passed  the  first  Clergy 
Discipline  Act,  the  first  Clergy  Residence  Act,  and,  chief  of  all,  the 
Act  of  Supremacy  and  the  Act  of  Submission.  Here,  to  acquiesce  in 
that  Act,  met  the  Convocation  of  the  Province  of  Canterbury.  On  the 
table  in  this  Chapter  House  must  have  been  placed  the  famous  Black 
Book,  which  sealed  the  fate  of  all  the  monasteries  of  England, 
including  the  Abbey  of  Westminster  close  by,  and  which  struck  such  a 
thrill  of  horror  through  the  House  of  Commons  when  they  heard  its 
contents." — Dean  Stanley. 

The  Chapter  House  passed  to  the  Crown  at  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  monastery,  and  seven  years  afterwards  the 
House  of  Commons  removed  to  St.  Stephen's  Chapel  in 
the  palace  of  Westminster.  From  that  time  the  Chapter 
House  was  used  as  Record  Office,  and  its  walls  were  dis- 
figured and  its  space  blocked  up  by  bookcases.  In  1S65 
the  Records  were  removed  to  the  Rolls  House,  and    the 


35o  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

restoration  of  the  building  was  begun   under  Sir  Gilbert 
Scott. 

The  Chapter  House  is  now  almost  in  its  pristine  beauty. 
The  roof  is  rebuilt.     All  the  windows  have  been  restored 
from  the  one  specimen  which  remained  intact.     They  are 
remarkable  for  their  early  introduction  of  quatrefoils,  and 
are  shown  by  the  bills  to  have  been  completed  in  1253, 
before  the  completion   of  the   Sainte  Chapelle   in   Paris, 
which    is    the    same   in   style.      Over   the   entrance   is   a 
throned  figure  of  the  Saviour,  replacing  one  which  is  known 
to  have  existed  there  :  the  figures  at  the  sides,  representing 
the  Annunciation,  are   ancient,  and,  though   stiff,  are  ad- 
mirable.    Many  of  the  ancient  wall-paintings  are  preserved. 
Those  at  the  east  end,  representing  the  Seraphs  around  the 
Throne — on  which  our  Lord  is  seated  with  hands  held  up 
and  chest  bared  to  show  the  sacred  wounds — are  of  the 
fourteenth   century.      The   niches   on   either   side   of  the 
central    one    are   occupied    by  six  winged  Cherubim,   the 
feathers  of  their  wings  having  peacock's  eyes,  to  carry  out 
the  idea,  "  they  are  full  of  eyes  within."     On  one  of  them 
the    names   of  the    Christian    virtues   are   written    on   the 
feathers  of  the  wings.*      The    other  paintings  round   the 
walls,    representing   scenes    from    the    Revelation   of    St. 
John,   are   of   the   fifteenth    century,   and   are   all   traced 
to  a  monk  of  the  convent — John  of  Northampton.     The 
tiles  of  the  floor,  with  their  curious  heraldic  emblems,  are 
ancient, 

A  glass-case  is  filled  with  ancient  deeds  belonging  to  the 
history  of  the  abbey — including  a  grant  of  Offa,  King  of  the 
Mercians,   785;    and  of  King   Edgar,  951—962;  and  the 

•  See  Mr  G.  Scott's  "  Gleanings  from  Westminster  Abbey." 


THE   CLOISTERS.  351 

Charter  of  Edward  the  Confessor  dated  on  the  day  of  Holy 
Innocents,  1065.  Another  case  contains  fragments  of 
tombs  and  other  relics  found  in  the  abbey. 

The  Cloisters  are  of  different  dates,  from  the  time  of  the 
Confessor  to  that  of  Edward  III.  The  central  space  was  a 
burial-ground  for  the  monks.  The  abbots  were  buried  in  the 
arcades,  but  these  were  also  a  centre  of  monastic  life,  and 
in  the  western  cloister  the  Master  of  the  Novices  kept  a 
school  "which  was  the  first  beginning  of  Westminster  School." 
In  the  southern  cloister  the  operations  of  washing  were 
carried  on  at  the  "  lavatory,"  and  here  also,  by  the  rules  of 
the  convent,  the  monks  were  compelled  to  have  their  heads 
shaved  by  the  monastic  barber — once  a  fortnight  in  summer 
and  once  in  three  weeks  in  winter. 

"  The  approach  to  the  Abbey  through  these  gloomy  monastic  re- 
mains prepares  the  mind  for  its  solemn  contemplation.  The  cloisters 
stiU  retain  something  of  the  quiet  and  seclusion  of  former  days.  The 
grey  walls  are  discoloured  by  damp,  and  crumbling  with  age  :  a  coat  of 
hoary  moss  has  gathered  over  the  inscriptions  of  the  several  monumen  , 
and  obscured  the  death's-heads  and  other  funereal  emblems.  The  roses 
which  adorned  the  keystones  have  lost  their  leafy  beauty  :  everything 
bears  marks  of  the  gradual  dilapidation  of  time,  which  yet  has  some- 
thing touching  and  pleasing  in  its  very  decay." — Washington  bring. 
The  Sketch  Book. 

In  \heEast  Cloister  (built  in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth 
centuries)  the  great  feature  is  the  beautiful  double  door  of  the 
Chapter  House.  The  mouldings  of  the  outer  arch  are  deco- 
rated with  ten  small  figures  on  either  side,  in  niches  formed 
by  waving  foliage,  of  which  the  stem  springs  from  the 
lowest  figure — probably  Jesse.  The  tympanum  is  covered 
with  exquisite  scroll-work,  terribly  injured  by  time,  and  has 
a  mutilated  statue  of  the  Virgin  and  Child,  with  angefc 
on  either  side. 


352 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


In  this  wall,  just  to  the  south  of  the  entrance  of  the 
Chapter  House,  is  the  iron-bound  entrance  to  the  Ancient 
Treasury  of  the  Kings  of  England.  It  is  a  double  door  opened 
by  six  keys,  and  till  lately  could  only  be  unlocked  by  a 
special  order  from  the  Lords  Commissioners  of  the  Treasury 
— the  permission  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  and  the  Comptroller  of  the 


^^^^^^^S0----^^^^^^^^^Wb€sf^ 


Chapel  of  the  Pyx,  Westminster. 


Exchequer  is  still  said  to  be  required.  The  chamber  thus 
mysteriously  guarded,  generally  known  now  as  the  Chapel 
of  the  Pyx*  is  the  most  remarkable  remnant  we  possess  of 
the  original  abbey.  It  occupies  the  second  and  third  bays 
of  the  Confessor's  work  beneath  the  Dormitory.  The  early 
Norman  pillar  in  the  centre  (Saxon  in  point  of  date)  has 

*  The  Pyx  is  the  box  in  which  the  specimen  pieces  are  kept  at  the  Mint— pixis 
from  pyxos  a  box-tree. 


THE   CHAPEL    OF  THE  PYX.  353 

a  cylindrical  shaft,  3  ft.  6  in.  in  diameter  and  3  ft.  4  in. 
high.  The  capital  has  a  great  unmoulded  abacus,  7  in. 
deep,  supported  by  a  primitive  moulding,  and  carrying 
plain  groining  in  the  square  transverse  ribs.  It  is  interest- 
ing to  see  how  during  the  Norman  period  the  massive 
simplicity  of  this,  as  of  other  capitals,  seems  to  have 
tempted  the  monks  to  experiments  of  rude  sculpture,  here 
incomplete.  The  ancient  stone  altar  remains.  The  floor 
is  littered  with  heavy  iron-bound  chests — some  of  them 
very  curious.  But  nothing  is  kept  here  now  but  the 
standards  of  gold  and  silver,  used  every  five  years  in 
"  the  Trial  of  the  Pyx "  for  determining  the  justness  of 
weight  in  the  gold  and  silver  coins  issued  from  the  mint. 
There  is  nothing  to  remind  one  that — 

"Hither  were  brought  the  most  cherished  possessions  of  the  State  . 
the  Regalia  of  the  Saxon  monarchy ;  the  Black  Rood  of  St.  Margaret 
('  the  Holy  Cross  of  Holyrood  ')  from  Scotland  ;  the  '  Crocis  Gneyth  ' 
(or  the  Cross  of  St.  Neot)  from  Wales,  deposited  here  by  Edward  I. ; 
the  Sceptre  or  Rod  of  Moses  ;  the  Ampulla  of  Henry  IV. ;  the  sword 
with  which  King  Athelstane  cut  through  the  rock  at  Dunbar ;  the 
sword  of  Wayland  Smith,  by  which  Henry  II.  was  knighted  ;  the 
sword  of  Tristan,  presented  to  John  by  the  Emperor ;  the  dagger 
which  wounded  Edward  I.  at  Acre;  the  iron  gauntlet  worn  by  John 
of  France  when  taken  prisoner  at  Poitiers." — Dean  Stanley, 

The  Regalia  were  kept  here  in  the  time  of  the  Common- 
wealth, and  Henry  Marten  was  intrusted  with  the  duty  of 
invest  gating  them.  He  dragged  the  crown,  sword,  sceptre, 
&c.  from  their  chest  and  put  them  on  George  Wither,  the 
poet,  who,  "being  thus  crowned  and  royally  arrayed,  first 
marched  about  the  room  with  a  stately  garb,  and  afterwards, 
with  a  thousand  apish  and  ridiculous  actions,  exposed  tlnjse 
sacred  ornaments  to  contempt  and  laughter."* 

•  Wood's  Ath.  iii.  1239. 
VOL.  II.  A  A 


354  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

In  the  first  bay  of  the  Confessor's  work  is  a  narrow  space 
under  the  staircase  which  now  leads  to  the  Library.  This 
was  the  original  approach  to  the  Treasury,  and  here,  bound  by 
iron  bars  against  the  door,  are  still  to  be  seen  fragments  of  a 
human  skin.  It  is  that  of  one  of  the  robbers  who  were  flayed 
alive  in  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  for  attempting  to  break  into 
the  chapel  and  carry  off  the  royal  treasure.  In  this  narrow 
passage  the  ornamentation  of  the  capital  of  the  Saxon 
column  has  been  completed.  Thousands  of  MSS.  con- 
nected with  the  abbey  have  been  recently  discovered  here 
imbedded  in  the  rubbish  with  which  the  floor  was 
piled  up. 

In  the  cloister,  near  the  Treasury  door,  is  the  monument  of 
General  Hctiry  Withers,  1729,  with  an  epitaph  by  Pope. 
Beyond  the  entrance  of  the  Chapter  House  a  small  tablet 
commemorates  Addison's  mother,  17  15.  Close  by  is  the  in- 
teresting monument  erected  by  his  brother  to  Sir  Edmond 
Berry  Godfrey,  murdered  in  1677  (see  Chapter  I.).  The 
licentious  authoress  Aphra  or  Apharra  Behn  (sent  as  a  spy 
to  Antwerp  by  Charles  II.  during  the  Dutch  war)  was 
buried  near  the  end  of  the  cloister  in  1689.  Her  blue 
gravestone  is  inscribed — 

"Here  lies  a  proof  that  wit  can  never  be 
Defence  enough  against  mortality." 

Near  her  lies  Tom  Brown,  the  satirist,  1704.  The  simple 
inscription  here  to  "Jane  Lister,  dear  childe,  1688,"  attracts 
greater  sympathy  than  more  pretentious  epitaphs. 

In  the  North  Cloister  (of  the  thirteenth  century)  is  the 
monument  of  John  Coleman,  1739,  "who  served  the  royal 
familie  viz.    King  Charles    II.  and   King  James    II.  with 


THE   CLOISTERS.  355 

approved  fidelity  above  fifty  years."     Near  this  is  a  quaint 
tablet  inscribed — 

"With  diligence  and  trvst  most  exemplary, 
Did  William  Lavrence  serve  a  Prebendary. 
And  for  his  paines  now  past,  before  not  lost, 
Gain'd  this  remembrance  at  his  master's  cost. 

O  read  these  lines  againe  ;  you  seldome  find, 
A  servant  faithfvll,  and  a  master  kind. 

Short  hati  \  he  wrote  ;  his  flowre  in  prime  did  fade. 
And  hasty  Death  Short-hand  of  him  hath  made. 
Well  covin  he  nu'bers,  and  well  mesur'd  Land ; 
Thus  doth  he  now  that  grov'd  whereon  you  stand, 
Wherein  he  lyes  so  geometricall : 
Art  maketh  some,  but  thus  will  Nature  all. 

Obijt  Decern.  28,  1621,  iEtatis  suae.  29." 

Close  by  is  the  grave  of  William  Markham,  Dean  of 
Westminster  and  Archbishop  of  York  (1807). 

In  the  West  Cloister  (of  the  fourteenth  century)  are  the 
monuments  of  Charles,  brother  to  Sidney,  Earl  of  Godolphin, 
1720;  and  Benjamin  Cooke,  1793,  musician  and  organist, 
with  his  "canon"  engraved.  Here  also  are  those  of  the 
engravers  William  Woolleti,  1785,  "  incisor  excellentissimus," 
with  a  foolish  metaphorical  relief  by  Banks ;  and  & 
Virtue,  who,  being  a  strict  Roman  Catholic,  was  laid  near  a 
monk  of  his  family. 

The  South  Cloister  (fourteenth  century)  was  the  burial- 
place  of  all  the  abbots  down  to  the  time  of  Henry  111. 
Here  (beginning  from  the  east)  are  buried  Postard,  Crispin, 
Herbert,  Vitalis  (appointed  by  the  Conqueror),  Gislebert 
(with  an  effigy),  Gervase  (a  natural  son  of  King  Stephen), 
and  Hermez.  Several  of  their  effigies  remain.  The  blue  slab 
called  Long  Meg  is  supposed  to  cover  the  remains  of  the 


35<>  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

monks  who  died  of  the  plague — "  the  Black  Death" — with 
Abbot  Byrcheston  in  1340.  The  four  lancet-shaped  niches 
in  the  wall  are  supposed  to  be  remains  of  the  Lavatory.  [ 
Above  the  whole  length  of  this  cloister  stretched  the 
Rcfedory  of  the  convent,  a  vast  chamber  of  the  time  of 
Edward  III.  supported  by  arches  which  date  from  the  time 
of  the  Confessor.  Some  arches  of  this  period  may  be  seen 
in  the  wall  of  a  little  court,  entered  by  a  door  in  the  south 
wall :  the  door  on  the  other  side  led  to  the  abbey  kitchen. 
In  the  court  is  a  very  curious  leaden  cistern  of  1663  with 
the  letters  R.  E.  and  the  date. 

Sarah,  Duchess  of  Marlborough,  used  to  sit  in  these 
cloisters  dressed  as  a  beggar,  in  her  poignant  grief  for  the 
loss  of  her  son.  The  Duchess  of  Portland  relates  that  her 
husband  saw  her  there  when  he  was  a  boy  at  Westminster 
School. 

Over  the  eastern  cloister  was  the  Dormitory,  whence  the 
monks  descended  to  the  midnight  services  in  the  church 
by  the  gallery  in  the  south  transept.  It  is  now  divided 
between  the  Chapter  Library  and  Westminster  School. 

The  Library  of  Westminster  Abbey  (reached  from  a  door 
on  the  right  of  that  leading  to  the  Chapter  House)  was 
founded  by  Dean  Williams  in  1620.  Many  of  the  books 
are  valuable,  and  some  of  the  bindings,  of  the  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries,  are  exceedingly  curious  and  beautiful. 
The  room  is  that  described  by  Washington  Irving. 

"  I  found  myself  in  a  lofty  antique  hall,  the  roof  supported  by  mas 
sive  joists  of  old  English  oak.     It  was  soberly  lighted  by  a  row  oJ 
Gothic  windows  at  a  considerable  height  from  the  floor,  and  which 
apparently  opened  upon  the  roof  of  the  cloisters.     An  ancient  picture, 
of  some  reverend  dignitary  of  the  church  in  his  robes,*  hung  over  the 

•  Dean  Williams,  1620-50. 


THE  INFIRMARY.  357 

fireplace.  Around  the  hall  and  in  a  small  gallery  were  the  books, 
arranged  in  carved  oaken  cases.  They  consisted  principally  of  old 
polemical  writers,  and  were  much  more  worn  by  cime  than  use.  In  the 
centre  of  the  Library  was  a  solitary  table,  with  two  or  three  books  on 
it,  an  inkstand  without  ink,  and  a  few  pens  parched  by  long  disuse. 
The  place  seemed  fitted  for  quiet  study  and  meditation.  It  was  buried 
deep  among  the  massive  walls  of  the  Abbey,  and  shut  up  from  the 
tumult  of  the  world.  I  could  only  hear  now  and  then  the  shouts  of 
the  schoolboys  faintly  swelling  from  the  Cloisters,  and  the  sound  of  a 
bell  tolling  for  prayers,  that  echoed  soberly  along  the  roof  of  the 
Abbey.  By  degrees  the  shouts  of  merriment  grew  fainter  and  fainter, 
and  at  length  died  away.  The  bell  ceased  to  toll,  and  a  profound 
silence  reigned  through  the  dusky  hall." 

At  the  southern  end  of  the  east  cloister  was  the  Infirmary, 
probably  destroyed  when  the  Little  Cloister  was  built,  but 
shown  by  the  fragments,  which  still  exist,  to  be  of  the  age 
of  the  Confessor.  It  was  so  arranged  that  the  sick  monks 
could  hear  the  services  in  the  adjoining  Chapel  of  St. 
Catherine. 

"  Hither  came  the  processions  of  the  Convent  to  see  the  sick  brethren ; 
and  were  greeted  by  a  blazing  lire  in  the  Hall,  and  long  rows  of  candles 
in  the  Chapel.  Here,  although  not  only  here,  were  conducted  the 
constant  bleedings  of  the  monks.  Here,  in  the  Chapel,  the  young 
monks  were  privately  whipped.  Here  the  invalids  were  soothed  by 
music.     Here  also  1'ved  the  seven  'playfellows' (syn  the  name 

given  to  the  elder  monks,  who,  after  the  age  of  fifty,  were  exempted 
hum  all  the  ordinary  regulations,  were  never  told  anything  unpleasant, 
and  themselves  took  the  liberty  ol  examining  and  censuring  everything." 
— Vain  Stanley. 

A  passage  (left)  called  the  Dark  Cloister,  and  a  turn  to 
the  left  under  waggon-vaulting  of  the  Confessor's  time — 
a  substructure  of  the  Dormitory — lead  to  the  Little  Cloister, 
a  square  arcaded  court  with  a  fountain  in  the  centre.  At 
its  south-eastern  corner  are  remains  of  the  ancient  bell- 
tower   of  St.  Catherine's  Chapel,  built  by  Abbot  Littlington. 


358  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

In  this,  the  Litthngton  Tower,  the  beautiful   Emma  Harte, 
afterwards  Lady  Hamilton,  lived  as  servant  to  Mr.  Dare. 

Hence  we  may  reach  the  Infirmary  Garden,  now  the 
College  Garden,  a  large  open  space,  whence  there  is  a  noble 
view  of  the  Abbey  and  the  Victoria  Tower.  On  the  north 
side  of  this  was  St.  Catherine's  Chapel  (the  chapel  of  the 
Infirmary),  destroyed  in  157 1,  which  bore  a  great  part  in 
the  monastic  story.*  Here  most  of  the  consecrations  of 
Bishops  befoie  the  Reformation  took  place,  with  the  greater 
part  of  the  provincial  councils  of  Westminster.  Here 
Henry  III.,  in  the  presence  of  the  archbishop  and  bishops, 
swore  to  observe  the  Magna  Charta.  Here  also  the  memo- 
rable struggle  took  place  (1 176)  between  the  Archbishops 
of  Canterbury  and  York,  which  led  to  the  question  of  their 
precedence  being  decided  by  a  papal  edict,  giving  to  one 
the  title  of  Primate  of  all  England,  to  the  other  that  of 
Primate  of  England. 

"  A  synod  was  called  at  Westminster,  the  pope's  legate  being  present 
thereat;  on  whose  right  sat  Richard,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  as  in 
his  proper  place  ;  when  in  springs  Roger  of  York,  and  finding  Canter- 
bury so  seated,  fairly  sits  him  down  on  Canterbury's  lap  ;  (a  baby  too 
big  to  be  danced  thereon !)  yea,  Canterbury's  servants  dandled  this 
lap-child  with  a  witness,  who  plucked  him  thence,  and  buffeted  him  to 
purpose." — Fuller's  Church  History. 

A  winding  staircase  in  the  cloister  wall,  opposite  the 
entrance  to  the  Chapter  House,  leads  to  the  Muniment 
Room,  a  gallery  above  what  should  have  been  the  west  aisle 
of  the  South  Transept,  cut  off  by  the  cloister.  Here,  on  the 
plastered  wall,  is  a  great  outline  painting  of  the  White  Hart, 
the  badge  of  Richard  II.     The  archives  of  the  Abbey  are 

*  It  had  a  nave  and  aisle  of  five  bays  long,  and  a  chancel,  and   was  of  good 
late  Norman  .vuk. 


THE    TRIFORIUM.  3c;9 

kept  it  A  number  of  curious  oaken  chests,  some  of  which 
are  of  the  thirteenth  century.  There  is  a  noble  view  of 
the  Abbey  from  hence,  but  no  one  should  omit  to  ascend 
the  same  staircase  farther  to  the  Ttiforium.  Here,  from 
the  broad  galleries,  the  Abbey  is  seen  in  all  its  glory,  and 
here  alone  the  beauty  of  the  arches  of  the  triforium  itself 
can  be  perfectly  seen.  It  is  also  interesting  from  hence  to 
see  how  marked  is  the  difference  between  the  earlier  and 
later  portions  of  the  nave,  the  five  earlier  bays  to  the  east 
having  detached  columns  and  a  diapered  wall-surface,  which 
ceases  afterwards.  Over  the  southern  aisle  of  the  nave  are 
Gibbons's  carved  Obelisks,  which  are  seen  in  old  pictures 
as  standing  at  the  entrance  of  the  choir.  The  triforium 
ends  in  the  chamber  in  the  south-western  tower,  which  is 
supposed  to  be  haunted  by  the  ghost  of  Bradshaw,  who  is 
said  to  have  made  it  a  frequent  resort  when  he  was  living 
in  the  Deanery  (with  which  there  is  a  communication) 
during  the  Commonwealth.  A  piece  of  timber  was  long 
shown  here  as  "  Bradshaw's  rack."  The  chamber  was  pro- 
bably once  used  as  a  prison  :  an  immense  quantity  of  bones 
of  sheep  and  pigs  were  found  here.  In  the  south-eastern 
triforium  is  a  cast  from  the  leaden  coffin  of  Prince  Henry, 
eldest  son  of  James  I. :  it  is  very  interesting,  as  the  lead 
was  fitted  to  the  features  ;  the  heart,  separately  encased, 
rested  upon  the  breast.  The  view  from  the  eastern  end  of 
the  triforium  is  the  most  glorious  in  the  whole  building  : 
here  the  peculiar  tapering  bend  of  the  arches  (as  at  Canter- 
bury) may  be  seen,  which  is  supposed,  by  poetic  monastic 
fancy,  to  have  reference  to  the  bent  head  of  the  Saviour 
on  the  cross.  In  one  of  the  recesses  of  the  north-eastern 
triforium  is  theJRufyi/  "  which  resounded  with  the  ,  i  ate 


3<5o 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


appeals,  at  one  time  of  Baxter,  Howe,  and  Owen,  at  othei 
times  of  Heylin,  Williams,  South,  and  Barrow."  *  The 
helmets  of  the  Knights  of  the  Bath,  when  removed  from 
Henry  VII. 's  Chapel,  are  preservea  here.  Farther  on  are 
two  marble  reliefs,  with  medallions  of  the  Saviour  and  the 
Virgin,  supposed  to  have  been  intended,  but  not  used,  for 
the  tomb  of  Anne  of  Cleves.  At  the  end  of  the  north- 
western triforium  is  a  curious  chest  for  vestments,  in  which 
copes  could  be  laid  without  folding. 

At  the  end  of  the  southern  cloister,  on  the  right,  was 
the  Abbofs  House,  now  the  Deanery. \  The  dining-room, 
where  Sir  J.  Reynolds  was  the  frequent  guest  of  Dr. 
Markham,  contains  several  interesting  portraits  of  historic 
deans.  Behind  the  bookcases  of  the  library  a  secret 
chamber  was  discovered  in  1864,  supposed  to  be  that 
in  which  Abbot  William  of  Colchester,  to  whose  guardian- 
ship three  suspected  dukes  and  two  earls  had  been 
intrusted  by  Henry  IV.,  plotted  with  them  (1399)  for 
the  restoration  of  Richard  II.  Shakspeare  gives  the  scene. 
It  was  probably  in  this  secret  chamber  that  Richard 
Fiddes  was  concealed  and  supplied  with  materials  for 
writing  that  "  Life  of  Wolsey"  which  was  intended  to  vilify 
the  Reformation.  Here  also,  perhaps,  Francis  Atterbury, 
the  most  eminent  of  the  Westminster  deans — the  furious 
Jacobite  who,  on  the  death  of  Queen  Anne,  prepared  to  go 
in  lawn  sleeves  to  proclaim  James  III.  at  Charing  Cross — 
entered  into  those  plots  for  which  he  was  sent  to  the  Tower 
and  exiled. 

During  the  Commonwealth  the  Deanery  was  leased  to 

•  Dean  Stanley. 

f  Once  called  Cheyney  Gate  Manor  from  the  chain  across  the  entrance  of  the 
cloisters. 


JERUSALEM  CHAMBER.  561 

John  Bradshaw,  President  of  the  High  Court  of  Justice. 
He  died  in  the  Deanery  and  was  buried  in  the  Abbey. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  picturesque  little  court  in  front 
of  the  Deanery  is  the  Abbot's  Refectory,  now  the  College 
Hall,  where  the  Westminster  scholars  dine.  Till  the  time 
of  Dean  Buckland  (1845-56)  the  hall  was  only  warmed  by 
a  brazier,  of  which  the  smoke  escaped  through  the  louvre 
in  the  roof.  The  huge  tables  of  chestnut-wood  are  said  to 
have  been  presented  by  Elizabeth  from  the  wrecks  of  the 
Spanish  Armada.  Here  probably  it  was — in  the  "  Abbot's 
Place " — that  the  widowed  queen  Elizabeth  Woodville 
(April,  14S5),  crossing  over  from  the  neighbouring  palace, 
took  refuge  with  Abbot  Esteney  while  the  greater  security 
of  the  Sanctuary  was  being  prepared  for  her.  Here  she 
sate  on  the  niches,  "  all  desolate  and  dismayed,"  with  her 
long  fair  hair,  which  had  escaped  from  its  confinement  in 
her  distress,  sweeping  upon  the  ground. 

Through  the  little  court  of  the  Deanery  is  the  approach 
to  Jerusalem  Chamber,  built  by  Abbot  Littlington  between 
1376  and  1386  as  a  guest-chamber  for  the  Abbot's  House. 
It  probably  derived  its  after-name  from  tapestry  pictures 
of  the  History  of  Jerusalem  with  which  it  was  hung.  Here, 
in  the  ancient  chamber  where  Convocation  now  holds  its 
meetings,  Henry  IV.  died  of  apoplexy,  March  20,  141 3, 
thus  fulfilling  the  prophecy  that  he  should  die  in  Jerusalem. 

"  In  this  year,  was  a  great  council  hoklen  at  the  White  Friars  of 
London,  by  the  which  it  was  among  othsr  things  concluded,  that  for 
the  king's  great  journey  that  he  intended  to  take,  in  visiting  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre  of  our  Lord,  certain  galleys  of  war  should  be  made 
and  other  perveance  concerning  the  same  journey. 

"Whereupon  all  hasty  and  possible  speed  was  made  ;  but  after  the 
feast  of  Christmas,  while  he  was  making  his  prayers  at  St.  Edward's 
shrine,  to  take  there  his  leave,  and  so  to  speed  him  on  his  journey,  he 


362  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

became  so  sick,  that  such  as  were  about  him  feared  that  he  would 
have  died  right  there  ;  wherefore  they,  for  his  comfort,  bare  him  into 
the  abbot's  place,  and  lodged  him  in  a  chamber,  and  there  upon  a 
pallet  laid  him  before  the  fire,  where  he  lay  in  great  agony  a  certain 
time. 

"At  length,  when  he  was  coming  to  himself,  not  knowing  where  he 
was,  he  frcyned  (asked)  of  such  as  then  were  about  him,  what  place 
that  was ;  the  which  shewed  to  him  that  it  belonged  unto  the  abbot  of 
Westminster  ;  and  for  he  felt  himself  so  sick,  he  commanded  to  ask  if 
that  chamber  had  any  special  name  ;  whereunto  it  was  answered,  that 
it  was  named  Jerusalem.  Then  said  the  king,  'Praise  be  to  the  Father 
of  Heaven,  for  now  I  know  I  shall  die  in  this  chamber,  according  to 
the  prophecy  of  me  beforesaid,  that  I  should  die  in  Jerusalem  ;'  and  so 
after  he  made  himself  ready,  and  died  shortly  after,  upon  the  day  of  St. 
Cuthbert." — Fabyan's  Chronicle. 

Shakspeare  gives  the  last  words  of  Henry  IV. 

King  henry. — "  Doth  any  name  particular  belong 

Unto  the  lodging  where  I  first  did  swoon  ? 

Warwick. — "  'Tis  call'd  Jerusalem,  my  noble  lord. 

King  Henry. — "  Laud  be  to  God  ! — even  there  my  life  must  end. 
It  hath  been  prophesied  to  me  many  years, 
I  should  not  die  but  in  Jerusalem  ; 
Which  vainly  I  suppos'd  the  Holy  Land  : — 
But  bear  me  to  that  chamber ;  there  I'll  he ; 
In  that  Jerusalem  shall  Harry  die." 

2  Henry  IV.  Act  iv.  sc.  4. 

Here  Addison  (1719)  and  Congreve  (1728)  lay  in  state 
before  their  burial  in  the  Abbey. 

As  the  warmth  of  the  chamber  drew  a  king  there  to  die, 
so  it  attracted  the  Westminster  Assembly,  in  1643,  perished 
with  the  cold  of  sitting  in  Henry  VII. 's  Chapel,  which  held 
no  less  than  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty-three 
sessions,  lasting  through  more  than  five  years  and  a  half, 
"  to  establish  a  new  platforme  of  worship  and  discipline  to 
their  nation  for  all  time  to  come." 

"  Out  of  these  walls  came  the  Directory,  the  Longer  and  Shorter 
Catechism,  and  that  famous  Confession  of  Faith  which,  alone  within 


DEAN'S    YARD. 


& 


these  Islands,  was  imposed  by  law  on  the  whole  kingdom  ;  and  which, 
alone  of  all  Protestant  Confessions,  still,  in  spit,    ol   us  sternm 
narrowness,  retains  a  hold  on  the  minds  of  its  adherents   to  which   its 
fervour  and  its  logical  coherence  in  some  measure   entitle  it."—  Dean 
Stanley. 

The  chief  existing  decorations  of  this  beautiful  old 
chamber  are  probably  due  tu  Dean  Williams  in  the  time  of 
James   I.,   but    the    painted  glass   is  more   ancient.     The 


Jerusalem  Chamber. 


panelling  is  of  cedar-wood.     The  tapestry  is  mostly  of  the 
time  of  Henry  VIII.     Over  the  chimney-piece  is  a  pi« 
of  the  death  of  Henry  IV. 

From  the  Deanery  a  low  archway  leads  into  Dean's  Yard, 
once    called   "The  Elms,"  from   its  grove  of   I  The 

eastern  side  was   formerly  occupied   by  the   hoi  ol   the 

Trior,  Sub  Prior,  and  oth<  i  '      ivent,  which 

still    in    part    remain     as    h  of    the    Canons.       The 


3&4  WALKS  IN  LONDON1. 

buildings  nearest  the  archway  were  known  in  monastic 
times  as  '"'the  Calberge."  In  front  of  these,  till  the  year 
1758,  stretched  the  long  detached  building  of  the  convent 
Granary,  which  was  used  as  the  dormitory  of  Westminster 
School  till  the  present  Dormitory  on  the  western  side  of 
the  College  Garden  was  built  by  Dean  Atterbury. 

In  the  green  space  in  the  centre  of  the  yard  an  exhibition 
of  "  the  results  of  Window  Gardening  "  takes  place  every 
summer,  exceedingly  popular  with  the  poorer  inhabitants  of 
Westminster,  and  often  productive  of  much  innocent  plea- 
sure through  the  rest  of  the  year. 

On  the  east  is  a  beautiful  vaulted  passage  and  picturesque 
gate  of  Abbot  Littlington's  time,  leading  to  the  groined 
entrance  of  Little  Dean's Yard.  The  tower  above  the  gate  is 
probably  that  which  is  known  as  "  the  Blackstole  Tower." 
On  the  other  side  of  the  yard  is  a  classic  gateway,  the 
design  of  which  is  attributed  to  Inigo  Jones,  now  covered 
with  names  of  scholars,  which  forms  the  entrance  to 
Westminster  School,  originally  founded  by  Henry  VIII.,  and 
richly  endowed  by  Queen  Elizabeth  in  1560.  The  School- 
mom  can  be  best  visited  between  2  and  3  p.m.  It  was  the 
dormitory  of  the  monastery,  and  is  ninety-six  feet  long  and 
thirty-four  broad.  At  the  south-western  extremity  two 
round  arches  of  the  Confessor's  time  remain,  with  the  door 
which  led  by  a  staircase  to  the  cloisters.  On  the  opposite 
side  is  another  arched  window,  and  a  door  which  led  to 
Abbot  Littlington's  Tower. 

In  its  present  form  the  Schoolroom  is  a  noble  and 
venerable  chamber.  The  timber  roof  is  of  oak,  not  chest- 
nut as  generally  represented.  The  upper  part  of  the 
walls  and  the  recesses  of  the  windows  are   covered  with 


WESTMINSTER  SCHOOL.  365 

names  of  scholars.  Formerly  the  benches  followed  the 
lines  of  the  walls  as  in  the  old  "  Fourth  Form  Room  " 
at  Harrow  ;  the  present  horseshoe  arrangement  of  benches 
was  introduced  from  the  Charter  House  by  Dean  Liddell 
(who  had  been  a  Charter  House  boy)  when  he  was 
head-master.  The  half  circle  marked  in  the  floor  of  the 
dais  recalls  the  semicircular  form  of  the  end  of  the 
room,  which  existed  till  1868,  and  which  gave  the  name 
of  "  shell  "  ^adopted  by  several  other  public  schools)  to  the 
class  which  occupied  that  position.  The  old  "  shell-forms," 
the  most  venerable  of  the  many  ancient  benches  here, 
hacked  and  carved  with  names  till  scarce  any  of  the  original 
surface  remains,  are  preserved  in  a  small  class-room  on  the 
left.  In  a  similar  room  on  the  right  is  a  form  which  bears 
the  name  of  Dryden,  cut  in  narrow  capital  letters.  The 
school-hours  are  from  eight  to  nine,  ten  to  half-past  twelve, 
and  half-past  three  to  five. 

High  up,  across  the  middle  of  the  Schoolroom,  an  iron 
bar  divides  the  Upper  and  Lower  Schools.  Over  this  bar, 
by  an  ancient  custom,  the  college  cook  or  her  deputy 
tosses  a  stiffly-made  Pancake  on  Shrove  Tuesday.  The 
boys,  on  the  other  side  of  the  bar,  struggle  to  catch  it, 
and'  if  any  boy  can  not  only  catch  it  but  convey  it  away 
intact  from  all  competitors  to  the  head-master's  house  (a 
difficult  feat)  he  can  claim  a  guinea.  In  former  days  a 
curtain,  hanging  from  this  bar,  separated  the  schools. 

"Every  one,  who  is  acquainted  with  Westminster-school,  knows  that 
there  is  a  curtain  which  used  to  be  drawn  across  the  room,  to  separate 
the  upper  school  from  the  lower.  A  youth  (Wake,  father  of  Arch- 
bishop Wake)  happened,  by  some  mischance,  to  tear  the  above-men- 
tioned curtain.  The  severity  of  the  master  (Dr.  Busby)  was  too  well 
known  for  the  criminal  to  expect  any  pardon  lor  such  a  fault ;  so  that 


3^6  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

the  boy,  who  was  of  a  meek  temper,  was  terrified  to  death  at  the 
thoughts  of  his  appearance,  when  his  friend  who  sate  next  to  him  bade 
him  be  of  good  cheer,  for  that  he  would  take  the  fault  on  himself.  He 
kept  his  word  accordingly.  As  soon  as  they  were  grown  up  to  be 
men,  the  civil  war  broke  out,  in  which  our  two  friends  took  the  oppo- 
site sides;  one  of  them  followed  the  parliament,  the  other  the  royal 
party. 

"  As  their  tempers  were  different,  the  youth  who  had  torn  the 
curtain  endeavoured  to  raise  himself  on  the  civil  list,  and  the  other, 
who  had  borne  the  blame  of  it,  on  the  military.  The  first  succeeded 
so  well  that  he  was  in  a  short  time  made  a  judge  under  the  protector. 
The  other  was  engaged  in  the  unhappy  enterprise  of  Penruddock  and 
Groves  in  the  West.  Every  one  knows  that  the  royal  party  was 
routed,  and  all  the  heads  of  them,  among  whom  was  the  curtain 
champion,  imprisoned  at  Exeter.  It  happened  to  be  his  friend's  lot  at 
that  time  to  go  the  western  circuit.  The  trial  of  the  rebels,  as  they 
were  then  called,  was  very  short,  and  nothing  now  remained  but  to 
pass  sentence  on  them  ;  when  the  judge  hearing  the  name  of  his  old 
friend,  and  observing  his  face  more  attentively,  asked  him  if  he  was 
not  formerly  a  "Westminster  scholar  ?  By  the  answer,  he  was  soon 
convinced  that  it  was  his  former  generous  friend ;  and  without  saying 
anything  more  at  that  time,  made  the  best  of  his  way  to  London, 
where  employing  all  his  power  and  interest  with  the  protector,  he 
saved  his  friend  from  the  fate  of  his  unhappy  associates." — Spectator, 
No.  313. 

There  is  a  bust  of  Dr.  Busby  in  the  School  Library  which 
adjoins  the  schoolroom  ;  and  a  bust  of  Sir  Francis  Burdett, 
given  by  the  Baroness  Burdett  Coutts,  with  a  relief  repre- 
senting his  leaving  the  Traitors'  Gate  of  the  Tower  on  the 
pedestal.  There  are  about  two  hundred  and  forty  boys  at 
Westminster  School,  but  of  these  only  forty  are  on  the 
foundation  ;  they  sleep  in  (partitions  of  the)  Dormitory 
which  was  built  along  one  side  of  the  College  Garden  in 
1722  from  designs  of  Boyle,  Earl  of  Burlington.  In  thi 
Dormitory  the  "Westminster  "Plays" — Latin  Plays  of 
Phutus  or  Terence  superseding  the  Catholic  Mysteries — 
are  acted  by  the  boys  on  the  second  Thursday  in  December, 


ASUBURNHAM  HOUSE.  36; 

and  the  preceding  and  following  Monday.  The  scenery 
was  designed  by  Garrick  :  since  1839  die  actors  have  worn 
Greek  costume. 

The  most  eminent  Masters  of  Westminster  have  been 
Camden  and  Dr.  Busby.  Among  Foundation  Scholars 
have  been  Bishop  Overall,  translator  of  the  Bible  ;  Hak- 
luyt  (Canon  of  Westminster),  the  co  lector  of  voyages ; 
the  poets  Herbert,  Cowley  (who  published  a  volume  of 
poems  while  he  was  at  school  here),  Dryden,  Prior,  Stepney, 
Rowe,  Churchill,  and  "  Vinny  Bourne";  South  the  preacher; 
Locke  the  philosopher;  Bishops  Atterbury,  Sprat,  and 
Pearce;  and  Warren  Hastings,  Governor  of  Bengal. 
Scholars,  not  on  the  foundation,  include — Lord  Burghley ; 
Ben  Jonson ;  Sir  Christopher  Wren ;  Barton  Booth  the 
actor;  Blackmore,  Browne,  Dyer,  Hammond,  Aaron  Hill, 
Cowper,  and  Southey,  poets  ;  Home  Tooke;  Cumberland 
the  dramatist ;  Montagu,  Earl  of  Halifax  ;  Gibbon  the  his- 
torian ;  Murray,  Earl  of  Mansfield;  Sir  Francis  Burdett ; 
Earl  Russell  ;  Archbishop  Longley ;  and  Bishop  Cotton. 

On  the  north  of  Little  Dean's  Yard,  occupying  the  site 
of  part  of  the  monastic  building  known  as  "the  Misericorde," 
is  Ashburnham  House  (now  the  residence  of  the  Sub-Dean), 
built  by  Inigo  Jones,  which  derives  its  name  from  having 
been  the  residence  of  Lord  Ashburnham  in  170S.  Here 
the  Cottonian  Library  of  MSS.  was  kept  from  17 12  to 
1 73 1,  when  part  of  the  house  was  destroyed  by  fire,  and 
Dr.  Freind  saw  Dr.  Bentley,  the  King's  Librarian,  in  his 
dressing-gown  and  flowing  wig,  carrying  off  the  Alexandrian 
MS.  of  the  New  Testament  under  his  arm.  The  house 
has  a  broad  noble  staircase,  with  a  quaint  circular  gallery 
above    and    the   ceiling  and   decorations   of  the  drawing- 


368 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


room  are  beautiful  specimens  of  Inigo  Jones's  work  :  a 
small  temple-summer-house  in  the  garden  is  also,  but  with- 
out much  probabUity,  attributed  to  him.  Dean  Milman 
resided  in  this  house  as  Canon  of  Westminster. 

The  precincts  of  the  Monastery  extended  far  beyond  those 
of  the  College  and  were  entered  (where  the  Royal  Aqua- 
rium now  stands)  by  a  double  Gatehouse  of  the  time  of 
Edward  III.,  which  served  also  as  a  gaol.  One  of  its 
chambers  was  used  as  an  ecclesiastical  prison,  the  other  was 
the  common  prison  of  Westminster,  the  prisoners  being 
brought  by  way  of  Thieving  Lane  and  Union  Street,  to  pre- 
vent their  escaping  by  entering  the  liberties  of  sanctuary. 
Nicholas  Vaux  died  here  of  cold  and  starvation  in  157 1,  a 
martyr  in  the  cause  of  Roman  Catholicism.  Hence  Lady 
Purbeck,  imprisoned  for  adultery  in  1622,  escaped  to 
France  in  a  man's  dress.  It  was  here  that  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  passed  the  night  before  his  execution  and  wrote 
on  the  blank  leaf  of  his  Bible  the  lines — 

"  Ev'n  such  is  Time,  that  takes  on  trust 
Our  youth,  our  joys,  our  all  we  have, 

And  pays  us  but  with  age  and  dust, 
Who  in  the  dark  and  silent  grave, 
When  we  have  wander'd  all  our  ways, 
Shuts  up  the  story  of  our  days. 

But  from  this  earth,  this  grave,  this  dust, 

The  Lord  shall  raise  me  up  I  trust." 

Here  Richard  Lovelace,  imprisoned  for  his  .levouon  to 
Charles  I.,  wrote — 


"  Stone  walls  doe  not  a  prison  make 
Nor  iron  barres  a  cage  ; 
Minds  innocent  and  quiet  take 
That  for  a  hermitage. 


THE  SANCTUARY.  369 

If  I  have  freedom  in  my  love, 

And  in  my  soule  am  free, 
Angels  alone  that  soar  above 

Enjoy  such  libertie." 

Hampden,  Sir  John  If  Hot,  and  Lilly  the  astrologer  were 
also  imprisoned  at  different  times  in  the  Gatehouse.  The 
dwarf,  Sir  Jeffry  Hudson,  died  here,  being  accused  of  having 
a  share  in  the  Popish  Plot.  Being  eighteen  inches  high,  he 
was  first  brought  into  notice  at  court  by  being  served  up  in  a 
cold  pie  at  Burleigh  to  Henrietta  Maria,  who  took  him  into 
her  service.*  Here  Savage  the  poet  lay  under  condemna- 
tion of  death  for  the  murder  of  Mr.  Sinclair  during  a  riot  in 
a  public-house  at  Charing  Cross. I  Here  Captain  Bell  was 
imprisoned  for  ten  years  by  an  order  of  Privy  Council, 
but,  as  he  believed,  in  order  to  give  him  time  for  the  transla- 
tion of  Luther's  Table  Talk,  to  which  he  had  been  bidden 
by  a  supernatural  visitant.}  The  Gatehouse  was  pulled 
down  in  1776  in  consequence  of  the  absurdity  of  Dr.  John- 
son, who  declared  that  it  was  a  disgrace  to  the  present 
magnificence  of  the  capital,  and  a  continual  nuisance  to 
neighbours  and  passengers.  One  arch  remained  till  1S39, 
walled  up  in  a  house  which  had  once  been  inhabited  by 
Edmund  Burke. 

Within  the  Gatehouse,  on  the  left,  where  the  Westmin- 
ster Hospital  now  stands,  stood  "  the  Sanctuary" — a  strong 
square  Norman  tower,  containing  two  cruciform  chapels, 
one  above  the  other.  Here  hung  the  bells  of  the  Sanctuary, 
which,  it  was  said,  "sowered  all  the  drink  in  the  town." 
The  privilege  of  giving  protection  from  arrest  to  criminals 

•  He  was  painted  by  Vandyck,  and   is  described  by  Scott  in  "  Peveril  of  the 
Peak." 

+  Johnson's  "  Life  of  Savage." 

*  See  Southey's  "  Doctor,"  vii.  354. 

VOL.   II.  B  B 


37o 


WALKS  JN  LONDON. 


and  debtors  was  shared  by  many  of  the  great  English 
monasteries,  but  few  had  greater  opportunities  of  extending 
their  shelter  than  Westminster,  just  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
capital :  "  Thieving  Lane  "  preserved  its  evil  memory  even 
to  our  own  time. 

The  family  of  Edward  IV.  twice  sought  a  refuge  here, 
once  in  1470,  when  the  Queen,  Elizabeth  Woodville,  with 
he:  mother,  and  her  three  daughters  Elizabeth,  Mary,  and 
Cicely,  were  here  as  the  guests  of  Abbot  Milling,  till  her 
son  Edward  was  born  on  Nov.  1,  1470 — "commonly  called 
Edward  V.,  though  his  hand  was  asked  but  never  married 
to  the  English  crown."  *  The  Abbot,  the  Duchess  of  Bed- 
ford, and  Lady  Scrope  stood  sponsors  to  the  prince  in  the 
Sanctuary  chapel.  The  second  time  was  in  1483,  after  the 
king's  death,  when  the  queen  fled  hither  from  the  Duke  of 
Gloucester  with  all  her  daughters,  her  brother  Dorset, 
and  her  younger  son  Richard.  Here,  sorely  against  her 
will,  she  was  persuaded  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
to  give  up  her  son. 

"And  therewithal  she  said  unto  the  child,  'Farewell,  my  own  sweet 
son,  God  send  you  good  keeping,  let  me  kiss  you  once  yet  ere  you  go, 
for  God  knoweth  when  we  shall  kiss  together  again,'  and  therewith 
she  kissed  him  and  blessed  him,  and  turned  her  back  and  went 
her  way,  leaving  the  child  weeping  as  fast."—  Sir  T.  JUore's  Life  of 
Richard  III. 

Here,  while  still  in  sanctuary,  the  unhappy  mother  heard 
of  the  murder  of  her  two  sons  in  the  Tower. 


"  It  struck  to  her  heart  like  the  dart  of  death ;  she  was  so  suddenly 
amazed  that  she  swooned  and  fell  to  the  ground,  and  lay  there  in  great 
agony  like  to  a  dead  corpse.  And  after  she  was  revived,  and  came  to 
her  memory  again,  she  wept  and  sobbed,  and  with  pitiful  screeches 

*  Fuller's  "  Worthies." 


THE   ALMONRY.  371 

filled  the  whole  mansion.  Her  breast  she  beat,  her  fair  hair  she  tore 
and  pulled  in  pieces,  and  calling  by  name  her  sweet  babes,  accounted  her- 
self mad  when  she  delivered  her  younger  son  out  of  sanctuary  for  his 
uncle  to  put  him  to  death.  After  long  lamentation,  she  kneeled  down 
and  cried  to  God  to  take  vengeance,  '  who '  she  said,  '  she  nothing 
doubted  would  remember  it.'  " 

Skelton,  the  Poet  Laureate  of  Henry  VII.,  who  wrote  the 
lament  for  Edward  IV. — 

"  Oh  Lady  Bessee !  long  for  me  may  ye  call, 
For  I  am  departed  till  domesday  " — 

fled  hither  to  sanctuary  from  Cardinal  Wolsey  in  the  time  of 
Henry  VIII.,  and  remained  here  till  his  death,  not  all  the 
Cardinal's  influence  having  power  to  dislodge  him.  After 
the  fall  of  the  Abbey  criminals  were  deprived  of  the  rights 
of  sanctuary,  but  they  were  retained  for  debtors  till  the 
time  of  James  I.  (1602).  when  they  were  finally  abolished. 

Within  the  precincts,  to  the  right  on  passing  the  Gate- 
house (where  the  Westminster  Palace  Hotel  now  stands), 
was  the  Almonry,  possessing  an  endowment  for  male 
pensioners  from  Henry  VII.,  and  for  females  from  his 
mother,  the  Countess  of  Richmond.  Two  chapels  were 
connected  with  it,  one  of  which  was  commemorated  in  the 
name  of  ■5'/.  Anne's  Lane.  It  was  in  the  Almonry  that  Wil- 
liam Caxton's  printing-press  was  established.  He  had  pre- 
viously worked  in  Cologne,  and  it  is  supposed  that  he  came 
to  England  in  1474,  when  "  The  Game  and  Play  of  Che 
was  produced,  which  is  generally  supposed  to  have  been  his 
first  work  printed  in  this  country.  Gower's  "Con: 
Amantis  "  and  Chaucer's  different  poems  were  printed  here 
by  Caxton. 

We  have  still  left  one  interesting  point  unvisited  which 


372 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


is  connected  with  the  Abbey.  Beyond  the  Infirmary  Gar- 
den were  the  cell  of  the  Hermit,  who,  by  ancient  custom, 
was  attached  to  the  Abbey,  and  the  ancient  tower  which 
formerly  served  as  the  King's  Jewel  House.  The  latter 
remains.  Its  massive  rugged  walls  and  narrow  Norman 
windows  are  best  seen  from  the  mews  in  College  Street, 
entered  by  the  gateway  on  the  south  of  Dean's  Yard.  But 
to  visit  the  interior  it  is  necessary  to  ask  admission  at  6, 
Old  Palace  Yard.  The  tower  has  been  generally  described 
as  a  building  of  Richard  II.,  but  it  was  more  probably  only 
bought  by  him,  and  it  is  most  likely  that  it  was  one  of  the 
earliest  portions  of  the  Abbey,  and  contained  the  primi- 
tive Refectory  and  Dormitory  used  by  the  monks  during  the 
building  of  the  principal  edifice  by  the  Confessor.  A  layer 
of  Roman  tiles  has  been  discovered  in  the  building. 

The  interior  was  evidently  refitted  by  Abbot  Littlington, 
and  the  exceedingly  beautiful  vaulted  room  on  the  base- 
ment story  is  of  his  time.  The  bosses  of  the  roof  are  curious, 
especially  one  with  a  face  on  every  side.  A  small  vaulted 
room  opens  out  of  the  larger  chamber.  The  upper  chamber 
of  the  tower,  which  has  its  noble  original  chestnut  roof,  is 
now  a  small  historical  museum.  Here  are  some  of  the  old 
standards  of  weights  and  measures — those  of  Henry  VII. 
being  especially  curious  ;  the  old  Exchequer  Tallies  ;  Queen 
Elizabeth's  Standard  Ell  and  Yard,  &c.  Here  also  are 
the  six  horseshoes  and  sixty-one  nails  which,  by  ancient 
custom,  the  sheriffs  of  London  are  compelled  to  count 
when  they  are  sworn  in.  In  the  time  of  Edward  II.,  when 
this  custom  was  established,  it  was  a  proof  of  education 
as  only  well-instructed  men  could  count  up  to  sixty-one. 
At  the  same  time  it  was  ordained  that  the  sheriff,  in  proof 


THE  KING'S  JEWEL  HOUSE.  373 

of  strength,  should  cut  a  bundle  of  sticks  :  this  custom  (the 
abolition  of  which  has  been  vainly  attempted)  still  exists, 
but  a  bundle  of  matches  (!)  is  now  provided.  The  original 
knife  always  has  to  be  used. 

There  is  a  noble  view  of  the  Abbey  from  the  plat- 
form on  the  top  of  the  Tower.  It  will  scarcely  be 
credited  by  those  who  visit  it,  that  the  destruction  of 
this  interesting  building  is  in  contemplation,  and  that 
the  present  century,  for  the  sake  of  making  a  "  regular " 
street,  will  perhnps  bear  the  stigma  of  having  destroyed 
one  of  the  most  precious  buildings  in  Westminster, 
which,  if  the  houses  around  it  were  cleared  away  (and 
it  were  preserved  as  a  museum  of  Westminster  antiquities), 
would  be  the  greatest  possible  addition  to  the  group  of 
historic  buildings  to  which  it  belongs. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

WESTMINSTER. 

IMMEDIATELY  facing  us  as  we  emerge  from  Parlia- 
ment Street  is  New  Palace  Yard,  backed  by  Westminster 
Hall  and  the  New  Houses  of  Parliament.  They  occupy  the 
site  of  the  palace  inhabited  by  the  ancient  sovereigns  of  Eng- 
land from  early  Anglo-Saxon  times  till  Henry  VIII.  went  to 
reside  at  Whitehall.  Here  they  lived  in  security  under  the 
shadow  of  the  great  neighbouring  sanctuary,  and  one  after 
another  saw  arise,  within  the  walls  of  their  Palace,  those 
Houses  of  Parliament  which  have  now  swallowed  up  the 
whole.  It  was  here  that  Edward  the  Confessor  entertained 
the  Norman  cousin  who  was  to  succeed  him,  and  here  he 
died  on  the  14th  of  January,  1066.  The  palace  was  fre- 
quently enlarged  and  beautified  afterwards,  especially  by 
William  Rufus,  who  built  the  hall ;  by  Stephen,  who  built 
the  chapel,  to  which  the  finishing  touches  were  given  by 
Edward  III. ;  and  by  Henry  VIII.,  who  built  the  Star 
Chamber.  Edward  I.  was  born,  and  Edward  IV.  died, 
within  the  walls  of  the  palace.  The  most  interesting  parts 
of  the  ancient  building  were  St.  Stephen's  Chapel,  the 
Painted  Chamber,  and  the  Star  Chamber. 

St.  Stephen's   Chapel  was  a  beautiful  specimen  of  rich 


WESTMINSTER   PALACE.  375 

Decorated  Gothic,  its  inner  walls  being  covered  with 
ancient  frescoes  relating  to  the  Old  and  New  Testament 
history;  it  was  used  as  the  House  of  Commons  from  1547 
till  1834,  and  its  walls  resounded  to  the  eloquence  of 
Chatham,  Pitt,  Fox,  Burke,  Grattan,  and  Canning. 

The  walls  of  the  Painted  Chamber  were  pointed  out  by 
tradition  as  those  of  the  bedroom  where  the  Confessor 
died.  It  was  first  called  St.  Edward's  Chamber,  and  took 
its  second  name  from  the  frescoes  (arranged  round  the  walls 
in  bands  like  the  Bayeux  tapestry)  with  which  it  was 
adorned  by  Henry  III.,  and  which  were  chiefly  illustrative 
of  the  History  of  the  Maccabees  and  the  Legendary  life  of 
the  Confessor.*  Here  conferences  between  the  Lords  and 
Commons  took  place;  here  the  High  Court  of  Justice  sate 
for  the  trial  of  Charles  I.  ;  and  here  the  king's  death- 
warrant  was  signed  in  the  disgraceful  scene  when  Cromwell 
and  Henry  Marten  inked  each  other's  faces.  It  was  here 
also  that  Cromwell's  daughter  Elizabeth  Claypole  lay  in 
state,  and,  long  afterwards,  Lord  Chatham  and  William 
Pitt. 

The  Star  Chamber,  which  was  rebuilt  by  Henry  VIII., 
took  its  name  from  the  gilt  stars  upon  its  ceiling.  It  was  the 
terrible  Court  in  which  the  functions  of  Prosecutor  and 
Judge  were  confounded,  and  where  every  punishment 
except  death  could  be  inflicted — imprisonment,  pillory, 
branding,  whipping,  &c.  It  was  there  that  William,  Bishop 
of  Lincoln,  was  fined  ^5,000  for  calling  Laud  "  the  great 
Leviathan,"  and  that  John  Lilburn,  after  being  fined 
^£5.000,  was  sentenced  to  the  pillory,  and  to  be  whipped 
from  fleet  Street  to  Westminster.     On  the  south  side  of  the 

•  They  arc  engraved  in  J  ,.T.  Smith's  "  Vetusta  Monumesta." 


37&  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

palace  was  the  Chapel  of  Our  Lady  de  la  Pieu  (des  Puits  ?) 
where  Richard  II.  offered  to  the  Virgin  before  going  to 
meet  Wat  Tyler.  It  was  burnt  in  1452,  but  rebuilt  by  the 
brother  of  Elizabeth  Woodville,  Anthony,  Earl  Rivers,  who 
left  his  heart  to  be  buried  there. 

At  the  end  of  the  old  Palace,  opening  upon  Old  Palace 
Yard,  was  the  Prince's  Chamber,  built  upon  foundations  of 
the  Confessor's  time,  with    walls   seven   feet  thick.     The 
upper  part  had  lancet  windows  of  the  time  of  Henry  III.,  and 
beneath  them  the  quaintest  of  tapestry  represented  the  birth 
of  Elizabeth.     Beyond  was  the  ancient  Court  of  Requests, 
hung  with  very  curious  tapestry  representing  the  defeat  of 
the  Armada,  woven  at  Haarlem,  from  designs  of  Cornelius 
Vroom  for  Lord  Howard  of  Effingham.  This  was  the  House 
of  Lords  till  1834.    Its  interior  is  shown  in  Copley's  Picture 
of  the  "  Death  of  Lord  Chatham,"  who  was  attacked  by  his 
la^t  illness  (April  7,  1779)  while  declaiming  against  the  dis- 
grace  of  the  proposed  motion  "for  recognising  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  North  American  colonies."     Beneath  was 
the  cellar  where  Guy  Eawkes  concealed  (Nov.  5,  1605)  the 
barrels  of  gunpowder  by  which  the  king,  queen,  and  peers 
were   to   be   blown  up.     Hither,    on   the    day   before    the 
opening  of  Parliament,  Lady  Aveland,  as  Hereditary  Lord 
High  Chamberlain,  comes   annually,  by  her  deputy,  with 
torches,  to  hunt  for  the  successors  of  Guy  Fawkes.     On  the 
night   of  October  16,   1834,  occurred  the  great  conflagra- 
tion which  was  painted  by  Turner,  and  the  ancient  Palace 
of  Westminster,  with  St.  Stephen's   Chapel,   and   the   old 
House  of  Lords  were  entirely  gutted  by  fire.* 

*  The  fire  began  in  the  rooms  adjacent  to  the  House  of  Lords,  amid  the  piles  at 
tallies  which  were  preserved  there— pieces  of  stick  upon  which  the  primitive 
accounts  of  the  House  were  kept  by  notches. 


WESTMINSTER   PALACE.  377 

The  New  Palace  of  Westminster,  containing  the  Houses 
of  Parliament,  was  built  1840— 1859,  from  designs  of  Sir 
Charles  Barry,  R.A.,  in  the  Tudor  style  of  Henry  VIII.     It 
is  twice  the  size  of  the  old  palace,  and  is  one  of  the  largest 
Gothic  buildings  in  the  world.     The  exterior  is  constructed 
of   magnesian    lime-stone    from   the  Yorkshire  quarries    of 
Anston  ;    the  interior   is    of    Caen   stone.     The  details  of 
many    of  the    Belgian  town   halls  are    introduced  in    the 
exterior,  which  is,   however,  so  wanting  in  bold  lines  and 
characteristic  features   that    no   one  would  think  of  com- 
paring it  for  beauty  with  the  halls  of  Brussels,  Ypres,  or 
Louvain,  though  its  towers  group  well  at  a  distance,  and 
especially  from  the  river.     Of  these  towers  it  has  three — the 
Central  Tower  over  the  octagon  hall ;  the  Clock  Tower  (320 
feet  high,  occupying  nearly  the  same  site  as  the  ancient 
clock-tower  of  Edward   I.,  where  the  ancient  Great  Tom 
of  Westminster  for   400  years   sounded  the   hours  to  the 
judges   of  England) ;  *    and  the    Victoria   Tower   (75    feet 
square,    and    336     feet     high),     being    the     gateway    by 
which   the  Queen  is  intended  to  approach  the  House  of 
Lords.     Over  the  arch  of  the  gate  is  the  statue  of  Queen 
Victoria,  supported  by  figures  of  Justice  and  Mercy ;  at  the 
sides  her  parents,  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Kent,  are  com- 
memorated, and  other  members  of  her  family.     The  statues 
of  the  kings  and  queens  of  England  from  Saxon  times  are 
the  principal  external  ornaments  of  the  rest  of  the  building. 

•  It  was  this  clock  which  once  struck  thirteen  at  midnight  with  the  effect  of 
saving'  a  man's  life.  John  Hatfield,  guard  on  the  terrace  at  Windsor  in  the  reign 
ot  William  an.l  .Mary,  being  accused  of  having  fallen  asleep  at  li is  post,  and  tried 
by  court-martial,  solemnly  denied  the  charge,  declaring  as  proof  of  his  being 
awake,  that  he  hi  ard  Great  Tom  strike  thirteen,  which  was  double. 1  on  account 
of  the  great  distance.  Hut  while  he  was  under  sentence  of  death,  an  affidavit  was 
made  by  several  persons  that  the  clock  actually  did  strike  thirteen  instead  ol 
twelve,  wh  reupon  be  received  the  king's  pardon. 


3;8  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

New  Palace  Yard  was  formerly  entered  by  four  gateways, 
the  finest  being  the  "  High  Gate  "  on  the  west,  built  by 
Richard  II.,  and  only  destroyed  under  Anne.  On  the  left, 
where  the  Star  Chamber  stood,  is  now  the  House  of  the 
Speaker,  an  office  which  dates  from  the  reign  of  Edward 
III.  :  the  first  Speaker  being  Sir  W.  T.  Hungerford,  elected 
1377.  On  its  south  side,  Westminster  Hall  faces  us  with 
its  great  door  and  window  between  two  square  towers,  and 
above,  the  high  gable  of  the  roof,  upon  which  the  heads  of 
Oliver  Cromwell,  Ireton,  and  Eradshaw  were  set  up  on 
the  Restoration.  The  head  of  Cromwell  still  exists  in  the 
possession  of  Mr.  Horace  Wilkinson,  Sevenoaks,  Kent. 

On  Westminster  Hall 

"Ireton's  head  was  in  the  middle,  and  Cromwell's  and  Bradshaw's 
on  either  side.  Cromwell's  head,  being  embalmed,  remained  exposed 
to  the  atmosphere  for  twenty-five  years,  and  then  one  stormy  night  it 
was  blown  down,  and  picked  up  by  the  sentry,  who,  hiding  it  under 
his  cloak,  took  it  home  and  secreted  it  in  the  chimney-corner,  and,  as 
enquiries  were  constantly  being  made  about  it  by  the  Government,  it 
was  only  on  his  deathbed  that  he  revealed  where  he  had  hidden  it. 
His  family  sold  the  head  to  one  of  the  Cambridgeshire  Russells,  and, 
in  the  same  box  in  which  it  still  is,  it  descended  to  a  certain  Samuel 
Russell,  who,  being  a  needy  and  careless  man,  exhibited  it  in  a  place 
near  Clare  Market.  There  it  was  seen  by  James  Cox,  who  then  owned 
a  famous  museum.  He  tried  in  vain  to  buy  the  head  from  Russell ; 
for,  poor  as  he  was,  nothing  would  at  first  tempt  him  to  part  with  the 
relic,  but  after  a  time  Cox  assisted  him  with  money,  and  eventually,  to 
clear  himself  from  debt,  he  made  the  head  over  to  Cox.  When  Cox 
at  last  parted  with  his  museum,  he  sold  the  head  of  Cromwell  for  £230 
to  three  men,  who  bought  it  about  the  time  of  the  French  Revolution 
to  exhibit  in  Mead  Court,  Bond  Street,  at  half  a  crown  a  head. 
Curiously  enough,  it  happened  that  each  of  these  three  gentlemen  died 
a  sudden  death,  and  the  head  came  into  the  possession  of  the  three 
nieces  of  the  last  man  who  died.  These  young  ladies,  nervous  at 
keeping  it  in  the  house,  asked  Mr.  "Wilkinson,  their  medical  man,  to 
take  care  of  it  for  them,  and  they  subsequently  sold  it  to  him.  For 
the  next  fifteen  or  twenty  years  Mr.  Wilkinson  was  in  the  habit  of 


NEW  PALACE    YARD.  379 

showing  it  to  all  the  distinguished  men  of  that  day,  and  the  head, 
much  treasured,  remains  in  the  family. 

"  The  circumstantial  evidence  is  very  curious.  It  is  the  only  head 
in  history  which  is  known  to  have  been  embalmed  and  afterwards 
beheaded.  On  the  back  of  the  neck,  above  the  vertebra;,  is  the  mark 
of  the  cut  of  an  axe  where  the  executioner,  having,  perhaps,  no  proper 
block,  had  struck  too  high,  and,  laying  the  head  in  its  soft  embalmed 
state  on  the  block,  flattened  the  nose  on  one  side,  making  it  adhere 
to  the  face.  The  hair  grows  promiscuously  about  the  face,  and  the 
beard,  stained  to  exactly  the  same  colour  by  the  embalming  liquor,  is 
tucked  up  under  the  chin  with  the  oaken  staff  of  the  spear  with  which 
the  head  was  stuck  upon  Westminster  Hall,  which  staff  is  perforated 
by  a  worm  that  never  attacks  oak  until  it  has  been  for  many  years 
exposed  to  the  weather.  The  iron  spear-head,  where  it  protrudes 
above  the  skull,  is  rusted  away  by  the  action  of  the  atmosphere.  The 
jagged  way  in  which  the  top  of  the  skull  is  removed  throws  us  back 
to  a  time  when  surgery  was  in  its  infancy,  while  the  embalming  is  so 
beautifully  done  that  the  cellular  process  of  the  gums  and  the  mem- 
brane of  the  tongue  are  still  to  be  seen." — Letter  signed  "  Senex," 
Times,  Dec.  31,  1874. 

It  was  in  the  yard  in  front  of  Westminster  Hall  that 
Edward  I.  (1297),  when  leaving  for  Flanders,  publicly 
recommended  his  son  Edward  to  the  love  of  his  people. 
Here  Perkin  Warbeck  (1497)  was  set  a  whole  day  in  the 
stocks.  On  the  same  spot  Thomas  Lovelace  (1587)  was 
pilloried  by  an  order  from  the  Star  Chamber,  and  had  one 
of  his  ears  cut  off.  Here  (1630)  Alexander  Leighton  (the 
father  of  the  archbishop)  was  not  only  pilloried,  but  publicly 
whipped,  for  a  libel  on  the  queen  and  the  bishops.  Here 
also  William  Prynne  (1636),  for  writing  the  "  Histrio- 
Mastrix,"  which  was  supposed  to  reflect  upon  Henrietta 
Maria,  was  put  in  the  pillory,  branded  on  both  cheeks  with 
the  letters  S.  L.  (seditious  libeller),  and  lost  one  of  his 
ears.  And  here  the  Duke  of  Hamilton,  Lord  Capel,  and 
Henry  Rich,  Earl  of  Holland,  were  beheaded  for  the  cause 
of  Charles  I.     The  wool  market  established  by  Edward  III. 


35o  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

in  1353,  when  the  wearing  of  woollen  cloths  was  first  in- 
troduced into  England  by  John  Kempe,  was  moved  by 
Richard  II.  from  Staple  Inn  to  New  Palace  Yard,  where  a 
portion  of  the  trade  was  still  carried  on  in  the  fifteenth 
century.  For  many  years,  before  the  porch  where  we  are 
standing,  daily,  in  term  time,  used  to  be  seen  the  mule  of 
Cardinal  Wolsey  (who  rode  hither  from  York  Place),  "  being 
trapped  all  in  crimson  velvet,  with  a  saddle  of  the  same 
stuffe  and  gilt  stirrupts." 

Westminster  Hall,  first  built  by  William  Rufus,  was 
almost  rebuilt  by  Richard  II.,  who  added  the  noble  roof 
of  cobwebless  beams  of  Irish  oak  "  in  which  spiders  cannot 
live,"  which  we  now  see.  On  the  frieze  beneath  the  Gothic 
windows  his  badge,  the  White  Hart  couchant,  is  repeated 
over  and  over  again.  The  Hall,  which  is  270  feet  long 
and  74  feet  broad,  forms  a  glorious  vestibule  to  the 
modern  Houses  of  Parliament,  and  its  southern  extremity 
with  the  fine  staircase  was  added  when  they  were  built. 
In  its  long  existence  the  Hall  has  witnessed  more  tragic 
scenes  than  any  building  in  England  except  the 
Tower  of  London.  Sir  William  Wallace  was  condemned 
to  death  here  in  1305,  and  Sir  John  Oldcastle  the 
Wickliffite  in  141 7.  In  15 17  three  queens — Katherine 
of  Arragon,  Margaret  of  Scotland,  and  Mary  of  France 
— "  long  upon  their  knees,"  here  "  begged  pardon  of 
Henry  VIII.  for  the  480  men  and  eleven  women  accused 
of  being  concerned  in  '  the  Rising  of  the  Prentices,' 
and  obtained  their  forgiveness."  Edward  Stafford,  Duke 
of  Buckingham,  was  tried  here  and  condemned  in  1522, 
and,  on  hearing  his  sentence,  pronounced  the  touching 
speech   which  is   familiar   to   thousands   in   the   words   of 


WESTMINSTER  HALL.  381 

Shakjpeare.*  Here,  May  7,  1535,  Sir  Thomas  More  was 
condemned  to  death,  when  his  son,  breaking  through  the 
guards  and  flinging  himself  on  his  breast,  implored  to  share 
his  fate.  Here  Fisher,  Bishop  of  Rochester  (1535);  the  Pro- 
tector Somerset  (155 1) ;  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  (1554) ;  Thomas 
Howard,  Duke  of  Norfolk  (for  the  sake  of  Mary  of  Scot- 
land, 1571);  Philip,  Earl  of  Arundel  (1589);  Robert 
Devereux,  Earl  of  Essex,  and  Henry  Wriothesley,  Earl  of 
Southampton  (1600)  were  condemned  to  the  block.  Here 
sentence  was  passed  upon  the  Conspirators  of  the  Gunpowder 
Plot  in  1606,  and  on  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Somerset 
for  the  murder  of  Sir  Thomas  Overbury  in  16 16.  Here, 
concealed  behind  the  tapestry  of  a  dark  cabinet  (1640), 
Charles  I.  and  Henrietta  Maria  were  present  through  the 
eighteen  days'  trial  of  Thomas  Wentvvorlh,  Earl  of  Strafford. 
In  the  same  place  Charles  himself  appeared  as  a  prisoner 
on  Jan.  20,  1649,  with  the  banners  taken  at  the  Battle  of 
Naseby  hanging  over  his  head.f 

"  Bradshaw,  in  a  scarlet  robe,  and  covered  by  his  'broad-brimmed 
hat,'  placed  himself  in  a  crimson  velvet  chair  in  the  centre  of  the 
court,  with  a  de.de  and  velvet  cushion  before  him ;  Say  and  Lisle  on 
each  side  of  him  ;  and  the  two  clerks  of  the  court  sitting  below  him  at 
a  table,  covered  with  rich  Turkey  carpet,  on  which  were  laid  the  sword 
of  state  and  the  mace.     The  rest  of  the  court,  with  their  hats  on,  took 

their  scats  on  side  benches,  hung  with  scarlet During  the 

reading  of  the  charge  the  King  sat  entirely  unmoved  in  his  chair, 
looking  sometimes  to  the  court  and  sometimes  to  the  galleries.  Occa- 
sionally he  rose  up  and  turned  about  to  behold  the  guards  and  spec- 
tators, and  then  sat  down  again,  but  with  a  majestical  composed 
countenance,  unruffled  by  the  slightest  emotion,  till  the  clerk  came  to 
the  words  Charles  Stuart,  as  a  tyrant,  traitor,  murderer,  dr'c.  ;  at 
which  the  King  laughed,  as  he  sat,  in  the  face  of  the  court.  The 
silver  head  of  his  staff  happened   to  fall  off,  at  which  he  appeared 

•  Henry  VIII.  Act  ii.  sc.  i. 

t  "Westminster  Hall,"  by  Edward  Foss. 


382  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

surprised;  Herbert,  who  stood  near  him,  offered  to  pick  it  up,  but 
Charles,  seeing  he  could  not  reach  it,  stooped  for  it  himself.  When 
the  words  were  read  stating  the  charge  to  be  exhibited  '  on  behalf  of 
the  people  of  England,'  a  voice,  in  a  loud  tone,  called  out,  '  No,  nor 
the  half  of  the  people — it  is  false — where  are  they  or  their  consents  ? — 
Oliver  Cromwell  is  a  traitor.'  This  occasioned  a  confusion  in  the 
court ;  Colonel  Axtell  even  commanded  the  soldiers  to  fire  into  the 
box  from  which  the  voice  proceeded.  But  it  was  soon  discovered  that 
these  words,  as  well  as  a  former  exclamation  on  calling  Fairfax's  name, 
were  uttered  by  Lady  Fairfax,  the  General's  wife,  who  was  immediately 
compelled  by  the  guard  to  withdraw." — Trial  of  Charles  I.,  Family 
Library,  xxxi. 

The  sentence  against  the  King  was  pronounced  on  the 
27  th  of  January  : — 

"  The  King,  who  during  the  reading  of  the  sentence  had  smiled,  and 
more  than  once  lifted  his  eyes  to  heaven,  then  said,  '  Will  you  hear 
me  a  word,  Sir  ? ' 

"  Bradshaw.  Sir,  you  are  not  to  be  heard  after  the  sentence. 

"  The  King.  No,  Sir  ? 

"  Bradshaw.  No,  Sir,  by  your  favour.  Guards,  withdraw  your 
prisoner. 

"  The  King.  I  may  speak  after  the  sentence,  by  your  favour,  Sir. 
I  may  speak  after  the  sentence,  ever.     By  your  favour— — - 

"Bradshaw.  Hold! 

"  The  King.  The  sentence,  Sir.     I  say,  Sir,  I  do 

"Bradshaw.  Hold! 

"  The  King.  I  am  not  suffered  to  speak.  Expect  what  justice  other 
people  will  have." — Trial  of  Charles  I. 

In  1640  Viscount  Stafford  was  condemned  in  Westminster 
Hall  for  alleged  participation  in  the  Roman  Catholic  plot 
of  Titus  Oates.  On  June  15,  1688,  the  Hall  witnessed  the 
memorable  scene  which  ended  in  the  triumphant  acquittal 
of  the  Seven  Bishops.  In  1699  Edward,  Earl  of  Warwick, 
was  tried  here  for  manslaughter.  Lords  Kenmure  and 
Derwentwater,  Carnwath  and  Nithsdale,  Widdrington  and 
Nairn  were    condemned   here  for  rebellion  in    17 16,  and 


WESTMINSTER  HALL.  383 

Cromartie,  Balmerino,  and  Kilmarnock  in  1746,  their  trial 
being  followed  eight  months  later  by  that  of  the  aged  Lord 
Lovat.  In  1760  Lawrence  Shirley,  Earl  Ferrers,  was  con- 
demned here  to  be  hung  for  the  murder  of  his  servant.  In 
1765  Lord  Byron  was  tried  here  for  the  murder  of  Air. 
Chaworth;  and  in  1776  Elizabeth  Chudleigh,  Duchess  of 
Kingston,  was  tried  here  for  bigamy.  The  last  great  trial 
in  the  Hall  was  that  of  Warren  Hastings  (in  1788),  so 
eloquently  described  by  Macaulay. 

But  Westminster  Hall  has  other  associations  besides 
those  of  its  great  Trials.  It  was  here  that  Henry  III.  saw 
the  Archbishop  and  bishops  hurl  their  lighted  torches  upon 
the  ground,  and  call  down  terrific  anathemas  upon  those 
who  should  break  the  charter  he  had  sworn  to  observe. 
Here  Edward  III.  received  the  Black  Prince  when  he  re- 
turned to  England  with  King  John  of  France  as  a  prisoner 
after  the  Battle  of  Poitiers.  Hither  came  the  English 
barons  with  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  to  denounce  Robert  de 
Vere,  Duke  of  Ireland,  to  Richard  II.  ;  and  here,  when 
Richard  abdicated,  Henry  Bolingbroke  claimed  the  realm 
of  England  as  descended  by  right  line  of  blood  from 
Henry  III.* 

Westminster  Hall  was  the  scene  of  all  the  Corona- 
tion banquets  from  the  time  of  William  Rufus  to  that  of 
George  IV.  On  these  occasions,  ever  since  the  reign  of 
Richard  II.,  the  gates  have  been  suddenly  flung  open,  and, 
amid  a  blare  of  trumpets,  the  Royal  Champion  (always  a 
Dymok  or  Dymoke  of  Scrivelsby)  rides  into  the  hall  in 
full    armour,    and,  hurling  his  mailed   gauntlet   upon   the 

•  Sliakspeare  in  his  Richard  II.  makes  the  King  pronounce  his  abdication  at 
-his  scene. 


384  WALKS  IN  LONDON, 

ground,  defies  to  single  combat  any  person  who  shall  gain- 
say  the  rights  of  the  sovereign.  This  ceremony  having 
been  thrice  repeated  as  the  champion  advances  up  the  hall, 
the  sovereign  pledges  him  in  a  silver  cup,  which  he  after- 
wards sends  to  him. 
On  ordinary  days — 

"  J.  he  great  Hall  of  "Westminster,  the  field 
Where  mutual  frauds  are  fought,  and  no  side  yield,"* 

is  almost  given  up  to  the  Lawyers.  Nothing  in  England 
astonished  Peter  the  Great  more  than  the  number  of  lawyers 
he  saw  here.  "  Why,"  he  said,  "  I  have  only  two  lawyers 
in  all  my  dominions,  and  I  mean  to  hang  one  of  those 
when  I  get  home." 

The  Law  Courts,  of  which  Sir  E.  Coke  says,  "No  man 
can  tell  which  is  the  most  ancient,"  have  occupied  buildings, 
from  the  designs  of  Sir  John  Soane,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Hall,  but  will  be  removed  when  the  New  Law  Courts  at 
Tejmple  Bar  are  completed.  They  are  the  Court  of  Queen's 
Bench,  presided  over  by  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  and  used 
by  the  Masters  in  Chancery,  so  called  from  the  cancelli,  open 
screens,  which  separated  it  from  the  Hall,  the  Court  of 
Wards  and  Liveries,  the  Court  of  Requests,  the  Bail  Court, 
and  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  presided  over  by  the 
Chief  Justice,  where  the  great  Tichborne  case  was  tried 
7871-72.  Up  to  the  reign  of  Mary  I.  the  Judges  rode 
to  the  Courts  of  Westminster  upon  mules.  Men  used  to 
walk  about  in  the  Hall  to  seek  employment  as  hired  wit- 
nesses, and  shamelessly  drew  attention  to  their  calling  by  a 
straw  in  their  shoes.     In  the  time  when  Sir  Thomas  More 

*  Wen  lonscn. 


ST.  STEPHEN'S  CRYPT.  385 

was  presiding  in  the  Court  of  Chancery,  his  father,  Sir  John 
More,  was  sitting  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  and  daily, 
before  commencing  his  duties,  he  used  to  cross  the  Hall,  to 
ask  his  father's  blessing.  The  Exchequer  Court  at  West- 
minster was  formerly  divided  by  the  Hall,  the  pleading 
part  being  on  one  side,  the  paying  part  on  the  other. 

"The  proverb — 'As  sure  as  Exchequer  pay' — was  in  the  prime 
thereof  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  who  maintained  her  Ex- 
chequer to  the  height,  that  her  Exchequer  might  maintain  her.  The 
pay  was  sure  inwards,  nothing  being  remitted  which  was  due  there 
to  the  queen  ;  and  sure  outwards,  nothing  being  detained  which  was 
due  thence  from  the  queen,  full  and  speedy  payment  being  made  thereof. 
This  proverb  began  to  be  crost  about  the  end  of  the  reign  of  King 
James,  when  the  credit  of  the  Exchequer  began  to  decay ;  and  no 
wonder  if  the  streams  issuing  thence  were  shallow,  when  the  fountain 
to  feed  them  was  so  low,  the  revenues  of  the  crown  being  much 
abated." — FulLr's  Worthies. 

(The  Interior  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament  is  shown  on  Saturdays 
from  ten  to  four  by  an  order  which  can  be  obtained  at  the  Lord  Cham- 
berlain's office  in  the  Royal  Court  on  the  south  side  of  the  building. 

Strangers  may  be  present  to  hear  debates  in  the  House  of  Lords  by 
a  Peer's  order,  or  in  the  House  of  Commons  by  an  order  from  any 
member  or  the  Speaker.     Each  member^pan  give  one  order  daily.) 

The  Hall  of  William  Rufus  is  now  merged  in  the  huge 
palace  of  Barry.  A  door  on  the  east  side  of  the  Hall  forms 
the  Members'  approach  to  the  House  of  Commons.  It  leads 
into  the  fan-roofed  galleries  which  represent  the  restored 
cloisters  of  1350.  A  beautiful  little  oratory  projects  into 
the  courtyard  and  the  enclosure.  Here  it  is  believed  that 
several  of  the  signatures  were  affixed  to  the  death-warrant 
of  Charles  I.  The  ancient  door  of  the  oratory  has  only 
recently  been  removed.  Hence  we  enter  the  original 
Crypt  of  St.  Stephen's  Chapel  ("  St.  Mary's  Chapel  in  the 
Vaults"),  which  dates  from  1292,  and  has  escaped  the  two 

vol.  11.  c  c 


386  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

fires  which  have  since  consumed  the  chapel  above.  While 
it  was  being  restored  as  the  Chapel  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, an  embalmed  body  of  a  priest  holding  a  pastoral 
staff  was  found.  It  was  supposed  to  be  that  of  William 
Lyndwoode,  Bishop  of  St.  David's  (1646),  who  founded  a 
chantry  here,  The  chapel  is  now  gorgeous  and  gaudy,  gilt 
and  painted,  a  blaze  of  modern  glass  and  polished  glazed 
tiles. 

Ths  staircase  at  the  south  end  of  Westminster  Hall  leads 
to  St.  Stephen's  Hall  (95  ft.  by  30,  and  56  high),  which 
occupies  the  site  of  the  old  House  of  Commons.  It  is 
decorated  with  statues  : 

Burke  by  Theed. 
Grattan — Carew. 
Pi  1 1 — Macdo-well. 
Fox — Baily. 
Mansfield — Baily. 
Chatham — Macdowell. 
Sir  Robert  Walpole— Bell. 
Lord  Somers — Marshall. 
Lord  Clarendon — Marshall. 
Lord  FaMand — Bell. 
Hampden — Foley. 
Selden — Foley. 

It  was  by  the  door  near  Burke's  statue  that  John  Belling- 
ham  the  disappointed  Russia  merchant  waited,  May  n, 
1 81 2,  to  murder  Spencer  Perceval. 

Hence  we  enter  the  Central  Hall,  an  octagon  70  feet 
square  adorned  with  statues  of  kings  and  queens.  On  the 
left  opens  the  Commons'  Corridor,  adorned  with  frescoes  by 
E.  M.  Ward,  viz. : 

Alice  Lisle  helping  fugitives  to  escape  after  the  Battle  of  Sedge- 
moor. 


THE  HOUSE   OF  COMMONS.  38; 

Jane  Lane  helping  Charles  II.  to  escape  after  the  Battle  of  \Vor« 
cester. 

The  Last  Sleep  of  Argyle. 

The  Executioner  tying  Wishart's  book  round  the  neck  of  Montrose. 

The  Lords  and  Commons  presenting  the  crown  to  William  and  Mary 
in  the  Banqueting  House. 

The  Landing  of  Charles  II.  at  Dover,  May  26,  1660. 

The  Acquittal  of  the  Seven  Bishops. 

Monk  declaring  for  a  Free  Parliament. 

Hence  we  enter  the  Lobby  of  the  House  of  Commons.  On 
the  left,  facing  the  river,  are  the  luxurious  rooms  of  the 
Library,  where  members  write  their  letters  and  concoct 
their  speeches. 

The  LLouse  of  Commons,  "  the  principal  chamber  of  the 
manufactory  of  statute  law,"*  only  measures  75  ft.  by  45, 
the  smallest  size  possible  for  the  sake  of  hearing,  its 
architectural  beauty  as  originally  designed  by  Barry  having 
been  entirely  sacrificed  to  sound.  At  the  north  end  is 
the  Speaker's  chair,  beneath  which  is  the  clerk's  table,  at 
the  south  end  of  which  on  brackets  lies  the  mace, 
which  was  made  at  the  Restoration  in  the  place  of  "  the 
fool's  bauble  "  which  Cromwell  ordered  to  be  taken  away. 
The  Ministerial  benches  are  on  the  right  of  the  Speaker,  and 
the  leaders  of  the  Opposition  sit  opposite.  Behind  the 
Speaker  is  the  Gallery  for  the  Reporters  of  the  Press, 
"  the  men  for  whom  and  to  whom  Parliament  talks  so 
lengthily ;  the  filter  through  which  the  senatorial  eloquence 
is  percolated  for  the  public."  f  On  either  side  of  the 
House  are  the  division  lobbies,  the  "  Ayes  "  on  the  west, 
the  "  Noes  "  on  the  east. 

Returning  to  the  Central  Hall,  the  stairs  on  the  left, 
adorned  with  a  statue  of  Barry  (1795 — 1S60),  lead  to  the 

*  Quarterly  Review,  clxxxix.  +  Quarterly  Review,  clxxsix. 


j88  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Lobby  of  the  Committee  Rooms,  decorated  with  frescoes  of  the 
English  poets. 
The  Peers'  Corridor  is  lined  with  frescoes  by  E.  W.  Cope. 

Lenthall  asserting  the  privileges  of  the  Commons  against  Charles  I. 

Charles  I.  erecting  his  standard  at  Nottingham. 

The  Setting  out  of  the  Train  Bands  from  London  to  relieve  Glou- 
cester. 

The  Defence  of  Basing  House  by  the  Cavaliers. 

The  Embarkation  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers. 

The  Expulsion  of  the  Fellows  of  Magdalen  for  refusing  to  sign  the 
Covenant. 

The  Parting  of  Lord  and  Lady  Russell. 

The  Eurial  of  Charles  L 

On  the  right  is  the  Standing  Order  Committee  Room  used 
for  conferences  between  the  Houses  of  Lords  and 
Commons.  It  contains  the  beautiful  fresco  of  "the  Delivery 
of  the  Law  by  Moses"  by  Herbert.  Its  execution  occupied 
seven  years,  in  compliance  with  the  theory  of  the  artist, 
"  if  you  paint  when  you  are  not  inclined,  you  only  spoil 
art." 

The  House  of  Lords  (ioo  ft.  by  45),  overladen  with 
painting  and  gilding,  has  a  flat  roof  and  stained  glass 
windows  filled  with  portraits  of  kings  and  queens.  The 
seats  for  the  peers  (for  235)  are  arranged  longitudinally,  the 
Government  side  being  to  the  right  of  the  throne,  and  the 
bishops  nearest  the  throne.  At  the  north  end,  below  the 
Strangers'  Gallery,  is  the  dwarf  screen  of  the  bar,  where 
witnesses  are  examined  and  culprits  tried.  Here  the 
Speaker  and  Members  of  the  House  of  Commons  appear 
with  a  tumultuous  rush,  when  they  are  summoned  to  hear 
the  Queen's  speech.  Near  the  centre  of  the  House  is  the 
Woolsack  covered  with  crimson  cloth,  with  cushions 
whence  the  Lord  Chancellor  reads  prayers  at  the  opening 


THE  HOUSE  OE  LORDS.  3^ 


/ 


in 


of  the  debates.      The   Princess  of  Wales   sits  here  at  the 
opening  of  Parliament,  facing  the  throne. 

The  Queen  enters  from  the  Prince's  Chamber  precede; 
by  heralds  and  takes  her  seat  here,  the  Mistress  of  the 
Robes  and  the  Lady  of  the  Bedchamber  standing  behind 
her,  when  the  Lord  Chancellor,  kneeling,  presents  the 
Speech.  The  Throne  is  so  placed,  at  the  South  end  of  Lhe 
House,  that,  if  all  the  doors  were  open,  the  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Commons  would  be  seen  from  it. 

"Thus  at  a  prorogation  the  Queen  on  her  throne  and  the  Speaker 
his  chair  face  each  other  at  a  distance  of  some  four  hundred  and 
fifty  feet,  and  the  eagerness  of  the  Commons  in  their  race  from  then- 
own  House  to  the  bar  of  the  Lords  has  more  than  once  amused  their 
Sovereign  Lady.  It  used  to  be  an  open  race,  but  the  start  is  now  so 
managed  that  the  Speaker  and  the  parliamentary  leaders  first  'touch 
wood,'  as  schoolboys  say." — Quarterly  Review,  clxxxix. 

The  frescoes  above  the  throne  are — 

Edward  III.  conferring  the  Garter  on  the  Black  Prince.     C.  W. 
Cope. 
The  Baptism  of  Ethelbcrt.     IV.  Dree. 
Prince  Henry  condemned  by  Judge  Gascoigne.     C.  IV.  Cjpe. 

Over  the  Strangers'  Gallery  are — 

The  Spirit  of  Justice.     D.  Madise. 
The  Spirit  of  Religion.      7".  c'.  Hornby. 
The  Spirit  of  Chivalry.     D.  Maelise. 

On  the  south  of  the  House  of  Lords  is  the  Prince's 
Chamber,  containing  a  very  fine  statue  of  Queen  Victoria 
supported  by  Judgment  and  Mercy,  by  Gibson.  This  is 
approached  from  the  Victoria  Gate  by  the  Royal  Gai/cry, 
containing  Mavises  frescoes  of  the  Death  of  Nelson  and 
meeting  of  Blucher  and  Wellington.  When  the  Queen 
consents    to    arrive   by  the   Victoria  Gate,   this   gallery    is 


j^c  IVALKS  IN  LONDON. 

crowded  with  ladies  to  see  the  procession  pass.  At  its 
south  end  is  the  Queen's  Robing  Room,  lined  with  frescoes 

from  the  Story  of  King  Arthur  by  Dycc,  left  unfinished  by 
the  death  of  the  artist.  This  room  is  the  best  in  the 
palace  both  in  proportion  and  decoration.  In  a  small 
room  adjoining,  used  for  committees,  is  a  painted  copy  of  a 
lost  tapestry  from  the  Painted  Chamber,  representing  the 
English  fleet  pursuing  the  Spanish  fleet  at  Fowey. 

The  Victoria  Tower  is  approached  by  the  open  space 
known  as  Old  Palace  Yard,  where  Chaucer  lived  and 
probably  died  in  a  house  the  site  of  which  is  now  occupied 
by  Henry  VII. 's  Chapel.  Ben  Jonson  also  died  in  a 
house  here.  It  was  here  that  the  conspirators  of  the  Gun- 
powder Plot  suffered  death,  opposite  to  the  windows  of  the 
house  through  which  they  carried  the  gunpowder  into  the 
vaults  under  the  House  of  Lords. 

«'  The  next  day  being  Friday,  were  drawn  from  the  Tower  to  the 
Old  Palace  Yard  in  Westminster,  Thomas  "Winter,  Rookewood,,  Heyes, 
and  Faukes.  Winter  went  first  up  the  scaffold,  and  protested  that  he 
died  a  true  Catholick,  with  a  very  pale  face  and  dead  colour,  he  went  up 
the  ladder,  and  after  a  swing  or  two  with  the  halter,  to  the  quarter- 
ing block  was  drawn,  and  there  quickly  despatched. 

"  Next  came  Rookewood,  who  protested  to  die  in  his  idolatry  a 
Romish  Catholick,  went  up  the  ladder,  hanging  till  he  was  almost 
dead,  then  was  drawn  to  the  block,  where  he  gave  up  his  last  gasp. 

"  Then  came  Heyes,  who  was  so  sturdy  a  villain  that  he  would  not 
wait  the  hangman's  turn,  but  turned  himself  off  with  such  a  leap  that 
he  broke  the  halter  with  the  swing ;  but  after  his  fall  he  was  drawn  to 
the  block,  and  there  his  bowels  withdrawn,  and  he  was  divided  into 
four  parts. 

"Last  of  all  came  the  great  Devil  of  all,  Guy  Faukes,  alias  John- 
son, who  should  have  put  fire  to  the  powder.  His  body  being  weak 
with  the  torture  and  sickness  he  was  scarce  able  to  go  up  the  ladder, 
yet  with  much  ado,  by  the  help  of  the  hangman,  went  high  enough  to 
break  his  neck  by  the  fall.  He  made  no  speech,  but  with  his  crosses 
and  idle  ce  cmonies  made  his  end  upon  the  gallows  and  the  block,  to 


OLD  PALACE    YARD.  39 j 

the  great  joy  of  all  beholders  that  the  land  was  ended  of  so  wicked  a 
villainy." — The  Weekeley  Newes,  Munday,  $\st  Jan.,  1606. 

"The  men  who  contrived,  the  men  who  prepared,  the  men  who 
sanctioned,  this  scheme  of  assassination  were,  one  and  all,  of  Protestant 
birth.  Father  Parsons  was  Protestant  born,  Father  Owen  and  Father 
Garnet  were  Protestant  born.  From  what  is  known  of  Winter$s  early 
life,  it  may  be  assumed  that  he  was  a  Protestant.  Catesby  and  Wright 
had  been  Protestant  boys.  Guy  Fawkes  had  been  a  Protestant,  Perrj 
had  been  a  Protestant.  The  minor  persons  were  like  their  chiefs- 
apostates  from  their  early  faith,  with  the  moody  weakness  which  is 
an  apostate's  inspiration  and  his  c  irse.  Tresham  was  a  convert— 
Monteagle  was  a  convert — Digby  was  a  convert.  Thomas  Morgan, 
Robert  Kay,  and  Kit  Wright,  were  all  converts.  The  five  gentlemen 
who  dug  the  mine  in  Palace  yard,  were  all  of  English  blood  and  of 
Protestant  birth.  But  they  were  converts  and  fanatics,  observing  no 
law  save  that  of  their  own  passions  ;  men  of  whom  it  should  be  said, 
in  justice  to  all  religions,  that  they  no  more  disgraced  the  church  which 
they  entered  than  that  which  they  had  left." — Hepworth  Dixon. 

Here,  Oct.  29,  1618,  being  Lord  Mayor's  Day,  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  was  led  to  execution  at  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning  and  said  as  he  playfully  touched  the  axe,  "  This  is 
a  sharp  medicine,  but  it  will  cure  all  diseases." 

"  His  death  was  managed  by  him  with  so  high  and  religious  a  reso- 
lution, as  if  a  Roman  had  acted  a  Christian,  or  rather  a  Christian  a 
Roman. ' ' —  Osborne. 

Sir  Walter's  head  was  preserved  by  Lady  Raleigh  in  a 
glass-case  during  the  twenty-nine  years  through  which  she 
survived  him,  and  afterwards  by  her  son  Carew :  with  him 
it  is  believed  to  be  buried  at  Horsley  in  Surrey. 

In  front  of  the  Palace  stands  the  equestrian  statue  of 
Richard  Cceur  de  Lion  by  Marochetti — a  poor  work,  the 
action  of  the  figure  being  quite  inconsistent  with  that  of  the 
horse. 

The  Church  of  St.  Margaret,  Westminster,  is  the  especial 
church  of  the  House  of  Commons,  and,  except  the  Abbey 


392  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

and  St.  Paul's,  has  the  oldest  foundation  in  London,  having 
been  founded  by  the  Confessor  and  dedicated  to  Margaret, 
the  martyr  of  Antioch,  partly  to  divert  to  another  building 
the  crowds  who  inundated  the  Abbey  church,  and  partly 
for  the  benefit  of  the  multitudes  of  refugees  in  Sanctuary. 

The  church  was  rebuilt  by  Edward  I.,  again  was  re-edified 
in  the  time  of  Edward  IV.  by  Sir  Thomas  Billing  and  his 
wife  Lady  Mary,  and  it  has  been  greatly  modernised  in  the 
last  century.  Here  the  Fast  Day  Sermons  were  preached 
in  the  reign  of  Charles  I.;  and  here  both  Houses  of  Parlia- 
ment, with  the  Assembly  of  Divines  and  the  Scots  Com- 
missioners, met  Sept.  25,  1643,  and  were  prepared  by 
prayer  for  taking  the  Covenant. 

"  Then  Mr.  Nye  in  the  pulpit  read  the  Covenant,  and  all  present 
held  up  their  hands  in  testimony  of  their  assent  to  it ;  and  afterwards 
in  the  several  Houses  subscribed  their  names  in  a  parchment  roll,  where 
the  Covenant  was  written  :  the  Divines  of  the  Assembly,  and  the  Scots 
Commissioners  likewise  subscribed  the  Covenant,  and  then  Dr.  Gouge 
in  the  pulpit  prayed  for  a  blessing  upon  it." — IVhitelocke,  p.  74. 

Here  Hugh  Peters,  "  the  pulpit  buffoon,"  denounced 
Charles  as  "  the  great  Barabbas  of  Windsor,"  and  urged 
Parliament  to  bring  the  King  "  to  condign,  speedy,  and 
capital  punishment."  "  My  lords,"  he  said,  "  and  you, 
noble  gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Commons,  you  are  the 
Sanhedrim,  and  the  great  Council  of  the  nation,  therefore 
you  must  be  sure  to  do  justice.  Do  not  prefer  the  great 
Barabbas,  Murderer,  Tyrant,  and  Traitor,  before  these  poor 
hearts  (pointing  to  the  red-coats),  and  the  army,  who  are 
our  Saviours."  * 

Amongst  the  Puritans  who  preached  here  were  "  Calamy, 
Vines,  Nye,  Manton,  Marshall,   Gauden,   Owen,  Burgess, 

*  £xT.raination  of  Beaver  in  the  trial  of  Hugh  Peters. 


ST.  MARGARETS,   WESTMINSTER.  393 

Novvcomen,  Reynolds,  Cheynell,  Baxter,  Case  (who  cen- 
sured Cromwell  to  his  face,  and  when  discoursing  before 
General  Monk,  cried  out.  '  There  are  some  who  will  betray 
three  kingdoms  for  filthy  lucre's  sake,'  and  threw  his  hand- 
kerchief into  the  General's  pew);  the  critical  Lightfoot  \ 
Taylor,  'the  illuminated  Doctor';  and  Goodwyn,  'the 
windmill  with  a  weathercock  upon  the  top.'"  * 

In  later  times  the  rival  divines  Burnet  and  Sprat 
preached  here  before  Parliament  in  the  same  morning. 

"  Burnet  and  Sprat  were  old  rivals.  There  prevailed  in  those  days 
an  indecent  custom  :  when  the  preacher  touched  any  favourite  topic  in 
a  manner  that  delighted  his  audiences,  their  approbation  was  expressed 
by  a  loud  hum,  continued  in  proportion  to  their  zeal  or  pleasure. 
When  Burnet  preached,  part  of  his  congregation  hummed  so  loudly 
and  so  long,  that  he  sate  down  to  enjoy  it,  and  rubbed  his  face  with  his 
handkerchief.  When  Sprat  preached,  he  likewise  was  honoured  with 
a  like  animating  hum,  but  he  stretched  out  his  hand  to  the  congrega- 
tion, and  cried,  <  Peace,  peace,  I  pray  you,  peace  !  '  " — Dr.  Johnson. 

Sir  John  Jekyl  told  Speaker  Onslow  in  proof  of  Burnet's 
popularity  that  one  day  when  he  was  present  the  Bishop 
preached  out  his  hourglass  before  exhausting  his  subject. 
"  He  took  it  up,  and  held  it  aloft  in  his  hand,  ami  then 
turned  it  up  for  another  hour ;  upon  which  the  audience 
set  up  almost  a  shout  of  joy  !  " 

It  was  in  St.  Margaret's  that  Dr.  Sacheverell  preached  his 
first  sermon  after  his  suspension,  on  Palm  Sunday,  1713. 

The  most  important  feature  of  the  church  is  the  east 
window,  justly  cited  by  Winston,  the  great  authority  on 
stained  glass,  as  the  most  beautiful  work  as  regards 
harmonious  arrangement  of  colouring  with  which  he  is  ac- 
quainted     It  was  ordered  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  to 

•  Walcott's  "  Westminster." 


394  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

be  executed  at  Gouda  in  Holland,  and  was  intended  as  a 
gift  to  the  new  chapel  which  Henry  VII.  was  building, 
upon  the  marriage  of  their  daughter  Catherine  with  his 
eldest  son  Arthur.  But  the  execution  of  the  window 
occupied  five  years,  and  before  it  was  finished  Prince 
Arthur  was  dead,  and  the  chapel  was  finished.  Henry  VIII. 
presented  the  window  to  Waltham  Abbey,  and  thence,  on 
the  Dissolution,  the  last  abbot  sent  it  for  safety  to  his 
private  chapel  at  New  Hall,  an  estate  which  was  afterwards 
purchased  by  Sir  Thomas  Boleyn,  father  of  Queen  Anne. 
The  window  remained  at  New  Hall  till  the  place  became 
the  property  of  General  Monk,  who  took  down  the  window 
and  buried  it,  to  preserve  it  from  the  Puritans,  but  replaced 
it  in  his  chapel  at  the  Restoration.  After  his  death  the 
chapel  was  pulled  down,  but  the  window  was  preserved  and 
was  eventually  purchased  by  Mr.  Conyers  of  Copt  Hall  in 
Essex,  by  whose  son  it  was  sold  in  1758  to  the  church- 
wardens of  St.  Margaret's  for  ^400.*  Even  then  the 
window  was  not  suffered  to  rest  in  peace,  as  the  Dean  and 
Chapter  of  Westminster  looked  upon  it  as  "  a  superstitious 
image  and  picture,"  and  brought  a  lawsuit  for  its  removal, 
which,  after  having  been  fought  for  seven  years,  happily 
failed  in  the  end.f 

The  window  represents — on  a  deep  blue  background — 
the  Crucifixion,  in  which,  as  in  many  old  Italian  pictures, 
angels  are  catching  the  blood  which  flows  from  the 
Saviour's  wounds,  the  soul  of  the  penitent  thief  is  received  by 
an  angel,  while  the  soul  of  the  bad  thief  is  carried  oft  by  a 


•  Timbs's  "Curiosities  of  London." 

+  In  r.enory  of  this  triumph  the  then  churchwarden  presented  to  the  parish 

the  beautiful  "  Loving  Cup  of  St.  Margaret." 


ST.  MARGARET'S,  WESTMINSTER.  395 

demon.  At  the  foot  of  the  cross  kneels  on  one  side 
Arthur,  Prince  of  Wales,  with  his  patron  St.  George  and  the 
red  and  white  roses  of  his  parents  over  his  head  ;  on  the 
other  Katherine  of  Arragon,  with  St.  Cecilia  above  her,  and 
the  pomegranate  of  Granada. 

Over  the  altar  is  the  Supper  at  Emmaus,  executed  in 
lime-wood  in  1753  by  Aiken  of  So  ho  from  the  Titian  in  the 
Louvre.  In  the  porch  near  the  north-western  entrance  is 
a  beautiful  carved  sixteenth-century  seat  where  a  loaf  of 
bread  and  sixpence  are  given  every  Sunday  to  sixteen  poor 
widows  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  Mrs.  Joyce  Goddard, 
1621.  Close  by  is  the  mural  monument  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Corbett  (who  died  of  cancer)  with  Pope's  famous  epitaph — 

"  Here  rests  a  woman,  good  without  pretence, 
Blest  with  plain  reason,  and  with  sober  sense : 
No  conquest  she  but  her  own  self  desired, 
No  arts  essayed,  but  not  to  be  admired  : 
Passion  and  pride  were  to  her  soul  unknown; 
Convinced  that  virtue  only  is  our  own  : 
So  unaffected,  so  composed  a  mind, 
So  firm,  yet  soft,  so  strong,  yet  so  refined, 
Heaven,  as  its  purest  gold,  by  tortures  tried ; — 
The  saint  sustain'd  it,  but  the  woman  died." 

0  I  have  always  considered  this  as  the  most  valuable  of  all  Pope's 
epitaphs  ;  the  subject  of  it  is  a  character  not  discriminated  by  any 
shining  or  eminent  peculiarities  ;  yet  that  which  really  makes,  though 
not  the  splendour,  the  felicity  of  life,  and  that  which  every  wise  man 
will  choose  for  his  friend  and  lasting  companion  in  the  languor  of  age, 
in  the  quiet  of  privacy,  when  he  departs  weary  and  disgusted  from  the 
ostentatious,  the  volatile,  and  the  vain.  Of  such  a  character,  which 
the  dull  overlook,  and  the  gay  despise,  it  was  fit  that  the  value  should 
be  made  known,  and  the  dignity  established.  Domestic  virtue,  as  it  is 
exerted  without  great  occasions,  or  conspicuous  consequences,  in  an 
even  tenor,  required  the  genius  of  Pope  to  display  it  in  such  a  manner 
as  might  attract  regard,  and  enforce  reverence.  Who  can  forbear  to 
lament  that  this  amiable  woman  has  no  name  in  the  verse  ?  " — Dr. 
Johnson. 


396  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

In  the  same  western  porch  are  the  monuments  of  Jama 
Palmer,  1659,  and  Emery  Hi/I,  1677,  founders  of  the  Alms- 
houses which  are  called  by  their  names.  In  the  north  aisle 
is  the  curious  but  much  injured  Flemish  monument  and 
bust  of  Cornelius  Vandun  of  Breda,  1577,  builder  of  the 
almshouses  in  Petty  France — "  souldier  with  King  Henry  at 
Turney,  Yeoman  of  the  Guard,  and  Usher  to  King  Henry, 
King  Edward,  Queen  Mary,  and  Queen  Elizabeth  :  a  care- 
ful man  for  poore  folke,  who  in  the  end  of  this  toune  did 
build  for  poore  widowes  twenty  houses,  of  his  owne  cost." 
Another  monument,  with  quaint  verses,  commemorates  "the 
late  deceased  virgin,  Mistris  Elizabeth  Hereicke."  Near 
the  north-east  door  is  the  monument  of  Mrs.  Joane  Barnctt. 
1674,  who  sold  oatmeal  cakes  by  the  church  door,  and  left 
money  for  a  sermon  and  the  maintenance  of  poor  widows. 
In  the  north-eastern  porch  are  many  monuments  with 
effigies  offering  interesting  examples  of  costume  of  the 
time  of  James  I.,  and  that  to  Lady  Dorothy  Stafford,  1604, 
whose  mother  Ursula  was  daughter  of  the  famous  Countess 
of  Salisbury,  the  only  daughter  of  George,  Duke  of 
Clarence,  brother  of  King  Edward  the  Fourth  : — "  She 
served  Queen  Elizabeth  forty  years,  lying  in  the  bed- 
chamber, esteemed  of  her,  loved  of  all,  doing  good  all  she 
could,  a  continual  remembrancer  of  the  suite  of  the  poor." 
A  tablet,  with  a  relief  of  his  death,  commemorates  Sir  Peter 
Parker,  18 14. 

•  In  the  chancel  is  buried  John  She/ton,  1529,  the  satirical 
poet  laureate  called  by  Erasmus  "  Britannicarum  literarum 
lumen  et  decus,"  who  died  in  Sanctuary,  to  which  he  was 
driven  by  the  enmity  of  Wolsey,  excited  by  his  squibs  on 
bad  customs  and  bad  clergy.     Near  him  (not  in  the  porch) 


ST.  MARGARET'S,    WESTMINSTER.  397 

rests  another  court  poet  of  Henry  VIII.  and  Elizabeth — 
Thomas  Churchyard,  1604,  whose  adventurous  life  was  one 
long  romance.  His  best  work  was  his  "Legende  of  Jane 
Shore."  "  He  was  one  of  those  unfortunate  men  who  wrote 
poetry  all  his  days,  and  lived  a  long  life,  to  complete  his 
misfortune."  *  Camden  gives  his  epitaph,  which  has  dis- 
appeared.! Near  these  graves  is  that  of  a  poet  of  the 
Commonwealth,  James  Harrington,  1677,  author  of  the 
republican  romance  called  "  Oceana."  Here  also  was 
buried  Milton's  beloved  second  wife,  Katherine  Woodcock* 
(Feb.  10,  1602),  who  died  in  childbirth  a  yeai  after  her 
marriage  to  the  poet. 

In  the  south-eastern  porch  is  the  stately  tomb  of  Marie t 
Lady  Dudley,  1620: — "She  was  grandchilde  to  Thomas, 
Duke  of  Norfolke,  the  second  of  that  surname,  and  sister  to 
Charles  Howard,  Earl  of  Nottingham,  Lord  High  Admiral 
of  England,  by  whose  prosperous  direction,  through  the 
goodness  of  God  in  defending  his  handmaid  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, the  whole  fleet  of  Spain  was  defeated  and  discom- 
fited." She  married  first  Edward  Sutton,  Lord  Dudley, 
and  secondly  Richard  Mountpesson,  who  is  represented 
kneeling  beside  her.  A  tablet  by  Westmacott,  erected  in 
1820,  commemorates  William  Caxton,  the  printer,  1492, 
who  long  worked  in  the  neighbouring  Almonry  and  is 
buried  in  the  churchyard.  A  brass  plate  was  put  up  here 
in  1845  to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  beheaded  close  by,  and 
buried  beneath  the  altar. 


•  D'Israeli,  "  Calamities  of  Authors." 

+  "Come,  Alecto,  lend  a  torch. 

To  find  a  Churchyard  in  a  church  porch  ; 
Poverty  and  poetry  this  torch  doth  enclose, 
Therclore  gentlemen  be  merry  in  prose." 


39$  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Exiled  to  the  vestry,  but  preserved  there,  are  the  "  State 
Arms  "  put  up  in  the  church  under  the  Puritan  rule,  but  a 
crown  has  been  added.  After  the  Restoration,  the  church 
authorities  rushed  into  the  opposite  extreme  of  loyal 
display,  and  a  triumphal  arch  used  to  be  erected  inside  the 
church  annually  in  commemoration  of  the  time  of  the  king's 
return,  till  it  fell  and  killed  a  carpenter  in  the  beginning  of 
the  last  century.  The  churchwardens  for  a  hundred  and 
fifty  years  have  held  with  their  office  the  possession  of  a 
very  curious  Horn  Snuff-box,  inside  the  lid  of  which  is  a 
head  of  the  Duke  Cumberland  engraved  by  Hogarth  in 
1746,  to  commemorate  the  Battle  of  Culloden.  Successive 
churchwardens  have  enclosed  it  in  a  succession  of  silver 
cases,  beautifully  engraved  with  representations  of  the 
historical  events  which  have  occurred  when  they  held  office, 
so  that  it  has  become  a  really  valuable  curiosity. 

Before  leaving  this  church  one  may  notice  the  marriage, 
at  its  altar,  of  Edward  Hyde,  Earl  of  Clarendon,  grandfather 
of  Mary  II.  and  Anne,  with  Frances,  daughter  of  Sir 
Thomas  Aylesbury ;  and  the  baptism,  at  its  font  (Nov. 
1640),  of  Barbara  Villiers,  the  notorious  Duchess  of  Cleve- 
land. The  restoration  of  the  church  is  contemplated, 
which,  it  is  to  be  hoped  may  conduce  to  the  preservation, 
not  (as  is  so  often  the  case  in  London)  to  the  ruin,  of  its 
monuments,  which  afford  so  many  quiet  glimpses  of  Eliza- 
bethan and  Jacobean  History. 

The  Churchyard  of  St.  Margaret's  is  closely  paved  with 
tombstones.  Wenceslaus  Hollar,  the  engraver  (1677),  is 
said  to  lie  near  the  north-west  angle  of  the  tower.  Here 
also  are  buried  Sir  William  Waller,  the  Parliamentary 
general  (1668),    and    Thomas    Blood,    celebrated    for    his 


ST.  JOHN'S,  WESTMINSTER.  399 

attempt  to  steal  the  regalia  (16S0).  The  bodies  of  the 
mother  of  Oliver  Cromwell ;  of  Admiral  Blake  (who  had 
been  honoured  with  a  public  funeral)  ;  of  Sir  Thomas 
Constable  and  Dr.  Dorislaus,  concerned  in  the  trial  of 
Charles  I.;  of  Thomas  May,  the  poet  and  historian  of  the 
Commonwealth,  and  others  famous  under  the  Protectorate, 
when  exhumed  from  the  Abbey,  were  caielessly  interred 
here.  One  cannot  leave  the  churchyard  without  recalling 
its  association  with  the  poet  Cowper,  while  he  was  a  West- 
minster boy. 

"  Crossing  St.  Margaret's  Churchyard  one  evening,  a  glimmering 
light  in  the  midst  of  it  excited  his  curiosity,  and,  instead  of  quickening 
his  speed,  he,  whistling  to  keep  up  his  courage  the  while,  went  to  see 
whence  it  proceeded.  A  gravedigger  was  at  work  there  by  lantern- 
light,  and,  just  as  Cowper  came  to  the  spot,  he  threw  up  a  skull  which 
struck  him  on  the  leg.  This  gave  an  alarm  to  his  conscience,  and  he 
reckoned  the  incident  as  amongst  the  best  religious  impressions  which 
he  received  at  Westminster." — Southey's  Life  of  Cowper. 

On  the  south  and  west  of  the  Abbey  and  the  precincts 
of  Westminster    School    is    a    labyrinth    of    poor  streets. 

Vine  Street  commemorated  the  vineyard  of  the  Abbey. 
Many  of  the  old  Westminster  signs  are  historical — the 
Lamb  and  Saracen's  Head,  a  record  of  the  Crusades  ;    the 

White  Hart,  the  badge  of  Richard  II. ;  the  Rose,  the  badge 
of  the  Tudors.  In  the  poverty-stricken  quarter,  not  far 
from  the  river,  is  St.  Johns  Church,  the  second  of  Queen 
Anne's  fifty  churches,  built  (1728)  from  designs  of  Archer,  a 
pupil  of  Vanbrugh.  It  has  semi-circular  apses  on  the  east 
and  west,  and  at  each  of  the  four  corners  one  of  the  towers 
which  made  Lord  Chesterfield  compare  it  to  an  elephant  on 
its  back  with  its  four  feet  in  the  air.  The  effect  at  a 
distance  is  miserable,  but  the  details  of  the  church  are  good 


400  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

when  you  approach  them.  Churchill,  the  poet,  was  curate 
and  lecturer  here  (1758),  and  how  utterly  unsuited  for  the 
office  we  learn  from  his  own  lines : — 

"  I  kept  those  sheep, 
"Which,  for  my  curse,  I  was  ordain'd  to  keep, 
Ordain'd,  alas  !  to  keep  through  need,  not  choice.  .  « 
Whilst,  sacred  dulness  ever  in  my  view, 
Sleep,  at  my  bidding,  crept  from  pew  to  pew." 

Horseferry  Road,  near  this,  leads  to  Lambeth  Bridge, 
erected  in  1862  on  the  site  of  the  horse-ferry,  where  Mary  of 
Modena  crossed  the  river  in  her  flight  from  Whitehall 
(Dec.  9,  1688),  her  passage  being  "rendered  very  difficult 
and  dangerous  by  the  violence  of  the  wind  and  the  heavy 
and  incessant  rain."  At  the  same  spot  James  II.  crossed 
two  days  after  in  a  little  boat  with  a  single  pair  of  oars,  and 
dropped  the  great  seal  of  England  into  the  river  on  his 
passage.  The  large  open  space  called  Vi?ice?it  Square  is  used 
as  a  playground  by  the  Westminster  Scholars.  In  Rochester 
Row,  on  the  north  of  the  square,  is  St.  Stephen's  Church, 
built  by  Miss  Burdett  Coutts  in  1847,  and  opposite  this 
Emery  Hill 's  Almshouses  of  1708.  At  the  end  of  Rochester 
Row  towards  Victoria  Street  is  the  Grey  Coat  School,  a 
quaint  building  of  1698,  with  two  statues  in  front  in  the 
costume  of  the  children  for  whom  it  was  founded.  In  the 
narrow  streets  near  this  is  Tothill  Fields  Prison,  built  1836. 
The  gate  of  the  earlier  prison  here,  called  Bridewell,  is  pre- 
served in  the  garden. 

At  the  end  of  Victoria  Street,  opposite  the  entrance  to 
Dean's  Yard,  is  a  very  picturesque  Memorial  Column,  by 
Scott,  in  memory  of  the  old  Westminster  boys  killed  in  the 
Crimean  war ;  and  at  the  corner  of  Great  George  Street  is  a 


QUEEN  ANNE'S   GATE. 


40  r. 


Fountain  (by  Teuton  and  Earp),  erected  in  1S65  by  Mr. 
Charles  Buxton,  in  honour  of  those  who  effected  the 
abolition  of  the  Slave  trade.  With  its  pretty  coloured 
marbles  and  the  trees  behind,  it  is  one  of  the  most 
picturesque  things  in  London.  Near  this  is  a  Statue  of  George 
Canning  by    Westmacott,  erected  in  1S32.      It  was  in  the 


In  Queen  Anne's  Gate. 


drawing-room  of  the  opposite  house,  No.  25,  Great  George 
Street,  that  the  body  of  Lord  Byron  lay  in  state,  July  1824, 
when  it  arrived  from  Missolonghi  before  its  removal  to  New- 
stead.  Great  George  Street  ends  at  Storey's  Gate,  so  called 
from  Edward  Storey,  "  Keeper  of  the  Birds"  (in  Birdcage 
Walk)  to  Charles  II.  Parallel  with  the  Park  on  this  side 
runs    Queen  Anne's    Gate,  with   many  houses  bearing   the 

VOL.  II.  D  D 


402  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

comfortable  solid  look  of  her  date,  and  with  porches  and 
doorways  of  admirable  design  carved  in  wood  :  a  statue  of 
Queen  Anne  stands  at  an  angle. 

Tolhill  Street  leads  into  York  Street,  named  after 
Frederick,  Duke  of  York,  son  of  George  III.,  but  formerly 
called  Petty  France,  from  the  number  of  French  Protestants 
who  took  refuge  there  in  1635.  Here  No.  19,  destroyed  in 
1877  (without  a  voice  being  raised  to  save  it),  was  Milton's 
"  pretty  garden  house  "  marked  on  the  garden  side  by  a 
tablet  erected  by  Jeremy  Bentham  (who  lived  and  died 
close  by  in  Queen  Square  Place)  inscribed  "  Sacred  to 
Milton,  Prince  of  Poets."  It  was  here  that  he  became 
blind,  and  that  Andrew  Marvell  lived  as  his  secretary.  His 
first  wife,  Mary  Powell,  died  here,  leaving  three  little  girls 
motherless,  and  here  he  married  his  second  wife,  Catherine 
Woodcocke,  who  died  in  childbirth  a  year  after,  and  is 
commemorated  in  the  beautiful  sonnet  beginning — 

"  Methought  I  saw  my  late  espoused  saint, 

Brought  to  me,  like  Alcestis,  from  the  grave." 

Hazlitt  lived  here  in  Milton's  house,  and  here  he  received 
Haydon,  "  Charles  Lamb  and  his  poor  sister,  and  all  sorts 
of  clever  odd  people,  in  a  large  room,  wainscoted  and 
ancient,  where  Milton  had  meditated."  * 

We  may  turn  down  Bridge  Street!  to  Westminster  Bridge, 
opened  1750,  but  rebuilt  1859-61.  It  is  now  nearly  twice 
as  broad  as  any  of  the  other  bridges  on  the  river.  Hence 
we  see  the  stately  river  front  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament, 

*  Haydon's  Autobiography,  i.  211. 

+  William  Godwin,  author  of  "  Caleb  Williams,"  died  (1836)  in  a  house  (now 
destroyed)  on  the  left.  At  the  angle  on  the  left  is  St.  Stephen's  Club,  erected 
1874,  from  an  admirable  design  of  J.  Wh'chcord. 


WESTMINSTER  BRIDGE.  403 

and  the  ancient  towers  of  Lambeth  on  the  opposite  bank.* 
It  is  interesting  to  remember  how  many  generations  have 
"taken  water"  here  to  "go  to  London"  by  the  great 
river  highway. 

Few  visit  the  bridge  early  enough  to  see  the  view  towards 
the  City  as  it  is  described  by  Wordsworth — 

*'  Earth  has  not  anything  to  shew  more  fair : 
Dull  would  he  be  of  soul  who  could  pass  by, 
A  sight  so  touching  in  its  majesty  : 
The  City  now  doth  like  a  garment  wear 
The  beauty  of  the  morning  ;  silent,  bare, 
Ships,  towers,  domes,  theatres,  and  temples  lie 
Open  unto  the  fields,  and  to  the  sky, 
All  bright  and  glittering  in  the  smokeless  air. 
Never  did  sun  more  beautifully  steep 
In  his  first  splendour  valley,  rock,  or  hill ; 
Ne'er  saw  I,  never  felt,  a  calm  so  deep  ! 
The  river  glideth  at  its  own  sweet  will : 
Dear  God  !  the  very  houses  seem  asleep, 
And  all  that  mighty  heart  is  lying  still !  " 

•  Artists  should  2nd  their  way  to  the  banks  amongst  the  I  oats  and  warehouses 
Ca  the  Westminster  shore  opposite  Lambeth  and  farther  still. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

LAMBETH. 

ON  crossing  Westminster  Bridge  we  are  in  Lambeth, 
originally  a  swamp,  traversed  by  the  great  Roman 
road  to  Newhaven,  now  densely  populated,  and  covered 
with  a  labyrinth  of  featureless  streets  and  poverty-stricken 
courts.  The  name,  by  doubtful  etymology,  is  derived  from 
Lamb-hithe,  a  landing-place  for  sheep. 

[The  Westminster  Bridge  Road — well  known  from  Astlefs 
Amphitheatre*  for  horsemanship — leads  to  Kennington,  the 
King's  Town,  where  a  royal  manor  existed  from  the  time 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Kings  to  that  of  the  Stuarts,  when 
Charles  I.  was  its  last  inhabitant.  It  was  here  that  (1041) 
Hardicanute  died  suddenly  at  a  wedding-feast — "  with  a 
tremendous  struggle" — while  he  was  drinking.  Nothing 
remains  now  of  the  palace. 

At  the  junction  of  Kennington  Road  and  Lambeth  Road 
is  the  new  Beihlem  Hospital,  best  known  as  Bedlam.  It  was 
called  Bedlam  even  by  Sir  Thomas  More,*  in  whose  time  it 
was  already  a  lunatic  asylum.    The  Hospital  was  only  trans- 

*  Named  from  the  handsome  Philip  Astley,  builder  of  nineteen  theatres,  who 
died  at  Paris,  1814. 

t  J   c  Quatuor       o\  issimis. 


57:  GEORGE'S  CATHEDRAL.  405 

ported  to  its  present  site  from  Moorfields  near  Bishopsgate 
in  1810-15.  Till  1770  "Bedlam"  was  one  of  the  regular 
"  sights  "  of  London,  and  the  public  were  allowed  to  divert 
themselves  with  a  sight  of  the  unfortunate  lunatics  for  the 
sum  of  one  penny.  The  patients,  both  male  and  female, 
were  chained  to  the  walls  till  181 5,  when  the  death  of  a  man 
named  Norris,  who  had  lived  for  twelve  years  rationally  con- 
versing and  reading,  yet  chained  to  the  wall  by  a  ring  round 
his  neck  and  iron  bars  pinioning  his  arms  and  waist,  led  to 
an  inquiry  in  Parliament,  which  resulted  in  their  better 
treatment :  now  nothing  is  left  to  be  desired. 

In  the  entrance-hall  are  preserved  the  famous  statues  of 
Melancholy  and  Madness,  by  Cuius  Gabriel  Cibber,  which 
stood  over  the  gates  of  old  Bedlam,  and  were  there  attacked 
by  Pope  in  his  satire  on  Colley  Cibber,  the  son  of  Caius 
Gabriel. 

"  Where  o'er  the  gates  by  his  famed  father's  hand 
Great  Cibber's  brazen  brainless  brothers  stand." 

Many  others  have  abused  the  statues,  but,  in  this  case, 
public  opinion  has  outweighed  all  individual  prejudices. 

"  These  are  the  earliest  indications  of  the  appearance  of  a  distinct 
and  natural  spirit  in  sculpture,  and  stand  first  in  conception  and  only 
second  in  execution  among  all  the  productions  of  the  island.  Those 
who  see  them  for  the  first  time  are  fixed  to  the  spot  with  terror  and 
awe  ;  an  impression  is  made  on  the  heart  never  to  be  removed  ;  nor  is 
the  impression  of  a  vulgar  kind.  The  poetry  of  those  terrible  infirmi- 
ties is  embodied  ;  from  the  degradation  of  the  actual  madhouse  we 
turn  overpowered  and  disgusted,  but  from  those  magnificent  creations 
we  retire  in  mingled  awe  and  admiration." — Allan  Cunningham. 

Facing  the  eastern  wing  of  the  Hospital  is  St.  George's 
Church,  the  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral,  a  beautiful  work  of 
A.    W,  J'ugin.     It  was  opened  July  4th,   184S.     Cardinal 


406  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Wiseman  was  enthroned  here,  1850.  It  is  curious  that  the 
most  important  Roman  Catholic  church  in  England  should 
have  been  raised  on  the  very  spot  where  the  20,000  "  No 
Popery "  rioters  were  summoned  to  meet  Lord  George 
Gordon  in  1780,  and,  distinguished  by  the  blue  cockades 
in  their  hats,  to  attend  him  to  Westminster.  The  scene, 
fays  Gibbon,  was  "  as  if  forty  thousand  Puritans,  such  as 
they  might  have  been  in  the  days  of  Cromwell,  had  started 
out  of  their  graves."* 

Kennington  Common  (now  Park)  became  famous  in  1848 
from  the  great  revolutionary  meeting  of  Chartists  under 
Feargus  O'Connor,  which  was  such  a  ludicrous  failure.  It 
was  here  that  "  Jemmy  Dawson,"  commemorated  in  Shen- 
stone's  ballad,  was  hung,  drawn,  and  quartered  (July  30, 
1746)  for  the  rebellion  of  1745.  Whitefield  sometimes 
preached  here  to  congregations  of  40,000  people,  and 
here  he  delivered  his  farewell  sermon  before  leaving  tor 
America. 

"Friday,  August  3,  1739. — Having  spent  the  day  in  completing  my 
affairs  and  taking  leave  of  dear  friends,  I  preached  in  the  evening  to 
near  20,000  people  at  Kennington  Common.  I  chose  to  discourse  on 
St.  Paul's  parting  speech  to  the  elders  of  Ephesus  ;  at  which  the 
people  were  exceedingly  affected,  and  almost  prevented. my  making 
any  application.  Many  tears  were  shed  when  I  talked  of  leaving  them. 
I  concluded  with  a  suitable  hymn,  but  could  scarce  get  to  the  coach 
for  the  people  thronging  me,  to  take  me  by  the  hand,  and  give  me  a 
parting  blessing." — George  WhitefieliVs  Diary.'] 

From  Westminster  Bridge,  Stangctte  runs  to  the  right  with 
a  beautiful  stone  terrace  along  the  river.  The  frightful  rcw 
of  semi-detached  brick  buildings  belongs  to  St.  Thomas's 
Hospital,  removed  hither  (1868-72)  from  Southwark;  their 

•  Misc.  Works,  p.  299,  ed.  1837. 


ST.  MARY,  LAMBETH.  407 

chief  ornament  is  thoroughly  English — a  row  of  hideous 
urns  upon  the  parapet,  which  seem  waiting  for  the  ashes  of 
the  patients  inside.  The  Hospital  originated  in  an  Alms- 
house founded  by  the  Prior  of  Bermondsey  in  1213.  It 
was  bought  by  the  City  of  London  at  the  Dissolution,  and 
was  refounded  by  Edward  VI.  In  the  first  court  in  front 
of  the  present  building  is  a  statue  of  Edward  VI.  by  Schee- 
makers,  set  up  by  Charles  Joyce  in  1737  :  in  the  second 
court  is  a  statue  of  Sir  Robert  Clayton,  a  benefactor  of  the 
hospital — "  the  fanatic  Lord  Mayor  "  of  Dryden's  "  Religio 
Laici  "—in  his  Lord  Mayor's  robes. 

Passing  under  the  wall  of  the  Archbishop's  garden,  and 
beneath  the  Lollard's  Tower,  with  its  niche  for  a  figure  of 
St.  Thomas,  we  reach  Lambeth  Palace  and  Church.  It  was 
beneath  this  church  tower  that  Queen  Mary  Beatrice  took 
refuge  on  the  night  of  Dec.  9,  1688. 

"  The  party  stole  down  the  back  stairs  (of  Whitehall),  and  embarked 
in  an  open  skiff.  It  was  a  miserable  voyage.  The  night  was  bleak  ; 
the  rain  fell :  the  wind  roared  :  the  water  was  rough :  at  length  the 
boat  reached  Lambeth  ;  and  the  fugitives  landed  near  an  inn,  where  a 
coach  and  horses  were  in  waiting.  Sometime  elapsed  before  the 
horses  could  be  harnessed.  Mary,  afraid  that  her  face  might  be 
known,  would  not  enter  the  house.  She  remained  with  her  child, 
cowering  for  shelter  from  the  storm  under  the  tower  of  Lambeth 
Church,  and  distracted  by  terror  whenever  the  ostler  approached  her  with 
his  lantern.  Two  of  her  women  attended  her,  one  who  gave  suck  to 
the  Prince,  and  one  whose  office  was  to  work  his  cradle ;  but  they 
could  be  of  little  use  to  their  mistress ;  for  both  were  foreigners  who 
could  hardly  speak  the  English  language,  and  who  shuddered  at  the 
rigour  of  the  English  climate.  The  only  consolatory  circumstance  was 
that  the  little  boy  was  well,  and  uttered  not  a  single  cry.  At  length 
the  coach  was  ready.  The  fugitives  reached  Gravesend  safely,  and 
embarked  in  the  yacht  which  waited  for  them."— Macaulay. 

The  Church  of  St.  Mary,  Lambeth,  was  formerly  one  of 
the   most   interesting  churches  in   London,  being,  next  to 


408  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Canterbury  Cathedral,  the  great  burial-place  of  its  arch- 
bishops, but  falling  under  the  ruthless  hand  of  "  restorers," 
it  was  rebuilt  (except  its  tower  of  1377)  in  1851-52  by 
Hardwick,  and  its  interest  has  been  totally  destroyed, 
its  monuments  huddled  away  anywhere,  for  the'  most  part 
close  under  the  roof,  where  their  inscriptions  are  of 
course  wholly  illegible  !  High  up  in  the  south  porch, 
behind  a  hideous  wooden  screen,  are  the  curious  bust  and 
tablet  of  Robert  Scott  of  Bowerie,  1631,  who  "invented  a 
leather  ordnance."  In  the  chancel  are  the  tombs  of  Hubert 
Peyntwin,  auditor  to  Archbishops  Moreton  and  Wareham, 
and  Dr.  Monpesson,  Master  of  the  Prerogative  for  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury ;  in  the  north  transept  are  tablets  to 
Archbishop  Matthew  Hutton,  1758,  and  Archbishop  Fre- 
derick Cornwallis,  1783,  and  near  these  the  brass  of  a  Knight 
(Thomas  Clerc,  1545  ?).  At  the  northern  entrance  of  the 
chancel  is  the  brass  of  a  lady  of  the  Howard  family,  to 
which,  before  the  "restoration"  there  were  many  interesting 
memorials  here.  No  other  monuments  of  importance  are 
now  to  be  distinguished.  Amongst  those  commemorated 
here  before  the  "  restoration  "  were  Archbishop  Bancroft, 
1610  (within  the  altar-rails);  Archbishop  Tenison,  1715  (in 
the  middle  of  the  chancel);  Archbishop  Seeker,  1768  ;  Arch- 
bishop Moore,  1805  ;  Alderman  Goodbehere ;  Madame 
Storace,  the  singer  3  John  Dollond,  1761,  the  discoverer  of 
the  laws  of  the  dispersion  of  light  and  inventor  of  the 
achromatic  telescope;  Edward  Moore,  1757,  author  of  the 
successful  tragedy  of  "The  Gamester,"  which  is  still  a 
favourite;  Thomas  Cooke,  the  translator  of  Hesiod,  1757  ; 
and  Elias  Ashmole,  the  antiquary,  1693,  founder  of  the 
Ashriolean  Museum  and  author  of  the  History  of  the  Ordei 


ST.  MARY,  LAMBETH.  4c9 

of  the  Garter — "  the   greatest   virtuoso  and   curioso   that 
ever  was  known  or  read  of  in  England  before  his  time."  * 

In  digging  the  grave  of  Bishop  Cornwallis,  the  body  of 
Thomas  Thirleby,  first  and  last  Bishop  of  Westminster,  was 
found  entire,  dressed  like  the  pictures  of  Archbishop  Juxon 
He  died  in  an  honourable  captivity  as  the  guest  of  Arch- 
bishop Parker  in  Lambeth  Palace. 

The  Register  records  the  burial  here  of  Simon  Forman, 
the  astrologer,  1611.  Here  also  was  buried  Cuthbert  Tun- 
stall,  the  Catholic  Bishop  of  Durham,  deprived  by  Elizabeth 
for  refusing  the  oath  of  supremacy.  He  was  given  to  the 
charge  of  Aichbishop  Parker  in  July  1539,  and  died  as  his 
honoured  guest  in  Lambeth  Palace  on  the  18th  of  Novem- 
ber in  the  same  year.  He  is  described  by  Erasmus  as 
excelling  all  his  contemporaries  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
learned  languages,  and  by  Sir  Thomas  More  as  "  surpassed 
by  no  man  in  erudition,  virtue,  and  amiability." 

"  He  was  a  papist  only  by  profession ;  no  way  influenced  by  the 
spirit  of  Popery:  but  he  was  a  good  Catholic,  and  had  true  notions  of 
the  genius  of  Christianity.  He  considered  a  good  life  as  the  end.  and 
faith  as  the  means."  —  William  Gilpin,  Life  of  Bernard  Gilpin 
[TunstaWs  nephew). 

Almost  the  only  interesting  feature  retained  in  this  cruelly 
abused  building  is  the  figure  of  a  pedlar  with  his  pack  and 
dog  (on  the  third  window  of  the  north  aisle)  who  left 
"  Pedlar's  Acre  "  to  the  parish,  on  condition  of  his  figure 
being  always  preserved  on  one  of  the  church  windows.  The 
figure  was  existing  here  as  early  as  1608. 

In  the  churchyard,  at  the  east  end  of  the  church,  is  an 
altar  tomb,  with  the  angles  sculptured  like  trees,  spreading 

Wood,  "  Alh^n.  Oion." 


4io 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


over  a  strange  confusion  of  obelisks,  pyramids,  crocodiles, 
shells,  &c,  and,  at  one  end,  a  hydra.  It  is  the  monument 
of  John  Tradescant  (1638)  and  his  son,  two  of  the  earliest 
British  naturalists.  The  elder  was  so  enthusiastic  a  bota- 
nist that  he  joined  an  expedition  against  Algerine  corsairs 
on  purpose  to  get  a  new  apricot  from  the  African  coast, 
■which   was  thenceforth    known   as    "  the  Algier  Apncot." 


Gateway,  Lambeth  Palace. 


His  quaint  medley  of  curiosities,  known  in  his  own  time  as 
"  Tradeskin's  Ark,"  was  afterwards  incorporated  with  the 
Ashmolean  Museum. 

"  Lambeth  envy  of  each  band  and  gown  "  {Pope) 

has  been  for  more  than  700  years  the  residence  of  the  Arch- 
bishops of  Canterbury,  though  the  site  of  the  present  palace 
was  only  obtained  by  Archbishop  Baldwin  in  1 197,  when 


LAMBETH  PALACE. 


411 


he  exchanged  some  lands  in  Kent  for  it  with  Glanville, 
Bishop  of  Rochester,  to  whose  see  it  had  been  granted  by 
the  Countess  Goda,  sister  of  the  Confessor.  The  former 
proprietorship  of  the  Bishops  of  Rochester  is  still  comme- 
morated in  Rochester  Ro?c>,  Lambeth,  on  the  site  of  a  house 
which  was  retained  when  the  exchange  was  made,  for  their 
use  when  they  came  to  attend  Parliament.  The  Palace  is 
full  of  beauty  in  itself  and  intensely  interesting  from  its 


, 


uzmSm 


Inner  Court. 


associations.  It  is  approached  by  a  noble  Gateway  of  red 
brick  with  stone  dressings,  built  by  Cardinal  Moreton  in 
1490.  It  is  here  that  the  poor  of  Lambeth  have  received 
"  the  Archbishops'  Dole  "  for  hundreds  of  years.  In  ancient 
times  a  farthing  loaf  was  given  twice  a  week  to  4,000 
people. 

Adjoining  the  Porter's  Lodge  is  a  mom  evidently  once 
used  as  a  prison.     On  passing  the  gate  we  are  m  the  outer 


4I2  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

court,  at  the  end  of  which  rises  the  picturesque  Lollards' 
Tower  built  by  Archbishop  Chicheley,  143445  :  on  the 
right  is  the  Hall.  A  second  gateway  leads  to  the  inner 
court,  containing  the  modern  (Tudor)  palace,  built  by  Arch- 
bishop Howley  (1S28-4S),  who  spent  the  whole  of  his 
private  fortune  upon  it  rather  than  let  Blore  the  architect 
be  ruined  by  exceeding  his  contract  to  the  amount  of 
^30,000.  On  the  left,  between  the  buttresses  of  the  hall, 
are  the  descendants  of  some  famous  fig-trees  which  were 
planted  by  Cardinal  Pole. 

The  Hall  was  built  by  Archbishop  Juxon  in  the  reign  of 
Charles  II.,  on  the  site  of  the  hall  built  by  Archbishop 
Boniface  (1244),  which  was  pulled  down  by  Scot  and 
Hardyng  the  regicides,  who  purchased  the  palace  when  it 
was  sold  under  the  Commonwealth.  Juxon's  arms  and  the 
elate  1663  are  over  the  door  leading  to  the  palace.  The 
stained  window  opposite  contains  the  arms  of  man)-  of  the  . 
archbishops,  and  a  portrait  of  Archbishop  Chicheley.* 
Archbishop  Bancroft,  whose  arms  appear  at  the  east  end, 
turned  the  hall  into  a  Library,  and  the  collection  of  books 
which  it  contains  has  been  enlarged  by  his  successors, 
especially  by  Archbishop  Seeker,  whose  arms  appear  at 
the  west  end,  and  who  bequeathed  his  library  to  Lambeth. 
Upon  the  death  of  Laud,  the  books  were  saved  from 
dispersion  through  being  claimed  by  the  University  of 
Cambridge,  under  the  will  of  Bancroft,  which  provided 
that  they  should  go  to  the  University  if  alienated  from 
the  see:  they  were  restored  by  Cambridge  to  Archbishop 
Sheldon.  The  library  contains  a  number  of  valuable 
MSS.,  the  greatest  treasure  being  a  copy  of  Lord  Rivers's 

*  The  motto  v    'ch  sunounds  it  is  misplaced,  and  belongs  to  Cranmer. 


LAMBETH  PALACE.  413 

translation  of  the  "  Diets  and  Sayings  of  tl.e  Philosophers," 
with  an  illumination  of  the  Earl  presenting  Caxton  on  his 
knees  to  Edward  IV.  Beside  the  King  stand  Elizabeth 
Woodville  and  her  eldest  son,  and  thi*„  the  only  known 
portrait  of  Edward  V.,  is  engraved  by  Vertue  in  his  Kings 
of  England. 

A  glass- case  contains — the  Four  Gospels  in  Irish,  a 
volume  which  belonged  to  King  Athelstan,  and  was 
given  by  him  to  the  city  of  Canterbury ;  a  copy  of  the 
Koran  written  by  Sultan  Allaruddeen  Siljuky  in  the  15th 
century,  taken  in  the  Library  of  Tippoo  Saib  at  Seringa- 
patam  ;  the  Lumley  Chronicle  of  St.  Alban's  Abbey  ;  Queen 
Elizabeth's  Prayer- Book,  with  illuminations  from  Holbein's 
Dance  of  Death  destroyed  in  Old  St.  Pauls  ;  an  illuminated 
copy  01  he  Apocalypse,  of  the  13th  century;  the  Mazarine 
Testament,  '5th  century;  and  the  rosary  of  Cardinal  Pole. 

A  staircase,  hned  with  portraits  of  the  Walpole  family, 

leads  from  the  Library  to  the  Guard  Room,  now  the  Dining 

Hall.     It  is  surrounded  by  an  interesting  series  of  portraits 

of  the  archbishops  from  the   beginning  of  the  sixteenth 

century.* 

William  Warham  (1504 — 1533);  translated  from  London;  Lord 
Chancellor.  The  picture,  by  Holbein,  \yj.s  presented  to  the  archbishop 
by  the  artist,  together  with  a  small  portrait  of  Erasmus,  which  is  now 
lost.  This  portrait  belonged  to  Archbishop  Parker,  and  is  appraised 
at  £$  in  the  inventory  of  his  goods. 

Thomas  Cratimer  (1533 — T555-6) ;  Archdeacon  of  Taunton,  first 
Protestant  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Here  (May  28,  1533)  he  de- 
clared and  confirmed  the  marriage  of  Henry  VIII.  and  Anne  Boleyn, 
and  here,  three  years  later,  "  having  God  alone  before  his  eyes,"  he 
said  the  marriage  was  and  always  had  been  null  and  void,  in  con- 
sequence of  impediments  unknown  at  the  time  of  the  union.  On  the 
accession  of  Mary,  he  was  found  guilty  of  high  treason,  foi  having 

•  Unfortunately  not  hung  in  their  order. 


4I4  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

declared  for  Lady  Jane  Grey  :  he  was  pardoned  the  treason,  but  was 
burnt  for  heresy  at  Oxford,  March  21,  1555.  His  palace  at  Lambeth, 
says  Gilpin,  might  be  called  a  seminary  of  learned  men ;  the  greatei 
part  of  whom  persecution  had  banished  from  home.  Here,  among 
other  reformers,  Martyr,  Bucer,  Aless,  and  Phage,  found  sanctuary. 

Reginald  Pole  (1556 — 1559);  Dean  of  Exeter,  Cardinal.  Mary  I. 
refurnished  Lambeth  for  Cardinal  Pole,  who  was  her  cousin  and  whom 
she  frequently  visited  here  :  he  died  a  few  hours  after  her.  Fuller 
narrates  that  he  was  chosen  by  a  night  council  to  succeed  Paul  III.  as 
Pope,  but  that  he  refused  to  accept  a  deed  of  darkness,  and  the  next 
day  the  cardinn's  had  changed  their  minds,  and  elected  Julius  III. 

"  His  youthful  books  were  full  of  the  flowers  of  rhetoric,  whilst  the 
withered  stalks  are  only  found  in  the  writings  of  his  old  age,  so  dry 
their  style,  and  dull  their  conceit." — Fuller's  Worthies. 

Matthew  Parker  (1559— 1575);  Dean  of  Lincoln.  "A  Parker 
indeed,"  says  Fuller,  "  careful  to  keep  the  fences  and  shut  the  gates  of 
discipline  against  all  such  night-stealers  as  would  invade  the  same." 

Edmund  Grindal  (1575 — 1 583);  translated  from  York.  He  was  a 
great  favourer  of  the  Puritans  and  fell  into  disgrace  with  Elizabeth,  by 
his  opposition  to  her  commands  with  regard  to  the  restriction  of 
preachers,  which  he  considered  an  infringement  of  his  office. 

John  Whitgift  (1583—  1604)  ;  translated  from  "Worcester.  A  strong 
opponent  of  Puritanism,  though,  says  Hooker,  "  he  always  governed 
with  that  moderation,  which  useth  by  patience  to  suppress  boldness." 

Richard  Bancroft  (1604 — 1611) ;  translated  from  London. 

"  A  great  statesman  he  was,  and  grand  champion  of  Church  discipline, 
having  well  hardened  the  hands  of  his  soul,  which  was  no  more  than 
needed  for  him  who  was  to  meddle  with  nettles  and  briars,  and  met 
with  much  opposition.  No  wonder  if  those  who  were  silenced  by  him 
in  the  church  were  loud  against  him  in  other  places. 

"  David  speaketh  of  '  poison  under  men's  lips.'  This  bishop  tasted 
plentifully  thereof  from  the  mouths  of  his  enemies,  till  at  last  (as 
Mithridates)  he  was  so  habited  to  poisons,  they  became  food  to  him. 
Once  a  gentleman,  coming  to  visit  him,  presented  him  a  lyebell,  which 
he  found  pasted  on  his  dore,  who,  nothing  moved  thereat,  '  Cast  it, 
said  he,  '  to  a  hundred  more  which  lye  here  on  a  heap  in  my  chamber." 
— Fuller's  Worthies. 

George  Abbot  (161 1 — 1633);  translated  from  London.  His  fine 
portrait,  of  1610,  represents  a  "  man  of  very  morose  manners  and  sour 
fi  p-ct  which  in  that  time  was  called  gravity"  (Clarendon).     He  owed 


LAMBETH  PALACE.  415 

his  advancement  to  his  atrocious  flattery  of  James  I.  and  caused 
terrible  scandal  to  the  church  by  accidentally  shooting  dead  a  keeper 
when  he  was  hunting  in  Bramshill  Park  (162 1).  He  lived  chiefly  at 
Croydon. 

William  Laud  (1633 — 1644);  translated  from  London.  The  evil 
genius  of  Charles  I.,  whose  foolish  religious  conceits,  mingled  with  his 
severities  in  the  Star  Chamber,  contributed  more  than  anything  else 
to  stir  up  Puritanism.  He  was  unjustly  beheaded  by  the  vengeance  of 
the  Commons  in  his  seventieth  year,  and  the  heroism  of  his  death  has 
almost  caused  the  follies  of  his  life  to  be  forgotten.  The  portrait  is  by 
Vandyke. 

William  Juxon  (1660 — 1663) ;  translated  from  London.  As  Bishop 
of  London  he  accompanied  Charles  I.  to  the  scaffold,  and  received 
his  last  mysterious  word— "  Remember."  He  was  consecrated  Arch- 
bishop in  the  Chapel  of  Henry  VII.,  "  where,  besides  a  great  con- 
fluence of  orthodox  clergy,  many  persons  of  honour,  and  gentry,  gave 
God  thanks  for  the  mercies  of  that  day,  as  being  touched  at  the  sight 
of  that  good  man,  whom  they  esteemed  a  person  of  primitive  sanctity, 
of  great  wisdom,  piety,  learning,  patience,  charity,  and  all  apostolical 
virtues." — Wood's  Allien.  Oxon.  iv.  819. 

Gilbert  Sheldon  (1663 — 1678) ;  translated  from  London.  Founder  of 
the  Theatre  at  Oxford. 

William  Sancroft  (1678 — 1691) ;  Dean  of  St.  Paul's.     He  attended 
Charles  II.  on  his  death-bed  and  was  one  of  the  seven  bishops  sent  to 
the  Tower  for  refusing  to  order  the  reading  of  the  Declaration  of  Indul- 
gence in  1688;  he  was  suspended,  and  eventually  displaced  by  Tillotson 
for  refusing  to  take  the  oaths  to  William  and  Mary. 

John  Tillotson  (1691 — 1694) ;  Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  the  beloved  friend  of 
Mary  II.,  who  was  considered  to  have  "  taught  by  his  sermons  more 
ministers  to  preach  well,  and  more  people  to  read  well,  than  any  man 
since  the  apostles'  days."  *  Tillotson  was  the  first  bishop  who  wore  a 
wig,  but  a  wig  was  then  unpowdered  and  like  natural  hair.  The 
portrait  is  by  Mrs.  Beale. 

"  He  was  not  only  the  best  preacher  of  the  age,  but  seemed  to  have 
brought  preaching  to  perfection  :  his  sermons  were  so  well  heard  and 
liked,  and  so  much  read,  that  all  the  nation  proposed  him  as  a  pattern 
and  studied  to  copy  after  him." — Burnet's  Own  Times. 

"  The  sermons  of  Tillotson  were  for  half  a  century  more  read  than 
any  in  our  language.     They  are  now  bought  almost  as  waste  paper, 

*  Wilford's  "  Memorials." 


4I6  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

and  hardly  read  at  all.     Such  is  the  fickleness  of  religious  taste." — 
Hallam,  Lit.  Hist,  of  Europe. 

Thomas  Tenison  (1694 — 1716) ;  translated  from  Lincoln.  As  Vicar 
of  St.  Martin's  he  attended  the  Duke  of  Monmouth  upon  the  scaffold, 
and  as  Archbishop  he  was  present  at  the  death-bed  of  Mary  II. 

William  Wake  (1716 — 1737);  translated  from  Lincoln.  The  last 
archbishop  who  went  to  Parliament  by  water,  author  of  many  theologi- 
cal works. 

John  Potter  (1737 — 1747);  translated  from  Oxford.  Author  of  the 
"  Archasologia  Graeca  "  and  other  works. 

Thomas  Herring  (17 '47 — 1757);  translated  from  York.  Portrait  by 
Hogarth. 

Matthew  Hutton  (175J—IJ58);  translated  from  York.  Portrait  by 
Hudson. 

Thomas  Seeker  (1 7 58 — 1768);  translated  from  Oxford.  Portrait  by 
Reynolds.     Celebrated  as  a  preacher — 

•*  When  Seeker  preaches,  or  when  Murray  pleads, 
The  church  is  crowded,  and  the  bar  is  thronged." 

Frederick  Cornwallis  (1768— 1783) ;  translated  from  Lichfield. 
Portrait  by  Dance* 

John  Moore  (1783  —1 805) ;  translated  from  Bangor. 

Charles  Manners  Sutton  (1805 — 1828);  translated  from  Norwich. 
Portrait  by  Beechey. 

William  Howley  (1828 — 1848) ;  translated  from  London. 

John  Bird  Sumner  (1848 — 1862) ;  translated  from  Chester.  Portrait 
by  Mrs.  Carpenter. 

Charles  Thomas  Longley  (1862 — 1 868) ;  translated  from  York. 

Archibald  Campbell  Tait,  translated  from  London  in  1868. 

The  Small  Dining  Room  contains  portraits  of — 

Queen  Katharine  Parr. 

Cardinal  Pole. 

Bishop  Burnet,  1689,  Chancellor  of  the  Garter. 

•  This  and  several  other  of  these  fine  portraits  are  completely  ruined  by 
"restoration." 


LAMBETH  PALACE   CHAPEL,  417 

Patrick,  Bishop  of  Ely,  1691. 
Pearce,  Bishop  of  Bangor,  1747' 
Berkeley,  the  first  American  Bishop. 
Luther  and  Caterina  Bora  ? 

Through  the  panelled  room  called  Cranmer's  Parlour 
we  enter — 

The  Chapel,  which  stands  upon  a  Crypt  supposed  to 
belong  to  the  manor-house  built  by  Archbishop  Herbert 
Fitzwalter,  c.  1190.  Its  pillars  have  been  buried  nearly  up 
to  their  capitals,  to  prevent  the  rising  of  the  river  tides 
within  its  walls.  The  chapel  itself,  though  greatly  modern- 
ised, is  older  than  any  other  part  of  the  palace,  having 
been  built  by  Archbish  ;>p  Boniface,  1244-70.  Its  lancet 
windows  were  found  by  Laud — "  shameful  to  look  at,  all 
diversely  patched  like  a  poor  beggar's  coat,"  and  he  filled 
them  with  stained  glass,  which  he  proved  that  he  collected 
from  ancient  existing  fragments,  though  his  insertion  of 
"  Popish  images  and  pictures  made  by  their  like  in  a  mass 
book"  was  one  of  the  articles  in  the  impeachment  against 
him.  The  glass  collected  by  Laud  was  entirely  smashed 
by  the  Puritans  :  the  present  windows  were  put  in  by  Arch- 
bishop Howley. 

In  this  chapel  most  of  the  archbishops  have  been  con- 
secrated since  the  time  of  Boniface.  Archbishop  Parker's 
consecration  here,  Dec.  17,  1559,  according  to  the  "duly 
appointed  ordinal  of  the  Church  of  England,  "  is  recorded 
in  Parker's  Register  at  Lambeth  and  in  the  Library  of 
Corpus  Christi  College  at  Cambridge,  thus  falsifying  the 
Romanist  calumny  of  his  consecration  at  the  Nag's  Head 
Tavern  in  Friday  Stieet,  Cheapside.* 

*  See  Timbs's  "Curiosities  of  London." 
VOL.   II.  E  E 


4i8  WALKS  IN  LOADON. 

Here  Parker  erected  his  tomb  in  his  lifetime  "  by  the  spot 
where  he  used  to  pray,"  and  here  he  was  buried,  but  his 
tomb  was  broken  up,  with  every  insult  that  could  be  shown,  by 
Scot,  one  of  the  Puritan  possessors  of  Lambeth,  while  the 
other,  Hardyng,  not  to  be  outdone,  exhumed  the  Arch- 
bishop's body,  sold  its  leaden  coffin,  and  buried  it  in  a 
dunghill.  His  remains  were  found  by  Sir  William  Dugdale 
at  the  Restoration,  and  honourably  reinterred  in  front  of  the 
altar,  with  the  epitaph,  "  Corpus  Matthaei  Archiepiscopi 
tandem  hie  quiescit."  His  tomb,  in  the  ante-chapel,  was  re- 
erected  by  Archbishop  Sancroft,  but  the  brass  inscription 
which  encircled  it  is  gone. 

"  Parker's  apostolical  virtues  were  not  incompatible  with  the  love 
of  learning  :  and  while  he  exercised  the  arduous  office,  not  of  govern- 
ing, but  of  founding  the  Church  of  England,  he  strenuously  applied 
himself  to  the  study  of  the  Saxon  tongue  and  of  English  antiquities."— 
Gibbon,  Posthumous  Works,  hi.  566. 

The  screen,  erected  by  Laud,  was  suffered  to  survive  the 
Commonwealth.  At  the  west  end  of  the  chapel,  high  on 
the  wall,  projects  a  Gothic  confessional,  erected  by  Arch- 
bishop Chicheley.  It  was  formerly  approached  by  seven 
steps.  The  beautiful  western  door  of  the  chapel  opens  into 
the  curious  Post  Room,  which  takes  its  name  from  the  central 
wooden  pillar,  supposed  to  have  been  used  as  a  whipping- 
post for  the  Lollards.  The  ornamented  flat  ceiling  which 
we  see  here  is  extremely  rare.  The  door  at  the  north-east 
corner,  by  which  the  Lollards  were  brought  in,  was  walled 
up  c.  1874. 

Hence  we  ascend  the  Lollards'  *  Tower,  built  by  Chicheley 

♦  'J"hc  name  Lollard  was  used  as  a  term  of  reproach  to  the  followers  of 
WicklifFe;  but  was  derived  from  Peter  Lollard,  a  Waldensian  pastor  in  the 
middle  of  the  thirte  nth  century. 


THE  LOLLARDS'   PRISON. 


419 


— the  lower  story  of  which  is  now  given  up  by  the  Arch- 
bishop for  the  use  of  Bishops  who  have  no  fixed  residence 
in  London.  The  winding  staircase,  of  rude  slabs  of  un- 
planed  oak,  on  which  the  bark  in  many  cases  remains,  is  of 
Chicheley's  time.  In  a  room  at  the  top  is  a  trap-door, 
through  which  as  the  tide  rose  prisoners,  secretly  con- 
demned, could  be  let  down  unseen  into  the  river.     Hard  by 


The  Lollards'  Prison,  Lambetl: 


is  the  famous  Lollards'  Prison  (13  feet  'long,  12  broad,  8 
high),  boarded  all  over  walls,  ceiling,  and  floor.  The  rough- 
hewn  boards  bear  many  fragments  cf  inscriptions  which 
show  that  others  besides  Lollards  were  immured  here.  Some 
of  them,  especially  his  motto  "  Noscete  ipsum,"  are  attributed 
to  Cranmer.  The  most  legible  inscription  is  "  IHS  cyppe  me 
out  of  all  al  compane.  Amen."  Other  boards  bear  the 
notches  cut  by  prisoners  to  mark  the  lapse  of  time.     The 


420 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


eight  rings  remain  to  which  the  prisoners  were  secured : 
one  feels  that  his  companions  must  have  envied  the  one  by 
the  window.  Above  some  of  the  rings  the  boards  are  burnt 
with  the  hot-iron  used  in  torture.  The  door  has  a  wooden 
lock,  and  is  fastened  by  the  wooden  pegs  which  preceded 
the  use  of  nails ;  it  is  a  relic  of  Archbishop  Sudbury's  palace 


From  the  Lollards'  Tower,  Lambeth. 


facing  the  river,  which  was  pulled  down  by  Chicheley.  From 
the  roof  of  the  chapel  there  is  a  noble  view  up  the  river, 
with  the  quaint  tourelle  of  the  Lollards'  Tower  in  the  fore- 
ground. 

The  gardens  of  Lambeth  are  vast  and  delightful.  Their 
terrace  is  called  "Clarendon's  Walk11  from  a  conference 
which   there  took  place  between  Laud   and    the    Earl  of 


LAMBETH  PALACE.  421 


Clarendon.  The  "summer-house  of  exquisite  workman- 
ship," built  by  Cranmer,  has  disappeared.  A  picturesque 
view  may  be  obtained  of  Cranmer's  Tower,  with  the  Chapel 
and  the  Lollards'  Tower  behind  it. 

The  worldly  glory  of  the  Archbishops  has  paled  of 
late. 

"Let  us  look,  for  instance,  at  the  list  of  the  officers  of  Cranmer's 
household.  It  comprised  a  steward,  treasurer,  comptroller,  gamators, 
clerk  of  the  kitchen,  caterer,  clerk  of  the  spicery,  yeoman  of  the 
ewcry,  bakers,  pantlers,  yeoman  of  the  horse,  yeomen  ushers, 
butlers  of  wine  and  ale,  larderers,  squillaries,  ushers  of  the 
hall,  porters,  ushers  of  the  chamber,  daily  waiters  in  the  great 
chamber,  gentlemen  ushers,  yeomen  of  the  chambers,  marshal, 
groom  ushers,  almoners,  cooks,  chandlers,  butchers,  master  of  the 
horse,  yeoman  of  the  wardrobe,  and  harbingers.  The  state  observed 
of  course  corresponded  with  such  a  retinue.  There  were  generally 
three  tables  spread  in  the  hall,  and  served  at  the  same  time,  at  the 
first  of  which  sat  the  archbishop,  surrounded  by  peers  of  the  realm, 
privy-councillors,  and  gentlemen  of  the  greatest  quality;  at  the  second, 
called  the  Almoner's  table,  sat  the  chaplains  and  all  the  other  clerical 
guests  below  the  rank  of  diocesan  bishops  and  abbots ;  and  at  the 
third,  or  Steward's  table,  sat  all  the  other  gentlemen  invited.  Cardinal 
Pole  had  a  patent  from  Philip  and  Mary  to  retain  one  hundred 
servants.  .  .  An  interesting  passage  descriptive  of  the  order  observed 
in  dining  here  in  Archbishop  Parker's  time  relates— 'In  the  daily 
eating  this  was  the  custom  :  the  steward,  with  the  servants  that  were 
gentlemen  of  the  better  rank,  sat  down  at  the  table  in  the  hall  on  the 
right  hand  ;  and  the  almoners,  with  the  clergy,  and  the  other  servants, 
sat  on  the  other  side,  where  there  was  plenty  of  all  sorts  of  provision, 
both  for  eating  and  drinking.  The  daily  fragments  thereof  did  suffice 
to  fill  the  bellies  of  a  great  number  of  poor  hungry  people  that  waited 
at  the  gate  ;  and  so  constant  and  unfailing  was  this  provision  at  my 
Lord's  table,  that  whosoever  came  in  either  at  dinner  or  supper,  being 
not  above  the  degree  of  a  knight,  might  here  be  entertained  worthy  of 
his  quality,  cither  at  the  steward's  or  almoner's  table.  And  moreover, 
it  was  the  Archbishop's  command  to  all  his  sen-ants,  that  all  strangers 
should  be  received  and  treated  with  all  manner  of  civility  and  respect, 
and  that  places  at  the  table  should  be  assigned  them  according  to  their 
dignity  and  quality,  which  abounded  much  to  the  praise  and  commen- 
dation of  the  Archbishop.     The  discourse  and  conversation  at  meals 


422  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

was  void  of  all  brawls  and  loud  talking,  and  for  the  n.ost  part  consisted 
in  framing  men's  manners  to  religion,  or  to  some  other  honest  and 
beseeming  subject.  There  was  a  monitor  of  the  hall ;  and  if  it 
happened  that  any  spoke  too  loud,  or  concerning  things  less  decent,  it 
was  presently  hushed  by  one  that  cried  silence.  The  Archbishop 
loved  hospitality,  and  no  man  showed  it  so  much,  or  with  better  order, 
though  he  himself  was  very  abstemious.'  " — y.  Sairndurs  in  C.  Knight's 
London. 


"  The  grand  hospitalities  of  Lambeth  have  perished,"  as 
Douglas  Jerrold  observes,  "  but  its  charities  live." 

A  quarter  of  a  mile  above  Lambeth  Bridge  is  Doulton's 
Faience  and  Terra- Cotta  Manufactory,  built  in  the  Venetian- 
Gothic  style  :  the  peculiar  red  bricks  having  been  made  at 
Rowland's  Castle  in  Hampshire  and  all  the  ornamental 
parts  of  the  building  having  been  executed  in  terra-cotta 
by  Messrs.  Doulton  themselves.  The  chimney  shaft  for 
carrying  oft  the  smoke  from  the  kilns  has  the  effect  of  a 
campanile. 

On  the  bank  of  the  river  above  Lambeth  is  Vauxhall. 
The  name  dates  from  the  marriage  of  Isabella  de  Fortibus, 
Countess  of  Albemarle,  sister  of  Archbishop  Baldwin,  with 
Foukes  de  Brent,  after  which  the  place  was  called  Foukes- 
hall.  It  was  given  by  the  Black  Prince  to  the  Church  of 
Canterbury.  In  the  old  manor-house,  then  called  Copped 
Hall,  Arabella  Stuart  was  confined  before  her  removal  to 
the  Tower. 

Vauxhall  Gardens  were  long  a  place  of  popular  resort. 
They  were  laid  out  in  1661,  and  were  at  first  known  as  the 
New  Spring  Gardens  at  Fox  Hall,  to  distinguish  them  from 
the  Old  Spring  Gardens  at  Whitehall.  They  were  finally 
closed  in  1859,  and  the  site  is  now  built  over;  but  they  will 
always  be  remembered  from  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley's  visit 


VAUXHALL. 


423 


to  them  in  the  Spectator*  and  from  the  descriptions 
in  Walpole's  Letters  and  Fielding's  "Amelia ;"  and  many 
will  have  pleasant  recollections  of  "  the  windings  and 
turnings  in  little  wildernesses  so  intricate,  that  the  most 
experienced  mothers  often  lost  themselves  in  looking  for 
their  daughters."  f 

•  No.  3%,  ♦  Tom  Brown's  "  Amusement*" 


CHAPTER  X. 

CHELSEA. 

OPPOSITE  Vauxhall,  on  the  northern  shore  of  the 
Thames,  is  Miloank  Prison,  built  1812,  containing 
1,550  cells.  Its  low  towers  with  French  conical  roofs  have 
given  it  the  name  of  the  "  English  Bastile."  The  Earls  of 
Peterborough  lived  at  Milbank,  in  Peterborough  House, 
which  afterwards  belonged  to  the  Grosvenors  :  in  1755, 
Richard,  Earl  Grosvenor,  began  to  collect  here  the  gallery 
of  pictures  which  was  moved  to  Grosvenor  House  in  1806. 
Between  Milbank  Penitentiary  and  Vauxhall  Bridge 
Road,  adjoining  a  space  where  it  is  intended  that  a  Roman 
Catholic  Cathedral  should  one  day  arise,  is  Archbishop's 
House,  the  residence  of  the  venerable  ecclesiastic  who  is 
styled  "  Henry  Edward,  Cardinal  Priest  of  the  Holy  Roman 
Church,  by  the  title  of  St.  Andrew  and  St.  Gregory  on  the 
Ccelian  Hill,  by  the  grace  of  God  and  the  favour  of  the 
Apostolic  See,  Archbishop  of  Westminster."  This  is  the 
centre  of  the  great  movement  of  the  Westminster  Diocesan 
Education  Fund,  by  which  30,000  poor  Roman  Catholic 
children  in  London  are  being  educated.  On  the  altar  of 
the  private  chapel  are  the  mitre  and  maniple  of  St.  Thomas 
a  Becket. 


CHELSEA   HOSPITAL.  4*5 

Ascending  the  Grosvenor  Road  we  come  to  Chelsea, 
which,  in  the  last  century,  from  a  country  village,  has 
become  almost  a  part  of  London.  As  regards  the  etymo- 
logy of  its  name,  formerly  written  Chelchyth,  the  opinion 
of  Norden  is  generally  followed,  who  says  "  that  Chelsey 
was  so  called  of  the  nature  of  the  place,  whose  strand 
is  like  the  chesel,  which  the  sea  casteth  up  of  sand  and 
pebble  stones." 

We  first  reach  the  grounds  of  CMsea  Hospital,  which  was 
built  on  the  site  of  "  Chelsea  College,"  satirically  called 
"  Controversy  College,"  begun  by  Matthew  Sutcliffe,  Dean 
of  Exeter,  in  the  time  of  James  I.,  "  to  the  intent  that 
learned  men  might  there  have  maintenance  to  answer  all 
the  adversaries  of  religion."  The  Hospital  for  aged  and 
disabled  soldiers  originated  with  Sir  Stephen  Fox,  Pay- 
master of  the  Forces  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  though 
the  King  laid  the  foundation  stone,  March,  1 68 1-2.  Sir 
Christopher  Wren  was  the  architect.  The  stateliest  front 
is  that  towards  the  river,  with  two  long  projecting  wings 
ending  on  a  terrace  and  enclosing  a  kind  of  court,  in  the 
centre  of  which  is  a  bronze  Statue  of  Charles  II,  presented 
by  Tobias  Rustat,  and  sometimes  attributed  to  Gibbons, 
who  executed  the  statue  of  James  II.  at  Whitehall  for  the 
same  patron,  mentioned  by  Evelyn  as  "Toby  Rustare,  page 
of  the  back-stairs,  a  very  simple,  ignorant,  but  honest  and 
loyal  creature."  He  was  enabled  to  erect  statues  by  the 
wealth  he  accumulated  through  the  patent  places  he  re- 
ceived :  the  best  statue  given  by  him  was  that  of  Charles  II. 
at  Windsor,  executed  at  Bremen.  On  the  frieze  ot  the 
cloistered  wall  which  runs  along  the  front  of  the  Hospital 
is  the  history  of  the  building  : — 


426  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

"In  subsidium  et  levamen  emeritorum  senio  belloque  fractorum, 
condidit  Carolus  Secundus,  auxit  Jacobus  Secundus,  perfecere  Gulielmus 
et  Maria  Rex  et  Regina,  mdcxcii." 

Within  this  cloister  are  monuments  to  Colonel  Arthw 
Wellesley  Torrens,  mortally  wounded  at  Inkerman,  18545 
to  Colonel  Seton  and  his  three  hundred  and  fifty-seven 
companions,  lost  in  the  wreck  of  the  Birkenhead  off  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  February  26,  1852  ;  and  to  Colonel 
Willoughby  Moore  and  the  men  lost  in  the  burning  of  the 
Europa,  May  31,  1854. 

In  the  Wards  of  the  Hospital  each  pensioner  has  his  own 
little  oak  chamber  (where  he  may  have  his  own  pictures, 
books,  &c),  with  a  door  and  window  opening  upon  the 
great  common  passage.  There  are  nurses  to  every  ward. 
The  pensioners  have  their  meals  (breakfast,  dinner,  and 
tea)  in  their  own  little  rooms.  They  are  permitted  to  go 
where  they  like,  and  may  be  absent  for  two  months  with 
leave,  receiving  an  allowance  of  \od.  a  day,  if  absent  for 
more  than  three  days. 

The  Hall  (now  used  by  the  pensioners  as  a  club-room, 
with  tables  for  chess,  cards,  books,  newspapers,  &c.)  is  hung 
with  tattered  colours  taken  by  the  British  army.  On  the 
end  wall  is  a  vast  picture  by  Verrio  and  Henry  Cooke,  given 
by  the  Earl  of  Ranelagh,  with  an  equestrian  figure  of 
Charles  II.  in  the  centre.  It  was  the  figure  of  the  orange- 
girl  in  the  corner  of  this  picture  which  gave  rise  to  the 
now  exploded  tradition  that  the  foundation  of  the  Hospital 
was  instigated  by  Nell  Gwynne.  On  the  panels  round 
the  room  the  victories  of  Great  Britain  are  recorded.  It 
was  in  this  hall  that  the  great  Duke  of  Wellington  lay  in 
state,  November  10-17,  1852.     The  French  Eagle  of  "the 


CHELSEA    HOSPITAL.  427 

Invmcibles,"  taken  by  Lord  Gough,  who  screwed  off  the 
top  a:.d  put  it  into  his  pocket  for  safety  on  the  battle-field, 
was  stolen  when  the  Duke  of  Wellington  lay  in  state,  pio- 
bably  by  a  Frenchman,  who  had  watched  the  opportunity. 

The  Chapel  has  a  picturesqueness  of  its  own,  from  the 
mass  of  banners  in  every  stage  of  decay,  often  only  a  few- 
threads  remaining,  which  wave  from  the  coved  roof,  and 
fill  the  space  at  once  with  gloom  and  colour.  They  are 
chiefly  relics  of  Indian  wars  :  those  taken  from  Tippoo  Saib 
by  the  39th  battalion  are  on  either  side  the  altar.  Many 
of  the  French  banners  have  their  eagles.  The  painting  of 
the  apse,  representing  the  Resurrection,  is  by  Scbastiano 
Ricci.  In  the  chapel  is  the  grave  of  William  Cheselden, 
the  famous  surgeon  aad  anatomist  (1752),  celebrated  in 
the  lines 'of  Pope — 

"  To  keep  these  limbs,  and  to  preserve  these  eyes, 
I'll  do  what  Mead  and  Cheselden  advise." 

"  I  wondered  a  little  at  your  qusere,  who  Cheselden  was.  It  shows  that 
the  truest  merit  does  not  travel  so  far  anyway  as  on  the  wings  of 
poetry.  He  is  the  most  noted  and  most  deserving  man  in  the  whole 
profession  of  chhurgery  :  and  has  saved  the  lives  of  thousands  by  his 
manner  of  cuttiDg  for  the  stone." — Letter  from  Pope  to  Swift. 

Here  also  is  buried  the  Rev.  William  Young  (1757), 
author  of  a  Latin  dictionary,  but  more  interesting  as 
the  original  of  "Parson  Adams"  in  Fielding's  "Joseph 
Andrews."  * 

Strangers  are  admitted  to  the  Sunday  services  here  at 
11  and  6.30,  when  the  chapel,  filled  by  the  veteran 
soldiers  (many  of  whom  have  a  historic  interest,  faintly 
shown  by  the  medals  on  their  breasts),  is  an  interesting  and 
touching  sight.      There  are  about   550   pensioners  in   the 

•  See  the  Life  of  Edward  Young,  included  in  Johnson's  "  Live;  of  the  Poets." 


4=S  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Hospital.     They  wear  red  coats  in  summer  and  bine  coats 
in  winter,  and  retain  the  cocked  hats  of  the  last  century. 

The  Gardens  of  Chelsea  Hospital  (open  to  the  public 
from  10  a.m.  to  sunset)  somewhat  resemble  those  of  the 
old  French  palaces.  A  pleasant  avenue  leads  to  the  wide 
open  space  towards  the  river,  in  the  centre  of  which 
an  obelisk  was  erected  in  1849  in  memory  of  the  155 
officers  and  privates  who  fell  at  Chilian  wallah.  Hence 
the  great  red  front  of  the  Hospital,  black  under  its 
overhanging  eaves  and  high  slated  roof,  with  a  narrow 
dome-capped  portico  in  the  centre,  rises,-  rich  in  colour, 
beyond  the  green  slopes.  The  eastern  side  of  the  gardens 
was  once  the  famous  Ranelagh,  which  was  opened,  1742, 
as  a  rival  to  Vauxhall,  and  rose  to  great  popularity  under  the 
patronage  of  Georgiana,  Duchess  of  Devonshire.  June  29, 
1744,  Walpole  writes,  "Ranelagh  has  totally  beat  Vauxhall. 
Nobody  goes  anywhere  else — everybody  goes  there."  But, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  the  fashion  changed  ; 
Ranelagh,  described  in  "  Humphrey  Clinker  "  as  "  like  the 
enchanted  palace  of  a  genii,"  became  quite  deserted,  and 
it  has  now  altogether  ceased  to  exist. 

"  The  proprietors  of  Ranelagh  and  Vauxhall  used  to  send  decoy- 
ducks  among  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  were  walking  in  the  Mall, 
that  is,  persons  attired  in  the  height  of  fashion,  who  every  now  and 
then  would  exclaim  in  a  very  audible  tone,  '  What  charming  weather 
for  Ranelagh '  or  '  for  Vauxhall ! '  Ranelagh  was  a  very  pleasing 
place  of  amusement.  There  persons  of  inferior  rank  mingled  with  the 
highest  nobility  of  Britain.  AH  was  so  orderly  and  still  that  you  could 
hear  the  -whisking  sound  of  the  ladies'  trains,  as  the  immense  assembly 
walked  round  and  round  the  room.  If  you  chose,  you  might  have 
tea,  which  was  served  up  in  the  neatest  equipage  possible.  The  price 
of  admission  was  half-a-crown.  People  generally  went  to  Ranelagh 
between  nine  and  ten  o'clock." — Rogers's  Table  Talk. 

Another  great  resort  near  this  was  the  "  Old  Chelsea 


CHEYNE    WALK.  42; 

Bun  House,"  a  queer  picturesque  jlc\  house  in  Jew's  Row, 
which  had  a  marvellous  popularity  at  all  times,  but  espe- 
cially on  Good  Friday,  when  as  many  as  fifty  thousand 
persons  came  here  to  buy  buns,  and  two  hundred  and  forty 
thousand  buns  were  sold.  George  II.  and  Caroline  of 
Anspach  were  fond  of  driving  down  to  fetch  their  own 
buns,  and  the  practice  was  continued  by  George  III.  and 
Queen  Charlotte,  which  set  the  fashion  with  every  one  else. 
In  1839  the  proprietors  thought  they  would  do  a  fine  thing, 
and  rebuilt  the  old  house  :  they  killed  the  hen  that  laid  the 
golden  eggs,  no  one  came  any  more. 

The  Botanic  Garden  facing  the  river  is  the  oldest  garden 
of  the  kind  in  existence  in  England,  Gerard's  garden 
in  Hoi  born  and  Tradescant's  garden  at  Lambeth  having 
perished.  It  was  leased  to  the  Apothecaries'  Company,  who 
still  possess  it,  by  Lord  Cheyne  in  1673,  and  was  finally 
made  over  to  them  by  Sir  Hans  Sloane  in  1722.  Evelyn 
used  to  walk  in  "  the  Apothecaries'  garden  of  simples  at 
Chelsea,"  and  admire,  "  besides  many  rare  annuals,  the  tree 
bearing  Jesuit's  bark,  which  has  done  such  wonders  in 
quartan  agues."  The  Statue  of  Sir  Hans  Sloane  was  erected 
in  1733.  Near  it  is  one  of  the  picturesque  cedars  planted 
in  1683  ;  its  companion  was  blown  down  in  1845. 

Fronting  the  river  is  the  pretty  water-side  terrace  called 
Cheyne  Walk  (from  the  Cheynes,  once  lords  of  the  manor). 
Though  much  altered  since  the  river  has  been  thrust  back 
by  the  Embankment,  this,  more  than  any  place  outside 
Hampton  Court,  recalls,  in  the  brick  houses  and  rows  of 
trees  like  those  in  the  Dutch  towns,  the  time  of  William 
and  Mary.  The  lower  part  of  the  terrace  has  a  row  of 
somewhat   stately   houses,    bow- windowed,  balconied,  and 


430  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

possessing  old  iron  gates  with  pillars  and  pine-apples  :  in 
the  upper  part  the  line  of  ancient  shops  ends  at  the  old 
church,  while  beyond  the  broad  river  are  the  yet  open 
fields  of  Battersea.  While  the  Thames  was  yet  the  aristo- 
cratic highway,  Chelsea  was  the  most  convenient  of  country 
residences,  and  many  of  the  great  nobles  had  houses  here. 
Elizabeth  annually  celebrated  the  anniversary  of  her  coro- 
nation by  coming  in  her  barge  to  dine  here  with  the  Earl 
of  Effingham,  Lord  High  Admiral,  the  only  person  who 
had  sufficient  influence  with  her  to  make  her  go  to 
bed  in  her  last  illness.  There  was  a  quadrangular  royal 
manor-house  here  enclosing  a  courtyard  (near  where  the 
pier  now  stands)  which  was  long  inhabited  by  illustrious 
relations  of  the  sovereign.  It  was  settled  upon  Queen 
Catherine  Parr  by  Henry  'VIII.  at  her  marriage,  and  to  it 
she  retired  at  his  death.  Hither  her  fourth  husband,  Sir 
Thomas  Seymour,  came  secretly  to  woo  her  (being  still  only 
in  her  35th  year)  within  two  months  of  the  King's  death,  and 
she,  fearing  the  displeasure  of  Edward  VI.,  and  still  more 
that  of  the  Protector  Somerset  and  his  proud  wife,  wrote 
hence  to  beg  him  to  "  come  without  suspect,"  and  "  I  pray 
you  let  me  have  knowledge  over-night  at  what  hour  ye  will 
come,  that  your  portress  may  wait  at  the  gate  to  the  fields 
for  you."*  At  the  time  of  the  Queen's  fourth  marriage,  her 
stepdaughter,  the  Princess  Elizabeth,  then  only  thirteen, 
was  residing  with  her  at  Chelsea,  and  here  occurred  those 
probably  innocent  familiarities  which  were  afterwards  made 
one  of  the  articles  in  the  impeachment  of  Seymour.  After 
Catherine's  death  at  Sudeley  Castle  in  1548,  the  old  royal 
manor  of  Chelsea  appears  to  have  been  given  to  the  Duke 

•  Letters  of  "  Kateryn  the  Quene." 


CHEYNE    WALK.  431 

of  Northumberland,  father-in-law  of  Lady  Jane  Grey  (whence 
his  widow's  burial  in  the  church),  and  then  to  another  Queen, 
"  Anna,  the  daughter  of  Cleves,"  as  she  signed  herself,  who 
died  at  Chelsea,  July  10,  1557,  and  was  taken  thence  to  be 
buried  in  Westminster  Abbey  with  the  splendour  denied  in 
her  lifetime.  Elizabeth  afterwards  granted  the  manor  to  the 
widowed  Anne,  Duchess  of  Somerset,  aunt  of  Edward  VI., 
who  made  it  her  residence.  It  subsequently  passed  through 
a  number  of  illustrious  hands,  till  it  came  to  Charles, 
Viscount  Cheyne  (ob.  1698).*  It  was  sold  in  17 12  to  Sir 
Hans  Sloane,  from  whom  it  passed  to  Lord  Cadogan  of 
Oakley.  These  later  possessors  are  commemorated  in 
Cheyne  Walk,  Hans  and  Cadogan  Places,  and  Sloane 
Street  and  Oakley  Crescent.  Chelsea  gives  a  title  to  the 
eldest  son  of  Earl  Cadogan. 

The  Bishops  of  Winchester  had  a  house  in  Cheyne  Walk, 
after  the  ruin  of  their  palace  in  Southwark,  and  they  resided 
there  from  1663  to  1820.  In  Cheyne  Walk  also  were  the 
Coffee  House  and  Museum  of  Salter  who  had  been  Sir 
Hans  Sloane's  valet — "  Don  Saltero "  described  by  Steele 
in  the  Tatter  (No.  34).  Pennant  records  that  when  he 
was  a  boy  at  Chelsea,  his  father  used  to  take  him  to  Don 
Saltero's,  and  there  he  used  to  see  Richard  Cromwell — "  a 
little  and  very  neat  old  man,  with  a  placid  countenance." 

Beyond  the  church  was  an  ancient  manor-house  with  a 
gateway  and  large  gardens  to  the  river,  known  in  its  later 
existence  as  "  Beaufort  House."  In  this  rural  retirement, 
from  which  he  could  easily  reach  London  in  his  barge, 
Sir  Thomas  More  lived  after  his  resignation  of  the  Chan- 

•  The  beautiful  Duchess  of  Mazarin  died  1699  in  a  house  which  belonged  to 
Lord  Cheyne  in  Cheyne  Walk. 


432  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

cellorship  in  1532.  Erasmus,  who  frequently  visited  him, 
and  who  probably  wrote  here  his  "  Moriae  Encomium,"  of 
which  the  preface  is  dated  "Ex  rure,  1532,"  describes 
More's  family  life  : 

"  There  he  converses  with  his  wife,  his  son,  his  daughter-in-law, 
his  three  daughters  *  and  their  husbands,  with  eleven  grandchildren. 
There  is  no  man  living  so  affectionate  to  his  children  as  he,  and  he 
loveth  his  old  wife  as  well  as  if  she  were  a  young  maid.  Such  is  the 
excellence  of  his  temper,  that  whatsoever  happeneth  that  cannot  be 
helped,  he  loveth  it  as  if  nothing  could  have  happened  more  happily. 
You  would  say  there  was  in  that  place  Plato's  academy ;  but  I  do 
his  house  an  injury  in  comparing  it  to  Plato's  academy,  where  there 
were  only  disputations  of  numbers  and  geometrical  figures,  and  some- 
times of  moral  virtues.  I  should  rather  call  his  house  a  school  or 
university  of  Christian  Religion  ;  for  though  there  is  none  therein  but 
readeth  or  studieth  the  liberal  sciences,  their  special  care  is  piety 
and  virtue  :  there  is  no  quarrelling  or  intemperate  words  heard  ;  none 
seem  idle  ;  that  worthy  gentleman  doth  not  govern  with  proud  and 
lofty  words,  but  with  well-timed  and  courteous  benevolence ;  every- 
body performeth  his  duty,  yet  there  is  always  alacrity ;  neither  is  sober 
mirth  anything  wanting." 

Here  Linacre  and  Colet  were  frequent  guests.  The  "  II 
Moro  "  of  Ellis  Heywood,  dedicated  to  Cardinal  Pole,  1556, 
gives  a  dissertation,  on  the  sources  of  happiness,  supposed  to 
have  been  held  by  six  learned  men  in  the  garden  here. 

"The  place  was  wonderfully  charming,  both  from  the  advantages  of 
its  site— for  from  one  part  almost  the  whole  of  the  noble  city  of 
London  was  visible,  and  from  another,  the  beautiful  Thames,  with  the 
green  meadows  and  wooded  heights  surrounding  it— and  also  for  its 
own  beauty,  for  it  was  crowned  with  an  almost  perpetual  verdure,  it 
had  flowering  shrubs,  and  the  branches  of  fruit-trees,  so  beautifully 
interwoven,  that  it  was  as  if  Nature  herself  had  woven  a  living 
tapestry." 

It  was  here  that,  when  a  beggar-woman  who  had  lost  her 
little  dog  came  to  complain  that  it  was  in  the  keeping  of 

•  Margaret  Roper,  Elizabeth  Dauncy,  and  Cecilia  Heron. 


SIR    THOMAS  MORE'S  HOUSE.  433 

Lady  More — who  had  taken  it  in  and  refused  to  give  it  up 
— Sir  Thomas  sent  for  his  lady  with  the  little  dog,  and, 
"because  she  was  the  worthier  person,  caused  her  to  stand 
at  the  upper  end  of  the  hall,  and  the  beggar  at  the  lower 
end,  and  saying  that  he  sat  there  to  do  every  one  justice,  he 
bade  each  of  them  call  the  dog ;  which  when  they  did,  the 
dog  went  presently  to  the  beggar,  forsaking  my  lady.  When 
he  saw  this  he  bade  my  lady  be  contented,  for  it  was  none 
of  hers,"  and  she,  repining,  agreed  with  the  beggar  for  a 
piece  of  gold,  "  which  would  well  have  bought  three  dogs." 
Here  Holbein  remained  for  three  years  as  More's  guest, 
employed  on  the  portraits  of  his  family  and  friends,  and 
on  tlae  numerous  sketches  which  were  discovered  amongst 
the  royal  collections  and  arranged  by  Queen  Caroline. 
Here  he  was  introduced  by  Sir  Thomas  to  the  notice  of 
Henry  VIII. 

"  And  for  the  pleasure  he  (Henry  VIII.)  took  in  his  (More's)  com 
pany  would  his  grace  sometimes  come  home  to  his  house  in  Chelsea  to 
be  merry  with  him,  whither,  on  a  time  unlooked  for,  he  came  to  dinner, 
and  after  dinner,  in  a  fair  garden  of  his,  walked  with  him  by  the  space 
of  an  hour,  holding  his  arm  about  his  neck." — Roper's  Life  of  More. 

The  terrace  of  the  garden  towards  the  river  was  the 
scene  of  More's  adventure  with  the  madman. 

"  It  happened  one  time,  that  a  Tom  of  Bedlam  came  up  to  him,  and 
had  a  mind  to  have  thrown  him  from  the  battlements,  saying,  '  Leap, 
Tom,  leap.'  The  chanccllour  was  in  his  gowne,  and  besides  ancient, 
and  not  able  to  struggle  with  such  a  strong  fellowe.  My  Lord  had  a 
little  dog  with  him.  Sayd  he,  'Let  us  first  throwe  the  dog  downe,  and 
see  what  sport  that  will  be ;  '  so  the  dog  was  throwne  over.  '  This  is 
very  fine  sport,'  sayd  my  Lord,  'fetch  him  up,  and  try  once  more;' 
while  the  madman  was  goeing  downe,  my  Lord  fastened  the  dore,  and 
called  for  help,  but  ever  after  kept  the  dore  shutt." — Aubrey's  Lives. 

VOL.  IL  F  F 


434  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Hard  by,  in  Chelsea,  Sir  Thomas  hired  a  house  for  many 
aged  people,  whom  he  daily  relieved,  and  it  was  his  daughter 
Margaret  Roper's  charge  to  see  that  they  wanted  for  no- 
thing.* 

After  the  attainder  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  his  house  at 
Chelsea  was  granted  by  Henry  VIII.  to  Sir  William  Paulet, 
afterwards  Marquis  of  Winchester.  On  the  death  of  his 
widow  in  1586  it  passed  to  her  daughter  by  Sir  R.  Sackville, 
Anne,  Lady  Dacre.  She  bequeathed  it  to  the  great  Lord 
Burleigh,  whose  son  Robert  rebuilt  or  altered  it  and  eventu- 
ally sold  it  to  the  Earl  of  Lincoln,  whose  daughter  married 
Sir  Arthur  Gorges.  He  conveyed  the  house  to  Cranfield, 
Earl  of  Middlesex,  who  sold  it  in  1625  to  Charles  I.  fcThis 
king  granted  it  to  George  Villiers,  Duke  of  Buckingham. 
During  the  Commonwealth  it  was  inhabited  by  John  Lisle, 
the  regicide,  and  Sir  Bulstrode  Whitelock,  the  historian. 
It  was  sold  to  pay  the  debts  of  the  second  Duke  of  Buck- 
ingham, and  passed  into  the  hands  of  Digby,  Earl  of  Bristol. 
His  widow  sold  it  to  Henry,  Duke  of  Beaufort,  who  came 
to  inhabit  it  in  1662,  when  he  left  Beaufort  Buildings  in  the 
Strand,  and  died  in  1699,  and  from  his  descendants  it  was 
purchased  by  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  who  pulled  it  down  in 
1740. 

Chelsea  Old  Church  (St.  Luke)  bears  evidence  of  the 
various  dates  at  which  it  has  been  built  and  altered  from 
the  fourteenth  to  the  seventeenth  centuries.  The  brick 
tower  is  of  1662-4.  At  the  south-east  angle  of  the  church- 
yard is  the  quaint  tomb  of  Sir  Hans  Sloane  (1753),  the 
great  physician,  who  attended  Queen  Anne  upon  her  death- 
bed, and  was  created  a  baronet  by  George  I.,  being  the  first 

•  Cresacrc's  "  Life  of  More." 


CHELSEA    OLD   CHURCH.  435 

physician  who  attained  that  honour.  He  collected  in  the 
neighbouring  manor-house  the  books,  medals,  and  objects 
of  Natural  History  which,  purchased  after  his  death,  became 
the  foundation  of  the  British  Museum.  The  monument 
erected  by  his  two  daughters,  "Sarah  Stanley  and  Elisa 
Cadogan,"  is  an  urn  entwined  with  serpents,  under  a 
canopy.  The  charity  with  which  Sir  Hans  Sloane  made 
himself  "  the  physician  of  the  poor  "  caused  his  funeral 
here  to  be  attended  by  vast  multitudes  of  his  grateful 
patients :  the  funeral  sermon  was  preached  by  Zachary 
Pearce. 

The  interior  of  Chelsea  Church  retains  more  of  an  old- 
world  look  than  any  other  in  London.     It  has  never  been 
"  restored,"  and  the  monuments  with  which  it  is   covered 
give  it  a  wonderful  amount  of  human  interest.    It  is  peopled 
widi  associations.     The  aisles  are  the  same  round  which 
Sir  Thomas  More  used  to  carry  the  cross  at  the  head  of 
the  church  processions,  and  the  choir  is  that  in  which  he 
chanted  every  Sunday  in  a  surplice,  and  having  provoked 
the  Duke  of   Norfolk's  remonstrance,    "  God's    body,   my 
Lord  Chancellor,  what  a  parish  clerk  ! — you  dishonour  the 
king  and  his   office,"  replied,   "  Nay  your  grace   may  not 
think'I  dishonour  my  prince  in  serving  his  God  and  mine." 
We  may  see  here  the  ex-Chancellor  on  the  day  after  he  had 
resigned  the  great  seal  of  England,  who  "  had  carried  that 
dignity   with  great  temper  and    lost  it   with    great  joy,"* 
breaking  the  news  to  his  wife,  to  whose  pew  one  of  his 
gentlemen  had  been  in  the  habit  of  going  after  mass  and 
saying  "  his  lordship  is  gone,"  by  going  up  to  her  pew  door 
himself  and  saying,  "  May  it  please  your  ladyship,  my  lord- 

•  Burnet. 


436  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

ship  is  gone,"  which  she  at  first  imagined  to  be  one  of  his 
jests,  but  when  he  sadly  affirmed  it  to  be  true,  broke  out 
with,  "  Tilly  vally,  what  will  you  do,  Mr.  More,  will  you 
sit  and  make  goslings  in  the  ashes  ?  it  is  better  to  rule  than 
to  be  ruled." 

It  was  here  also  that,  on  the  morning  of  his  trial  at 
Lambeth,  Sir  Thomas  More  was  confessed  and  received  the 
sacrament,  and  "whereas  ever  at  other  times,  before  he 
parted  from  his  wife  and  children,  they  used  to  bring  him 
to  his  boat,  and  he  there,  kissing  them,  bade  them  farewell ; 
he  at  this  time  suffered  none  of  them  to  follow  him  forth  of 
his  gate,  but  pulled  the  wicket  after  him,  and  with  a  heavy 
heart,  as  by  his  countenance  appeared,  he  took  boat  with 
his  son  Roper  and  their  men." 

At  the  west  end  of  the  church  hang  the  tattered  remains 
of  the  banners  given  by  Queen  Charlotte  to  her  own 
regiment  of  volunteers,  1804,  "at  the  time  when  the  country 
was  threatened  by  an  inveterate  enemy,"  and  which  were 
"  deposited  here  by  them  as  a  memorial  of  her  most  gracious 
favour  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  parish  for  their  zeal, 
loyalty,  and  patriotism."  In  the  clock-room  is  a  bell  given 
by  the  Hon.  William  Ashburnham,  who,  in  1679,  lost  his 
way  at  night  and  fell  into  the  river  in  the  dark.  Not 
knowing  where  he  was,  he  gave  himself  up  as  lost,  but 
just  then  Chelsea  Church  clock  struck  nine  close  by.  In 
gratitude  he  presented  this  bell  to  the  church,  inscribed, 
"The  Honourable  William  Ashburnham,  Esquire,  cofferer 
to  his  Majestie's  Household,  1679,"  and  he  left  a  sum  of 
money  for  ringing  it  every  evening  at  nine  o'clock  from 
Michaelmas  to  Lady  Day,  a  custom  which  was  observed 
till  1825. 


CHELSEA    OLD    CHURCH. 


437 


At  the  entrance  of  the  south  aisle  are  a  curious  lectern  and 
bookcase,  containing  the  Bible,  the  Homilies,  and  Foxe's 
Book  of  Martyrs,  huge  volumes  heavily  bound  in  leather 
with  massive  clasps,  chained  to  the  desk,  where  they  may 
be  read.     Beyond,  against  the  south  wall,  resplendent   in 


The  Chained  Hooks.     Chelsea. 


coloured  marbles,  stands  the  gorgeous  Corinthian  monu- 
ment of  Gregory,  Lord  Dacre,  1594,  and  Anne,  Lady  Dacre, 
1595.  The  tomb  bears  his  effigy  in  armour  and  hers  in  a 
long  cloak  ;  a  baby  has  its  own  tiny  tomb  at  die  side.  This 
Lady  Dacre  was  the  foundress  of  "  Emanuel  College" — 
Lady  Dacre's  Almshouses — at  Westminster.     Opposite  is 


$38  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

the  tomb  of  "  that  generous  and  wealthy  gentleman,  Arthur 
Gorges,"  1668,  with  the  epitaph — 

"  Here  sleepes  and  feeles  no  pressure  of  the  stone, 
He,  that  had  all  the  Gorges  soules  in  one. 
Here  the  ingenious  valiant  Arthur  lies 
To  be  bewail'd  by  marble  and  our  eyes 
By  most  beloved,  but  Love  cannot  retrieve 
Dead  friends,  has  power  to  kill  not  make  alive. 
Let  him  rest  free  from  envy,  as  from  paine, 
"When  all  the  Gorges  rise  heele  rise  againe 
This  last  retiring  rome  his  own  dothe  call ; 
"Who  after  death  has  that  and  Heaven  has  all. 
Live  Arthur  by  the  spirit  of  thy  fame, 
Chelsey  itself  must  dy  before  thy  name." 

The  east  end  of  the  south  aisle  is  the  chapel  built  by  Sir 
Thomas  More  in  1520.*  It  contains  the  monument  (florid 
but  excellent  of  the  period)  of  Sir  Robert  Stanley,  1632, 
second  son  of  William,  sixth  Earl  of  Derby.  In  front  is 
his  characteristic  bust,  and  at  the  sides  are  busts  of  his 
children  Ferdinando  and  Henrietta  Maria ;  the  little  girl 
wears  a  necklace  with  the  Eagle  and  Child,  the  badge  of 
the  Stanleys. 

"  To  say  a  Stanley  lies  here,  that  alone 
Were  epitaph  enough  ;  noe  brass,  noe  stone, 
Noe  glorious  tombe,  noe  monumental  hearse, 
Noe  guilded  trophy,  or  lamp  labour'd  verse 
Can  dignifie  this  grave  or  sett  it  forth 
Like  the  immortal  fame  of  his  owne  worth. 
Then  Reader,  fixe  not  here,  but  quitt  this  roome 
And  fly  to  Abram's  bossome,  there's  his  tombe ; 
There  rests  his  soule,  and  for  his  other  parts, 
They  are  imbalm'd  and  lodg'd  in  good  men's  harts. 
A  brauer  monument  of  stone  or  lyme, 
N,)e  art  can  rayse,  for  this  shall  outlast  tyme."' 

•  It  continued  t->  belong  to  Beaufort  House. 


CHELSEA    OLD   CHURCH.  439 

Close  by,  battered  and  worn,  and  robbed  of  half  its  deco- 
rations, is  the  deeply  interesting  tomb  of  the  unhappy  Jane 
Dudley,  Duchess  of  Northumberland  (1555),  mother-in-law 
01  Lady  Jane  Grey.  After  the  brief  reign  of  Lady  Jane 
was  over,  the  Duchess  saw  her  husband  and  her  son  Lord 
Guildford  Dudley  beheaded  on  Tower  Hill,  her  son  John 
die  in  the  Tower,  and  the  confiscation  of  all  her  property : 
but  she  survived  these  calamities,  and,  having  borne  all  her 
trials  quietly  with  great  wisdom  and  prudence,  she  lived  to 
see  the  restoration  of  her  house.  Her  son  Ambrose  was 
reinstated  in  the  Earldom  of  Warwick,  and  her  son  Robert, 
the  favourite  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  was  created  Earl  of 
Leicester.     Her  will  is  extant  and  curious. 

"  My  will  is  earnestly  and  effectually,  that  little  solemnitie  be  made 
for  me,  for  I  had  ever  have  a  thousand-foldes  my  debts  to  be  paid, 
and  the  poor  to  be  given  unto,  than  any  pomp  to  be  showed  upon  my 
wretched  carkes :  therefore  to  the  worms  will  I  go,  as  I  have  before 
written  in  all  points,  as  you  will  answer  y:  before  God.  And  if  you 
breke  any  one  jot  of  it,  your  wills  hereafter  may  chance  to  be  as  well 
broken.  After  I  am  departed  from  this  worlde,  let  me  be  wonde  up 
in  a  sheet,  and  put  into  a  coffin  of  woode,  and  so  layde  in  the  ground 
with  such  funeralls  as  parteyneth  to  the  burial  of  a  corse.  I  will  at 
my  years  mynde  have  such  divyne  service  as  myne  executors  think  fit ; 
nor,  in  no  wise  to  let  me  be  opened  after  I  am  dead.  I  have  not  lived 
to  be  very  bold  afore  women,  much  more  wolde  I  be  lothe  to  come  into 
the  hands  of  any  lyving  man,  be  he  physician  or  surgeon."  * 

The  directions  of  the  Duchess  as  to  the  simplicity  of  her 
funeral  were  utterly  disregarded  by  her  family,  for  with  heralds 
and  torches  she  was  borne  with  the  utmost  magnificence 
through  Chelsea,  her  waxen  effigy  being  exposed  upon  her 
coffin,  as  at  the  royal  funerals  at  Westminster.  In  the 
recess  of  the  tomb  are  the  arms  of  the  Duchess  encircled  by 

•  The  Duchess  bequeathed  to  the  Duchess  of  Alva,  lady  in  waiting  to  Queen 
Mai  \  ,  her  "  green  parrot,  having  nothing  else  worthy  of  her." 


440  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

the  Garter.  The  brass  representing  the  Duke  and  his  sons 
■ — including  the  husbands  of  Jane  Grey  and  Amy  Robsart 
— is  torn  away,  but  that  of  the  Duchess  and  her  daughters 
remains.*  She  wears  a  robe,  once  enamelled,  now  painted, 
with  shield  of  arms.  Of  the  daughters,  the  eldest,  Mary, 
was  mother  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney;  the  second,  Catherine, 
married  the  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  grandson  of  Margaret 
Plantagenet,  Countess  of  Salisbury. 

"  Here  lyeth  ye  right  noble  and  excellent  prynces  Lady  Jane 
Guyldeford,  late  Duches  of  Northumberland,  daughter  and  sole  heyre 
unto  ye  right  honorable  Sr  Edward  Guyldeford,  Knight,  Lord 
Wardeyn  of  ye  fyve  portes,  ye  which  Sr  Edward  was  sonne  to  ye  right 
honorable  Sr  Richard  Guyldeford,  sometymes  knight  and  companion 
of  ye  most  noble  order  of  ye  garter  ;  and  the  said  Duches  was  wyfe  to 
the  right  high  and  mighty  prince  John  Dudley,  late  Duke  of  Northum- 
berland, by  whom  she  had  yssew  13  children,  that  is  to  wete  8  sonnes 
and  5  daughters ;  and  after  she  had  lived  yeres  46,  she  departed  this 
transitory  world  at  her  manor  of  Chelse  ye  22  daye  of  January  in  ye 
second  yere  of  ye  reign e  of  our  sovereyne  Lady  Quene  Mary  the  first, 
and  in  Ano.  1555  :  on  whose  soule  Jesu  have  mercy." 

The  altar-tomb  which  stood  beneath  the  canopy  is 
destroyed,  and  a  little  tablet  which  was  affixed  to  it  is  let 
into  the  wall  above;  it  commemorates  a  second  time  Cathe- 
rine, wife  of  the  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  and  daughter  of  John 
Dudley,  Duke  of  Northumberland,  1620. 

Entering  the  chancel  we  come  to  the  tomb  which  Sir 
Thomas  More  erected  in  his  lifetime  (1532)  to  his  own 
memory  and  that  of  his  two  wives.  Hither  he  removed  the 
remains  of  his  first  wife,  Joan,  the  mother  of  his  children, 
the  wife  whom  he  married,  "  though  his  affection  most 
served  him  to  her  second  sister,"  because  he  thought  "  it 
would  be  a  grief  and  some  blemish  to  the  eldest  to  have 

•  This  precious  relic  is  disgracefully  ill-cared  for. 


CHELSEA    OLD    CHURCH. 


Hi 


her  younger  sister  preferred  before  her."  *  Here  his  second 
wife — a  widow,  Mrs.  Alice  Middleton,  of  whom  he  was 
wont  to  say  that  she  was  "nee  bella,  nee  puella"'  —  was 
buried.  Hither  also,  according  to  Aubrey,  Weaver,  and 
Anthony  a  Wood,  More's  own  headless  body  was  removed 


" 


^^iiiiiEiL.  -  - 


The  More  Tomb,  Chelsea. 


from  St.  Peter's  Chapel  in  the  Tower,  where  it  was  first 
interred;  but  neither  his  son-in-law  Roper,  nor  his  great 
grandson  C.  More,  who  wrote  his  life,  mentions  the  fact, 
which  is  rendered  improbable  by  Margaret  Roper  having 
previously   move  1   Bishop   Fisher's   body  from   Allhallows, 

*  Cresacre  More's  "  Life  of  Sir  X.  More." 


443  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Barking,  that  it  might  rest  with  his  friend  in  the  Tovvei 
Chapel.*  The  head  of  Sir  Thomas  More  is  preserved  in 
St.  Dunstan's  Church  at  Canterbury  by  the  tomb  of  his 
best-beloved  daughter  Margaret  Roper. 

The  monument  was  restored  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I. 
(by  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence  of  Chelsea),  and  again  in  1833, 
On  both  occasions  the  words  "  hereticisque "  were  inten- 
tionally omitted  :  there  is  a  blank  space  where  they  should 
have  appeared.  Above  is  the  crest  of  Sir  T.  More — a 
moor's  head — and  his  own  arms  with  those  of  his  two  wives. 
The  Latin  epitaph  is  Sir  Thomas's  biog?  iphy  of  himself — 

"  Thomas  More,  of  the  city  of  London,  was  of  an  honourable,  though 
not  a  noble  family,  and  possessed  considerable  literary  attainments. 
After  having,  as  a  young  man,  practised  for  some  years  at  the  bar,  and 
served  as  sheriff  for  his  native  city,  he  was  summoned  to  the  palace 
and  made  a  member  of  the  Privy  Council  by  the  invincible  king 
Henry  VIII.  (who  received  the  distinction  unattained  by  any  other 
sovereigu,  of  being  justly  called  Defender  of  the  Faith,  which  he  had 
supported  both  with  his  sword  and  pen).  He  was  then  made  a  knight 
and  vice-treasurer,  and  through  excessive  royal  favour  was  created 
chancellor,  first  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster,  and  afterwards  of  England. 
In  the  mean  time,  he  had  been  returned  to  serve  in  Parliament,  and 
was  besides  frequently  appointed  ambassador  by  his  Majesty.  The 
last  time  he  filled  this  high  office  was  at  Cambray,  where  he  had  for  a 
colleague,  as  chief  of  legation,  Tunstall,  Bishop  of  London,  soon  after- 
wards of  Durham,  a  man  scarcely  excelled  by  any  of  his  contempora- 
ries in  learning,  prudence,  and  moral  worth  ;  at  this  place  he  was  pre- 
sent at  the  assembly  of  the  most  powerful  monarchs  of  Christendom, 
and  beheld  with  pleasure  the  renewal  of  ancient  treaties,  and  the 
restoration  of  a  long-wished-for  peace  to  the  world.  '  Grant,  O  ye 
Gods,  that  this  peace  may  be  eternal ! ' 

"In  this  round  of  duties  and  honours  he  acquired  the  esteem  of  the 
best  of  princes,  the  nobility  and  people,  and  was  dreaded  only  by 
thieves  and  murderers  (and  heretics). t    At  length  his  father,  Sir  John 

*  See  Doyne  C.  Bell's  "  Notices  of  Historic  Persons  buried  in  St.  Peter  ad 
Vincula." 

t  Fuller  says  that  More  had  a  tree  in  I  is  garden  at  Chelsea  which  he  called 
"  the  tree  of  truth,"  and  that  he  used  to  bind  heretics  to  it  to  be  scourged. 


CHELSEA    OLD   CHURCH.  443 

More,  was  nominated  by  the  king  a  member  of  the  Privy  Council.  He 
was  of  a  mild,  harmless,  gentle,  merciful,  and  just  disposition,  and  was 
in  excellent  health,  though  an  old  man.  When  he  had  seen  his  son 
Chancellor  of  England,  he  felt  that  his  life  had  been  sufficiently  pro- 
longed, and  passed  gladly  from  earth  to  heaven. 

"  At  his  death,  the  son,  who  in  his  father's  lifetime  was  esteemed 
a  young  man  both  by  himself  and  others,  deeply  lamenting  his 
father's  loss,  and  seeing  four  children  and  eleven  grandchildren 
around  him,  began  to  feel  the  pressure  of  years.  Shortly  after- 
wards this  feeling  was  increased  by  a  pulmonary  affection,  which 
he  regarded  as  the  sure  forerunner  of  old  age.  Therefore,  wearied  of 
worldly  enjoyments,  he  obtained  permission  from  the  best  of  princes 
to  resign  his  dignities,  that  he  might  spend  the  closing  years  of 
his  life  free  from  care,  which  he  had  always  desired,  and  that,  with- 
drawing his  mind  from  the  occupations  of  this  world,  he  might  devote 
himself  to  the  contemplation  of  immortality.  As  a  constant  reminder 
of  the  inevitable  approach  of  death,  he  has  prepared  this  vault,  whither 
he  has  removed  the  remains  of  his  first  wife.  Good  Reader,  I  beseech 
thee,  that  thy  pious  prayers  may  attend  mc  while  living,  and  follow  me 
when  dead,  that  I  may  not  have  done  this  in  vain,  nor  dread  with 
trembling  the  approach  of  death,  but  willingly  undergo  it  for  Christ's 
sake,  and  that  death  to  me  may  not  be  really  death,  but  rather  the 
door  of  a  more  blessed  life." 

Beneath  are  the  lines — 

"  Chara  Thomas  jacet  hie  Joanna  uxorula  Mori, 

Qui  tumulum  Alicia;  hunc  destino,  quique  mihf. 
Una  mihi  dedit  hoc  conjuncta  virentibus  annis, 

Me  vocet  ut  puer  et  trina  puella  patrem. 
Altera  privignis  (quae  gloria  rara  Novercse  est) 

Tarn  pia,  quam  gratis,  vox  fuit  ulla  suis. 
Altera  sic  mccum  vixit,  sic  altera  vivit, 

Charior  incertum  est,  quae  sit  an  ilia  fuit. 
O  simul,  O  juncti  poteramus  vivere  nos  tres, 

Quam  bene,  si  fatum  religioque  sinant. 
At  societ  tumulus,  societ  nos,  obsecro,  ccelum  ! 

Sic  mors,  non  potuit  quod  dare  vita,  dabit." 

%  A  tablet  on  the  wall  above  commemorates  Elizabeth 
Mayerne,  1653,  daughter  of  Sir  Theodore  Mayerne,  the 
famous  physician,  and  wife  of  Peter  de  Caumont,  Marquis 


444  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

de  Montpelier,  a  French  Protestant  who  fled  to  England 
from  the  Huguenot  persecutions. 

Opposite  the  More  monument  is  an  altar-tomb  of  the 
Bray  family,  who  held  the  manor  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VII., 
which  formerly  bore  the  inscription — "  Pray  for  the  soul  cf 
Edmund  Bray,  knight,  Lord  Bray,  cosin  and  heire  to  Sir 
Reginald  Bray,  Knight  of  the  Garter."*  His  brother 
Reginald  Bray  lies  with  him.  On  the  same  wall  is  the 
well-executed  little  monument  of  Thomas  Hungerford 
(15S1),  distinguished  at  Musselburgh  Field,  so  often 
alluded  to  in  the  charming  descriptions  of  this  old  church 
in  the  "  Hillyers  and  Burtons,"  by  Henry  Kingsley, 
whose  father  became  Rector  of  Chelsea  in  1836,  and  who 
vividly  portrays  in  his  book  the  reminiscences  of  his  own 
childhood. 

A  sort  of  triumphal  arch,  forming  the  entrance  to  the 
north  aisle,  is  the  tomb  of  Richard  Gcrvoise,  Sheriff  of 
London,  1557,  one  of  an  ancient  family  who  resided  in  the 
precincts  of  Chelsea  Palace. 

The  east  end  of  the  north  aisle  is  the  chapel  of  the 
Lawrence  family,  from  whom  Lawrence  Street,  Chelsea, 
takes  its  name.  The  most  conspicuous  monument  is  that 
of  Mrs.  Colvill,  1631,  with  her  half  figure  rising  from  the 
tomb  in  her  winding-sheet ;  but  far  more  worth  notice  is  the 
small  tomb  of  her  father,  Thomas  Lawrence,  1593,  with  a 
beautifully  finished  little  family  group  kneeling  on  cushions, 
the  dead  babies  lying  beside  them. 

Against  the  north  wall,  in  a  kind  of  marble  cave,  on  a 
black  sarcophagus,  reclines  the  figure  of  Lady  Jane  Cheyne, 
1669,  eldest  daughter  of  William  Cavendish,  Duke  of  New- 

*  Weaver's  "Funeral  Monuments." 


CHELSEA    OLD   CHURCH.  445 

castle,  and  his  comical  Duchess.*  Beneath  is  an  inscription 
to  her  husband  Charles  Cheyne,  "  whom  she  never  grieved 
but  in  her  death."  The  statue  of  Lady  Jane  is  attributed  to 
Bernini,  and  the  drapery  is  characteristic  of  his  style,  though 
the  impossible  hand  proves  an  inferior  master. 

"Four  hundred  years  of  memory  are  crowded  into  this  dark  old 
church,  and  the  flood  of  change  beats  round  the  walls,  and  shakes  the 
door  in  vain,  but  never  enters.  The  dead  stand  thick  together  there, 
as  if  to  make  a  brave  resistance  to  the  moving  world  outside,  which 
jars  upon  their  slumber.  It  is  a  church  of  the  dead.  I  cannot  fancy 
anyone  being  married  in  that  church — its  air  would  chill  the  boldest 
bride  that  ever  walked  to  the  altar.  No  ;  it  is  a  place  for  old  people 
to  creep  into  and  pray,  until  their  prayers  are  answered,  and  they  sleep 
with  the  rest." — H   Kingsley. 

Amongst  those  who  are  buried  here  without  monuments 
are  Mrs.  Fletcher,  widow  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  and 
mother  of  the  dramatic  poet ;  Magdalen,  Lady  Herbert, 
mother  of  Lord  Herbert  of  Cherbury  and  George  Herbert 
the  poet,  "who  gave  rare  testimonies  of  an  incomparable 
piety  to  God,  and  love  to  her  children,"  t  whose  funeral 
sermon  was  preached  here  by  Dr.  Donne  in  the  presence  of 
Izaak  Walton  ;  Thomas  Shadwell,  the  poet,  the  MacFlecknoe 
of  Dryden  ;  Mrs.  Mary  As/ell,  1 731,  a  popular  religious 
writer  of  her  time;  and  Boyer,  author  of  the  well-known 
French  Dictionary  and  a  History  of  Queen  Anne.  In  the 
King's  Road  Cemetery,  which  was  given  to  the  parish  by 
Sir  Hans  Sloane,  is  the  tomb  of  John  Baptist  Cipriani,  the 
artist  (1785). 

Against  the  south  wall  of  the  church  on  the  exterior  is 
the  monument  of  Dr.  Chamberlayne  (1703),  author  of  the 
"  Angliae  Notitia."     His  strange  epitaph  records  that  "  he 

•  See  ihe  account  of  her  in  the  chapter  on  Westminster  Abbey, 
t  See  "Walton's  "Lives." 


446  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

was  so  studious  of  good  to  all  men,  and  especially  to  pos- 
terity, that  he  ordered  some  of  his  books,  covered  with  wax, 
to  be  buried  with  him,  which  may  be  of  use  in  time  to 
come."  More  extraordinary  is  the  adjoining  epitaph  of  his 
daughter  Anne  Spragg  (1691),  which  narrates  how,  "having 
long  declined  marriage,  and  aspiring  to  great  achievements, 
unusual  to  her  age  and  sex,  she,  on  the  30th  of  June,  1690, 
on  board  a  fire-ship,  in  man's  clothing — as  a  second  Pallas, 
chaste  and  fearless — fought  valiantly  for  six  hours  against 
the  French,  under  the  command  of  her  brother." 

Lindsey  House  (facing  the  river)  was  built  by  Sir  Chris- 
topher Wren  in  1674  for  Robert,  Earl  of  Lindsey,  Lord 
Great  Chamberlain,  on  the  site  of  the  house  of  Sir  Theodore 
Mayerne  (ob.  1655),  who  was  physician  to  Henri  IV.  and 
Louis  XIII.  of  France,  and  afterwards  to  James  I.  and 
Charles  I.  of  England.  Lord  Lindsey  had  previously 
inhabited  Lindsey  House  in  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields.  His 
descendant,  the  Duke  of  Ancaster,  sold  the  house  in  1751 
to  Count  Zinzendorf,  who  lived  there,  while  presiding  over 
the  Moravian  community  which  he  had  established  in 
Chelsea.  The  next  house  was  at  one  time  inhabited  by- 
John  Martin,  by  whom  there  are  remains  of  a  fresco  on  the 
garden  wall. 

Zinzendorf  bought  some  of  the  land  belonging  to  Beau- 
fort House  for  a  burial-ground.  In  King's  Road  (No.  381) 
is  the  entrance  of  a  green  enclosure,  containing  his  Chapel, 
a  brick  building  with  broad  overhanging  eaves,  occupying 
the  site  of  Sir  Thomas  More's  stables :  it  is  still  the 
property  of  the  Moravians.  Against  the  outer  wall  is  a 
monument  to  "  Christopher  Renatus,  Count  of  Zinzendorf 
and  Pollendorff,  born  Dec.   19,   1727,  departed    May   28, 


CHEYNE  ROW.  447 

1732,"  the  only  son  of  the  founder  of  the  Moravians, 
who  died  suddenly  in  Westminster  Abbey.  Close  by  is 
the  monument  of  Henry  LV.  of  Reuss  (1816),  his  wife 
Maria  Justina,  and  Henry  LXXIII.  of  Reuss.  Some  brick 
walls  which  belonged  to  Sir  Thomas  More's  house  may  still 
be  seen  to  the  south  of  the  burial-ground. 

In  No.  119  Cheyne  Walk,  a  humble  two-storied  brick 
house  facing  the  river  and  boats,  the  great  painter  J.  M.  W. 
Turner  spent  his  latter  days,  shutting  up  his  house  in 
Queen  Anne  Street,  that  he  might  give  himself  up  to  the 
enjoyment  of  the  soft  effects  upon  the  still  reaches  of  the 
Thames.  He  lived  here  as  Mr.  Booth,  but  the  Chelsea 
boys  gave  him  the  name  of  "  Admiral  Booth  "  or  "  Puggy 
Booth."  When  he  knocked  at  the  door  of  this  house  and 
wished  to  engage  the  lodgings,  the  landlady  asked  him  for 
references — "  References !  "  stormed  the  irascible  old  man  ; 
"  these,  Ma'am,  are  my  relcrences,"  and  he  thrust  a  bundle 
of  bank-notes  in  her  lace.  "  Well,  Sir,  but  what  is  your 
name  ?  "  "  Name,  Ma'am,  may  I  ask  what  is  your  name, 
Ma'am?"  "  Oh  I  am  Mrs.  Booth."  "  Well  then,  Ma'am, 
1  am  Mr.  Booth."  The  still-existing  balcony  of  the  house 
was  erected  by  Turner:  he  died  here,  Dec.  19,  1851. 

The  old-fashioned  terrace  of  Cheyne  Row  will  always  be 
interesting  as  having  been  the  abode  of  the  venerable 
historian,  essayist,  and  philosopher,  Thomas  Carlyle.  His 
house  and  its  pictures  have  been  well  described  in  "  Cele- 
brities at  Home,"  1876,  with  his  library,  "perhaps  the 
smallest,  saving  mere  books  of  reference,  that  ever  belonged 
to  a  great  man  of  letters — explained  by  his  magnificent 
memory." 

Near  the  end  of  Church  Street,  Chelsea,  was  the  famous 


44»  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

porcelain  manufactory,  which  existed  as  early  as  1698,  but 
was  at  its  zenith  1750  63.  In  1764  it  was  removed  to 
Derby,  and  the  ware  was  then  called  Derby-Chelsea.  Mr. 
De  Morgan  has  lately  established  a  manufactc  ry  in  Chelsea, 
in  imitation  of  the  old  Spanish  lustre-ware. 

Half  a  mile  beyond  Chelsea  were  Cremorne  Gardens, 
long  a  place  of  public  amusement,  formerly  belonging  to 
Cremorne  House. 

The  name  of  Peter's  Eye  or  Island  still  lingers  in  that 
of  Baltersea  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  which 
was  part  of  the  ancient  patrimony  of  St.  Peter's  Abbey 
at  Westminster.  It  was  formerly  famous  for  its  asparagus 
beds. 

Crossing  Battcrsea  Bridge  (id.)  and  turning  to  the  right, 
we  reach  the  Church  {of  St.  Mary),  rebuilt  at  the  end  of 
the  last  century  and  very  ugly.  It  is,  however,  worth  while 
to  enter  it  and  ascend  to  the  northern  gallery,  to  visit  a 
monument  by  Roubiliac  to  Henry  St.  John,  Lord  Boling- 
broke,  adored  by  Pope — whom  he  attended  on  his  death- 
bed, and  who  considered  him  the  first  writer,  as  well  as  the 
greatest  man,  of  his  age ;  hated  by  Walpole  as  a  political 
rival ;  lauded  by  Swift  and  Smollett  j  despised  as  "  a 
scoundrel  and  a  coward  "  by  Dr.  Johnson.  His  youth  had 
been  so  wild  that  his  father's  congratulation  when  he  was 
created  a  Viscount  was,  "Ah,  Harry,  I  ever  said  you 
would  be  hanged ;  but  now  I  find  you  will  be  beheaded." 
In  17 15  he  was  impeached  for  high  treason  by  the  Whigs, 
and  fled  to  the  Court  of  Prince  Charles  Stuart,  where  he 
accepted  the  post  of  Secretary,  which  led  in  England  to 
his  attainder.  His  estates  were  restored  in  1723,  but  his 
political  career  was  closed,  and  the  last  ten  years  of  his 


BATTERSEA.     .  449 

life  were  spent  in  retirement  at  Battersea  manor-house.    His 
epitaph  tells  his  story. 

"Here  lies  Henry  St.  John,  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  Secretary 
of  War,  Secretary  of  State,  and  Viscount  Bolingbroke ;  in  the  days  of 
George  I.  and  George  II.  something  more  and  better.  His  attachment 
to  Queen  Anne  exposed  him  to  a  long  and  severe  persecution ;  he  bore 
it  with  firmness  of  mind.  He  passed  the  latter  part  of  his  life  at  home, 
the  enemy  of  no  national  party,  the  friend  of  no  faction  ;  distinguished 
(under  the  cloud  of  proscription  which  had  not  been  entirely  taken 
off)  by  zeal  to  maintain  the  liberty,  and  to  restore  the  ancient  pros- 
perity of  Great  Britain." 

Mary  Clara  des  Champs  de  Maurily,  Viscountess  Boling- 
broke, is  commemorated  on  the  same  monument,  and  there 
are  many  other  St.  John  tombs  in  the  church.  In  the 
south  gallery  is  the  monument  of  Sir  Edward  Wyntery 
1685-6,  with  a  relief  portraying  the  two  principal  feats  of 
this  hero,  which  are  thus  recorded  in  his  long  epitaph — 

"  Alone,  unarm'd,  a  tyger  he  opprest, 
And  crush'd  to  death  ye  monster  of  a  beast ; 
Twice  twenty  mounted  Moors  he  overthrew, 
Singly  on  foot,  some  wounded,  some  he  slew, 
Dispers'd  ye  rest.— What  more  could  Samson  doe  ?  " 

The  repaired  east  window  is  especially  interesting  as 
having  been  given  by  Sir  Thomas  Boleyn,  father  of  Queen 
Anne.*  It  contains  the  portraits  of  Margaret  Beaufort, 
mother  of  Henry  VII.,  Henry  VIII.,  and  Elizabeth.  In 
the  crypt  beneath  the  church  the  coffin  of  Bolingbroke  and 
others  of  its  illustrious  dead  were  shown  till  lately.  They 
are  now  (1877)  Put  underground.  From  the  churchyard, 
girt  on  two  sides  by  the  lapping  river,  we  may  admire  the 
picturesque  Luff  Barges,  sometimes  called  Clipper  Barges^ 

•  His    great-granddaughter    Anne    Leighton   married   Sir  John    St.  John   of 
Battersea. 

VOL.  II.  G  G 


450  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

of  a  smaller  class  than  the  ordinary  square  barges  of  the 
Thames,  and  provided  with  a  foresail  only. 

A  mill  and  miller's  house  near  the  river  (reached  by 
the  second  gateway  from  the  church  in  the  direction  of 
the  bridge)  contain  all  that  remains  of  the  old  manor- 
house  where  Bolingbroke  died. 

Battersea  Park,  formed  in  1856-57,  faces  Chelsea 
Hospital.  It  is  pretty  in  summer,  and  its  sub-tropical 
garden,  of  four  acres,  is  beautiful.  Two  bridges,  Albert 
Bridge  and  New  Chelsea  Bridge,  connect  it  with  the  oppo- 
site shore.  It  was  in  Battersea  Fields  that  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  fought  a  duel  with  the  Earl  of  Winchilsea  in 
1829. 

Maitland  *  considers  that  this  is  the  place  where  the 
Britons,  after  being  defeated  by  Claudius,  were  compelled  to 
ford  the  river,  and  were  followed  by  the  Emperor,  who  com- 
pletely routed  them.  He  also  thinks  that  Julius  Caesar 
effected  the  passage  of  the  Thames  at  this  spot. 

•  "  History  of  London." 


CHAPTER  XI. 

KENSINGTON  AND  HOLLAND  HOUSE. 

KNIGHTSBRIDGE,  till  lately  a  suburb,  now  part  of 
London,  skirts  the  southern  side  of  Hyde  Park. 
It  is  supposed  to  derive  its  name  from  two  knights  who 
quarrelled  on  their  way  to  receive  the  Bishop  of  London's 
blessing,  and,  fighting,  killed  each  other  by  the  bridge 
over  the  West  Bourne.  The  brook  called  the  West 
Bourne  has  shared  the  fate  of  all  London  brooks,  and 
is  now  a  sewer,  but  it  still  works  its  way  under  ground 
from  Hampstead,  after  giving  its  name  to  a  district  in 
Bayswater,  and  passes  under  Belgravia  to  the  Thames. 
Pont  Street  has  its  name  from  a  bridge  over  the  West 
Bourne. 

At  the  cros sways,  where  the  Brompton  Road  turns  off  to 
the  left,  is  TattersalPs,  the  most  celebrated  auction  mart  for 
horses  in  existence,  and  the  headquarters  of  horse-racing, 
established  in  1774  by  Richard  Tattersall,  stud-groom  to 
the  last  Duke  of  Kingston.  Sales  take  place  every 
Monday  throughout  the  year,  and  every  Thursday  during 
the  season.  The  business  of  the  firm  is  confined  to 
the  selling  of  horses ;  they  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
betting. 


452 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


Following  the  Knightsbridge  Road  on  the  left  are  several 
of  the  handsomest  houses  in  London — Kent  House  (Louisa, 
Lady  Ashburton),  on  the  site  of  a  house  once  inhabited  by 
the  Duke  of  Kent ;  Stratheden  House,  where  Lord  Camp- 
bell wrote  his  "  Lives  of  the  Lord  Chancellors  ;  "  and  Alford 
House  (Lady  Marian  Alford),  an  admirable  building  of  brick, 
with  high  roofs,  and  terra-cotta  ornaments. 

Beyond    this    are    Rutland    Gate    and    Prince's    Gate. 


Alford  House. 


No.  49  Prince's  Gate,  the  house  of  Mr.  Leyland,  contains 
the  Peacock  Room,  decorated  by  Mr.  Whistler  in  1876-77. 
The  walls  and  ceiling  are  entirely  covered  with  peacock 
iridescence,  while  the  separate  peacocks  on  the  shutters 
are  full  of  nature  and  beauty,  and  still  more  those  in 
defiance  over  the  sideboard,  which  express  a  peacock- 
drama. 
The  tall  brick  chimneys  and  gables  on  the  left  belong  to 


THE  ALBERT  HALL. 


453 


the  highly  picturesque  Lowther  Lodge  (Hon.  W.  Lowther), 
an  admirable  work  of  Norman  Shaw. 

All  along  this  road  London  has  been  moving  out  of  town 
for  the  last  twenty  years,  but  has  never  succeeded  in  getting 
into  the  country. 

At  Kensington  Gore,  where  Wilberforce  resided  from 
1808  to  1 82 1,  and  held  his  anti-slavery  meetings,  and 
where  Lady  Blessington  lived  afterwards,  the  centre  of  a 


Lowther  Lodge. 


brilliant  circle,  the  line  of  houses  and  villas  is  broken  by  the 
Albert  Hall,  a  vast  elliptical  building  of  brick,  with  terra- 
cotta decorations.  It  was  commenced  in  1867,  and  is  used 
as  a  music-hall.  This  huge  pile  has  no  beaut}-,  except  in 
the  porches,  which  are  exceedingly  grandiose  in  form,  and 
effective  in 'shadow  and  colour. 

[Behind  the  Albert  Hall  is  a   vast  quadrangular  space, 
occupied  (1877)    by  the  Horticultural   Gardens,  and    siu-- 


454  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

rounded  by  Exhibition  Galleries.  At  its  south-eastern  angle, 
facing  Cromwell  Road,  is  the  South  Kensington  Museum. 
See  Ch.  XII.] 

Opposite  the  Hall,  marking  the  site  of  the  Crystal  Palace 
of  1 85 1,  and  of  the  Exhibition  whose  success  was  so 
greatly  due  to  his  exertions,  is  the  Albert  Memorial,  erected 
from  designs  of  Sir  Gilbert  Scott  to  the  ever-honoured 
memory  of  the  Prince  Consort,  Albert  of  Saxe  Gotha  {pb. 
Dec.  14,  1861).  Here,  beneath  a  somewhat  flimsy  imita- 
tion of  a  Gothic  shrine  of  the  thirteenth  century,  the  seated 
statue  of  the  Prince  is  barely  distinguishable  through  the 
dazzlement  of  a  gilded  glitter.  The  pedestal,  whose  classic 
forms  so  strangely  contrast  with  the  Gothic  structure 
above,  is  decorated  with  a  vast  number  of  statuettes  in  high 
relief,  representing  different  painters,  sculptors,  and  musi- 
cians, from  Hiram  and  Bezaleel,  Cheops  and  Sennacherib, 
to  Pugin,  Barry,  and  Cockerel! ! 

The  Iron  Gates  of  the  Park  near  this  were  made  at  Cole- 
brook  Dale  for  the  south  transept  of  the  Crystal  Palace 
of  1851. 

Beyond  the  Albert  Memorial,  on  the  right,  are  Kensing- 
ton Garde;, s,  the  pleasantest  and  most  picturesque  of  the 
London  recreation-grounds,  occupying  261  acres.  They 
were  begun  by  William  III.  near  Kensington  Palace,  and 
enlarged  by  Queen  Anne  and  Queen  Caroline  of  Anspach. 
The  earlier  gardens  still  retain  traces  of  the  Dutch  style  in 
which  they  were  originally  laid  out.  Near  the  high  road  to 
the  south  is  "  St.  Govor's  Well."  The  portion  nearer  Hyde 
Park  has  noble  groves  and  avenues  of  old  trees,  crowded 
with  people  sitting  and  walking  on  Sunday  afternoons.  The 
pleasantest  and  broadest  of  these  walks  ends   in  an  iron 


KENSINGTON  GARDENS.  455 

biidge  over  the  upper  part  of  the  Serpentine,  designed 
by  Rennie  in  1826.  From  hence  there  are  delightful 
views  up  and  down  the  water,  especially  charming  in 
the  rhododendron  season.  The  scene  on  Sundays  in 
1S77  is  peimitted  by  the  fashions  to  recall  the  lines  of 
Tickell— 

"  Where  Kensington,  high  o'er  the  neighbouring  lands, 
Midst  greens  and  sweets,  a  regal  fabric  stands, 
And  sees  each  spring,  luxuriant  in  her  bowers, 
A  snow  of  blossoms,  and  a  wild  of  flowers, 
The  dames  of  Britain  oft  in  crowds  repair 
To  gravel  walks  and  unpolluted  air ; 
Here,  while  the  town  in  damps  and  darkness  lies, 
They  breathe  in  sunshine,  and  see  azure  skies  ; 
Each  walk,  with  robes  of  various  dyes  bespread, 
Seems  from  afar  a  moving  tulip-bed, 
Where  rich  brocades  and  glossy  damasks  glow, 
And  chintz,  the  rival  of  the  showery  bow." 

Addison  greatly  extols  the  early  landscape  gardeneis 
employed  at  Kensington. 

"Wise  and  Loudon  are  our  heroic  poets  :  and  if,  as  a  critic,  I  may 
single  out  any  passage  of  their  works  to  commend,  I  shall  take  notice 
of  that  part  in  the  upper  garden  at  Kensington,  which  at  first  was 
nothing  but  a  gravel-pit.  It  must  have  been  a  fine  genius  for  garden- 
ing that  could  have  thought  of  forming  such  an  unsightly  hollow  into 
so  beautiful  an  area,  and  to  have  hit  the  eye  with  so  uncommon  and 
able  a  scene  as  that  which  it  is  now  wrought  into.  To  give  this 
particular  spot  of  ground  the  greater  effect,  they  have  made  a  very 
pleasing  contrast ;  for,  as  on  one  side  of  the  walk  you  see  this  hollow 
basin,  with  its  several  little  plantations,  lying  conveniently  under  the 
eve  of  the  beholder,  on  the  other  side  of  it  there  appears  a  seeming 
mount,  made  up  of  trees,  rising  one  higher  than  another,  in  proportion 
ai  they  approach  the  centre." — Spectator,  No.  477. 

••  Here,  in  Kensington,  are  some  of  the  most  poetical  bits  of  tree 
and  stump,  and  sunny  brown  and  green  glen,  and  tawny  earth." — 
ffayd>~>n's  A  utobiography. 


456  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Kensington  Palace,  as  Nottingham  House,  was  the  resr 
dence  of  the  Lord  Chancellor  Heneage  Finch,  Earl  of  Not- 
tingham.    His  son  sold  it  to  William  III.  in  1690,  when 
Evelyn  describes  it  as  "  a  patched-up  building — but,  with 
the  gardens,  a  very  neat  villa."     The  king  employed  Wren 
to  add  a  story  to  the  old  house,  which  forms  the  north 
front  of  the  existing  palace,  and  to  build  the  present  south 
front.     The  improvement  of  Kensington  became  his  passion, 
and  while  he  was  absent  in  Ireland  Queen  Mary's  letters  to 
her  irascible  spouse  are  full  of  the  progress  of  his  works 
there,  and  of  abject  apologies  because  she  could  not  prevent 
chimneys   smoking  and  rooms  smelling  of  paint.     Imme- 
diately after  the  king's  return  (Nov.  10,  1691)  a  great  fire 
broke  out  in  the  palace,  in  which  William  and  Mary,  having 
narrowly  escaped  being  burnt  in  their  beds,  fled  into  tht 
garden,  whence  they  watched  their  footguards  as  they  passed 
buckets   to  extinguish  the  flames.     When   her  new  rooms 
were  finished,  Mary  held  the  drawing-rooms  there,  at  which 
her  hostility  to  her    sister  Anne   first  became  manifest  to 
the  world,  the  princess  making  "  all  the  professions  imagin- 
able, to  which  the  queen  remained  as  insensible  as  a  statue." 
It  was  in  a  still  existing  room  that  Mary,  when  (Dec,  1694) 
she  felt  herself  sickening  for  the  small-pox,  sat  up  nearly  all 
through  a  winter's  night,  burning  every  paper  which  could 
throw  light  upon  her  personal  history,  and  here,  as  her  illness 
increased,  William's  sluggish  affections  were  awakened,  and 
he  never  left  her,   so    affectionately  stifling  his  asthmatic 
cough  not  to  disturb  her  that,  on  waking  from  a  long  lethargy, 
she  asked  "  where  the  king  was,  for  she  did  not  hear  him 
cough."     As  the  end  approached  she  received  the  Sacra* 
ment,  the  bishops  who  were  attending  tak'ng  it  with  her 


KENSINGTON  PALACE.  457 

"  God  knows,"  said  Burnet,  "  a  sorrowful  company,  for  we 
were  losing  her  who  was  our  chief  hope  and  glory  on  earth." 
It  was  then  that  the  queen  begged  to  speak  secretly  to 
Archbishop  Tenison,  and,  when  he  expected  something 
important,  bade  him  take  away  the  Popish  nurse  whom,  in 
the  hallucination  of  illness,  she  imagined  Dr.  Radcliffe  had 
set  to  watch  her  from  behind  the  screen.  Mary  died  on  the 
morning  of  the  28th  of  December,  1694,  and  William  was 
then  in  such  passionate  grief  that  he  swooned  three  times 
on  that  terrible  day,  and  his  attendants  thought  that  he 
would  have  been  the  first  to  expire. 

After  Mary's  death  William  remained  in  seclusion  and 
grief  at  Kensington,  whither  Anne  came  to  condole  with 
him,  carried  in  her  sedan  chair  (for  she  was  close  upon  her 
confinement)  into  his  very  room, — the  King's  Writing- Room, 
which  is  still  preserved.  There  in  1696  William  buckled 
the  Order  of  the  Garter  with  his  own  hands  on  the  person 
of  Anne's  eldest  child,  the  little  Duke  of  Gloucester,  and 
hither,  after  he  had  received  his  death-hurt  by  a  fall  from 
his  sorrel  pony  at  Hampton  Court,  he  insisted  upon  re- 
turning to  die,  March  8,  1702. 

After  William's  death,  Anne  and  Prince  George  of  Den- 
mark took  possession  of  the  royal  apartments  at  Kensing- 
ton. But  the  mother  of  seventeen  children  was  already 
childless  and  she  made  her  chief  residence  at  St.  James's, 
coming  for  the  Easter  recess  to  Kensington,  where  she 
planted  "  Queen  Anne's  Mount,"  and  built  in  the  gardens 
"  Queen  Anne's  Banqueting  Room,"  in  which  she  gave  fetes 
which  were  attended  by  all  the  great  world  of  London  "  in 
brocaded  robes,  hoops,  fly-caps,  and  fans."  The  love  of 
flowers  which  the  queen  manifested  here  led   to  her  being 


45»  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

apostrophised  as  "  Great  Flora "  in  the  verses  of  Torn 
D'Urfey.  In  the  same  gloomy  palace  in  which  she  had  seen 
the  last  hours  of  her  sister  and  brother-in  law,  Queen  Anne 
(Oct.  28,  1708)  lost  her  husband,  George  of  Denmark,  with 
whom  she  had  lived  in  perfect  happiness  for  twenty  years. 
The  Duchess  of  Marlborough  describes  her  agony  after- 
wards in  the  chamber  of  death—"  weeping  and  clapping 
her  hands — swaying  herself  backward  and  forward,  clasp- 
ing her  hands  together,  with  other  marks  of  passion." 
She  was  led  away  that  evening  by  the  Duchess  to  her 
carriage  to  be  taken  to  St.  James's,  but  stopped  upon  the 
doorstep  to  desire  Lord  Godolphin  to  see  that,  when  the 
Prince  was  buried  at  Westminster,  room  should  be  left  for 
her  in  his  grave.  Anne  did  not  live  so  much  at  Kensington 
after  her  husband's  death,  but  it  was  here,  on  July  20,  17 14, 
that  Mrs.  Danvers,  the  chief  lady  in  waiting,  found  her 
staring  vacantly  at  the  clock  in  her  Presence  Chamber 
"  with  death  in  her  look."  It  was  an  apoplectic  seizure. 
On  her  death-bed  she  gave  a  last  evidence  of  the  love 
towards  her  people  which  had  been  manifested  through  her 
whole  reign,  by  saying,  as  she  placed  the  Lord  Treasurer's 
wand  in  the  hands  of  the  Duke  of  Shrewsbury,  "  For  God's 
sake  use  it  for  the  good  of  my  people."  But,  from  that 
moment,  having  accomplished  her  last  act  as  queen,  Anne 
seems  to  have  retraced  in  spirit  the  acts  of  her  past  life, 
and  to  have  been  filled  with  all  the  agonies  of  remorse  for 
her  conduct  to  her  father  and  his  son — "  Oh  my  brother, 
my  poor  brother,  what  will  become  of  you  ?  "  was  her  con- 
stant cry.  To  the  Bishop  of  London,  who  was  watching 
beside  her,  she  intrusted  a  message,  which  he  promised  to 
deliver,  but  which  he  said  would  cost  him  his  head.     On 


KENSINGTON  PALACE.  45y 

hearing  of  her  repentance  the  Jacobite  lords  hurried  to 
Kensington.  Atterbury  propose!  to  proclaim  the  Chevalier 
at  Charing  Cross,  the  Duke  of  Ormonde  would  join  him  if 
the  queen  could  but  recover  consciousness  to  mention  him 
ar,  her  successor.  Lady  Masham  undertook  to  watch  her, 
but  it  was  too  late.  "  She  dies  upwards,  her  feet  are  cold 
and  dead  already,"  were  her  hurried  words  in  the  ante- 
chamber, and  by  eight  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning,  August  t, 
1 7 r4,  "good  Queen  Anne"  was  dead. 

The  rooms  on  the  north-west  of  the  Palace  were  added 
by  George  II.,  and  intended  as  a  nursery  for  his  children. 
He  also  died  here  (October  25,  1760),  suddenly,  in  his 
seventy-seventh  year,  falling  upon  the  floor,  just  after  he 
had  taken  his  morning  chocolate,  and  when  he  was  pre- 
paring to  walk  in  the  garden. 

George  III.  did  not  occupy  Kensington  Palace  himself, 
but  as  his  family  grew  up  its  different  apartments  were 
assigned  to  them.  Caroline,  Princess  of  Wales,  lived  there, 
with  her  mother  the  Duchess  of  Brunswick,  after  her  separa- 
tion from  her  husband  within  a  year  after  their  marriage. 
In  the  south  wing  lived  Augustus  Frederick,  Duke  of 
Sussex,  with  his  first  wife,  Lady  Augusta  Murray.  He 
held  his  conversazione  there  as  President  of  the  Royal 
Society ;  he  collected  there  his  magnificent  library  ;  and 
there  he  died,  April  21,  1843.  His  second  wife,  created 
Duchess  of  Inverness,  continued  to  reside  at  Kensington 
till  her  death.  Finally,  in  the  south-eastern  apartments 
of  the  palace,  lived  Edward,  Duke  of  Kent,  and  his  wife 
Victoria  of  Saxe  Cobourg,  and  in  them  their  only  daughter 
Victoria  was  born,  May  24,  1819,  was  christened,  June  24, 
1S19,  and  continued  to  have  her  principal  residence   til] 


4&o  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

her   accession    to   the    throne.      Hither   the    Queen's   first 
council  was  summoned. 

"The  queen  was,  upon  the  opening  of  the  door,  found  sitting  at  the 
head  of  the  table.  She  received  first  the  homage  of  the  Duke  of 
Cumberland ;  the  Duke  of  Sussex  rose  to  perform  the  same  ceremony, 
but  the  queen,  with  admirable  grace,  stood  up,  and,  preventing  him 
from  kneeling,  kissed  him  on  the  forehead." — Diary  of  a  Lady  of 
Quality, 

Two  of  the  descendants  of  George  III.  now  occupy 
rooms  in  Kensington  Palace — Princess  Louise,  Marchioness 
of  Lome,  fourth  daughter  of  the  Queen,  and  Princess  Mary, 
Duchess  of  Teck,  younger  daughter  of  the  late  Duke  of 
Cambridge.  The  grand  Staircase  of  the  palace,  with  grace- 
ful ironwork,  was  painted  by  Kent  in  chiaro-oscuro.  Of 
die  state-rooms,  the  Presence  Chamber  is  decorated  with 
carving  by  Gibbons.  The  monogram  of  William  and  Mary 
remains  over  the  door  of  the  Queen's  Gallery. 

On  the  west  of  the  palace  is  the  Palace  Green,  formerly 
called  "  the  Moor,"  where  the  royal  standard  was  daily 
hoisted  when  the  Court  resided  here. 

Camden  House  (built  in  1612  by  Sir  Baptist  Hicks, 
burnt  in  1862,  and  rebuilt)  had  its  melancholy  royal  remi- 
niscences from  its  connection  with  one  who  was  long  the 
heir  of  the  British  throne.  In  1690  it  was  taken  for  the 
little  Duke  of  Gloucester,  that  he  might  be  near  his  aunt 
Queen  Mary,  who  was  very  fond  of  him,  and  who  had  him 
daily  carried  to  see  her  while  she  was  occupied  with  her 
buildings  at  Kensington.  The  precocious  child,  with  a 
charming  countenance,  and  the  large  head  which  betokens 
water  on  the  brain,  was  the  life  of  the  court.  His  bio- 
grapher, Lewis  Jenkins,  has  preserved  for  us  many  absurd 
anecdotes  of  his  childhood — of  his  regiment  of  little  boys, 


CAMDEN  HOUSE.  <jbl 

his  "  horse  guards,"  how  he  made  them  seize  his  Welsh 
tailor  who  made  his  "  stays"  too  tight,  and  force  him  to 
sit  upon  a  wooden  horse  in  the  Presence  Chamber  for  a 
pillory;  of  his  gravely* coming  to  promise  King  William  his 
assistance  and  that  of  his  little  troop  in  the  approaching 
Flemish  war ;  of  his  curiously  true  presentiment  of  the  day 
of  his  nurse's  death  ;  of  his  indocility  with  his  mother's 
ladies,  but  his  affection  for  Mrs.  Davis,  an  aged  gentle- 
woman of  the  court  of  Charles  I.,  who  first  won  his  heart 
by  giving  him  cherries,  and  then  taught  him  prayers  which 
he  never  failed  to  repeat  night  and  morning,  much  to  the 
surprise  of  the  existing  courtiers  ;  of  his  constant  whippings 
with  a  birch  rod  from  his  Danish  father  ;  of  his  proudly 
telling  King  William  that  he  possessed  one  live  horse  and 
two  dead  ones  (his  Shetland  pony  and  two  little  wooden 
horses),  and  of  the  king's  saying,  then  he  had  better  bury 
his  dead  horses  out  of  sight,  and  his  consequently  insisting 
on  burying  his  playthings  with  funeral  honours  ami  com- 
posing their  epitaph.  At  six  years  old  the  little  prince, 
with  much  state,  was  taken  to  Kensington  to  receive  the 
Order  of  the  Garter  from  his  uncle.  Mr.  Pratt,  his  tutor, 
from  whom  he  and  his  "  regiment "  took  their  lessons 
together,  soon  afterwards  asked  him,  "  How  can  you,  being 
a  prince,  keep  yourself  from  the  pomps  and  vanities  of  this 
world?"  "  I  will  keep  God's  commandments,  and  do  all 
I  can  to  walk  in  his  ways."  *  At  seven  years  old  he  was 
introduced  at  court  in  the  costume  of  blue  velvet  and 
diamonds  in  which  he  is  painted  by  Kneller  at  Hampton 
Court.  When  he  was  ten  years  old  he  was  so  preter- 
naturally  forward  that  he  was  able  (such  was  the  king's 

•  For  these  anecdotes  see  Lewis  Jenkins. 


4^2  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

will)  to  pass  an  examination  four  times  a  year  on  subjects 
which  included  jurisprudence,  the  Gothic  law,  and  the 
feudal  system.  Bat  on  his  eleventh  birthday  the  little  duke 
was  taken  ill,  and  died  live  days  after  (July  30,  1700)  at 
Windsor,  in  the  arms  of  his  anguish-stricken  mother,*  who 
'■  attended  him  during  his  sickness,  with  great  tenderness, 
but  with  a  grave  composedness,  that  amazed  all  *bo  sav 
it."  t 

In  Kensington  House,  near  the  palace  gates,  Louise 
de  la  Querouaille,  Duchess  of  Portsmouth,  lived  for  some 
time  ;  and  there  Mrs.  Inchbald,  authoress  of  "  The  Simple 
Story,"  died.  The  modern  Kensingtoti  House,  on  the  left 
of  the  road  opposite  the  palace  gardens,  is  a  pretentious 
and  frightful  mansion  built  in  1876  by  James  Knowles  for 
Mr.  Albert  Grant. 

In  the  High  Street  of  Kensington  (the  Chenesi-dun  ot 
Domesday-book)  is  the  handsome  Church  of  St.  Mary,  re- 
built 1875-77,  under  Sir  Gilbert  Scott.  It  contains,  in 
the  south  transept,  the  tomb  and  statue  of  Edward,  Earl  of 
Warwick,  whom  his  stepfather  Addison  upon  his  death-bed 
desired  to  witness  how  a  Christian  could  die,  and  who  died 
himself  in  his  twenty-fourth  year.  There  is  a  monument  to 
George  Coleman,  author  of  the  "  Jealous  Wife  "  and  the 
"  Clandestine  Marriage."  In  the  churchyard  are  the  tomb- 
stones of  John  Jortin  (1770),  Vicar  of  Kensington,  author 
of  the  "  Life  of  Erasmus "  and  many  theological  works  ; 
James  Elphinstone  (1809),  the  translator  of  Martial;  and 
the  pathetic  novelist,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Inchbald,  1821. 

Sir  Isaac  Newton  died  in  Pitt's  Buildings,  Kensington, 
1727,  in  his  eighty-fifth  year.     Addison  records,  as  a  proof 

*  See  Strickland's  "  Lives  of  Mar)-  II.  and  Anne."  +  Burnet. 


HOLLY  LODGE.  463 

of  his  heroism,  that  though  great  drops  of  sweat  were  forced 
through  his  double  nightcap  by  his  agcny  in  his  last  illness, 
he  never  cried  out. 

Campden  Hill  Road,  on  the  right,  leads  to  Argyll  Lodge 
(Duke  of  Argyll)  and  Airlie  Lodge  (Earl  of  Airlie),  which, 
under  the  name  of  Holly  Lodge,  was  the  residence  of  Thomas 
Babington,  Lord  Macaulay,  from  May  1856  to  his  death 
Dec.  28,  1859 — while  seated  in  his  library  chair,  with  his 
book  open  beside  him. 

"  Holly  Lodge,  now  called  Airlie  Lodge,  occupies  the  most 
secluded  comer  of  the  little  labyrinth  of  bye-roads,  which,  bounded  to 
the  east  by  Palace  Gardens  and  to  the  west  by  Holland  House,  con- 
stitutes the  district  known  by  the  name  of  Campden' Hill.  The  villa, 
for  a  villa  it  is,  stands  in  a  long  and  winding  lane,  which,  with  its  high 
black  paling  concealing  from  the  passer-by  everything  except  a  mass  of 
dense  and  varied  foliage,  presents  an  appearance  as  rural  as  Roe- 
hampton  and  East  Sheen  presents  still,  and  as  Wandsworth  and 
Streatham  presented  twenty  years  ago. 

"  The  rooms  in  Holly  Lodge  were  for  the  most  part  small.  The 
dining-room  was  that  of  a  bachelor  who  was  likewise  something  of  an 
invalid ;  and  the  drawing-room  was  little  more  than  a  vestibule  to  the 
dining-room.  But  the  house  afforded  in  perfection  the  two  requisites 
for  an  author's  ideal  of  happiness,  a  library  and  a  garden.  The  library 
was  a  spacious  and  commodiously  shaped  room,  enlarged,  after  the  old 
fashion,  by  a  pillared  recess.  It  was  a  warm  and  airy  retreat  in  winter  ; 
and  in  summer  it  afforded  a  student  only  too  irresistible  an  inducement 
to  step  from  among  his  bookshelves  on  to  a  lawn  whose  unbroken  slope 
of  verdure  was  worthy  of  the  country-house  of  a  Lord-Lieutenant. 
Nothing  in  the  garden  exceeded  thirty  feet  in  height ;  but  there  was 
in  abundance  all  that  hollies,  and  laurels,  and  hawthorns,  and  groves 
of  standard  roses,  and  bowers  of  lilacs  and  laburnums  could  give  of 
shade,  and  scent,  and  colour." — G.  O.  j rrevelyan 's  Life  of  Lord 
Macaulay. 

Beyond  Upper  Phillimore  Place  (right)  are  the  gates  of 
Holland  House*  and  how  many  there  are  who  remember, 
with  gratitude,  the  relief  of  turning  in  from  the  glare  and 

*  Holland  Ilruse  is  not  shown  to  tbe  public 


464 


WALK'S  IN  LONDON. 


dust  of  the  suburb  to  the  shade  of  its  great  elm  avenue, 
girt  with  dewy  hayfields,  which  might  be  a  hundred  miles 
from  London,  and  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  noble  old 
house,  surpassing  all  other  houses  in  beauty,  rising  at  the 
end  of  the  green  slope,  with  its  richly  sculptured  terrace, 
and  its  cedars,  and  its  vases  of  brilliant  flowers. 

Holland    House    was    originally    built   in    1607    by   Sir 


Holland  House. 


Walter  Cope,  on  land  which  had  belonged  to  the  De 
Veres,  Earls  of  Oxford.  Sir  Walter,  who  was  Gentleman 
of  the  Bedchamber  to  James  I.,  cal'ed  it  Cope  Castle,  but 
it  soon  changed  its  name,  for  his  only  daughter  Isabel 
married  Sir  Henry  Rich,  the  favourite  of  the  Duke  of 
Buckingham,  described  by  Clarendon  as  "  a  very  handsome 
man,  of  a  lovely  and  winning  presence,  and  gentle  con- 
versation,"* who  was  created  Lord  Kensington  in  1622,  and 

*  His  noble  portrait,  by  Vandyke,  is  at  Montague  House. 


HOLLAND  HOUSE.  465 

Earl  of  Holland  in  1624.  In  the  Civil  Wars  he  abandoned 
the  Parliamentarian  for  the  Royalist  cause,  and,  being 
taken  prisoner  at  St.  Neots,  was  beheaded  at  Westminster, 
beautiful  to  the  last,  in  his  white  satin  dress,  on  the  9th  of 
March,  1648-9. 

It  was  the  first  Earl  of  Holland  who  added  the  wings 
and  arcades,  in  fact  who  gave  Holland  House  all  its  charac- 
teristics. After  his  execution  the  house  was  inhabited  by 
General  Fairfax,  and  (1649)  by  General  Lambert,  but  the 
Countess  of  Holland  was  eventually  allowed  to  return  to 
her  old  home,  where  she  comforted  her  widowhood  by 
indulging  privately  in  the  theatricals  so  strictly  forbidden 
by  the  Puritan  Government.  Her  son,  the  second  Earl  of 
Holland,  became  fifth  Earl  of  Warwick,  through  the  death 
of  his  cousin,  in  1673.  His  son  was  Edward,  Earl  of 
Warwick,  who  died  in  1701,  and  whose  widow  (Charlotte, 
daughter  of  Sir  Thomas  Middleton  of  Chirk)  married 
Joseph  Addison,  "  famous  for  many  excellent  works,"  as 
he  is  described  in  the  announcement  of  his  marriage  in 
"The  Polit'cal  State  of  Great  Britain,"  for  August,  17 16. 
Dr.  Johnson  says  that  the  marriage  was  "  on  terms  very 
much  like  those  on  which  a  Turkish  princess  is  espoused, 
to  whom  the  Sultan  is  reported  to  pronounce — '  Daughter, 
I  give  thee  this  man  for  thy  slave.'  At  any  rate  Addison's 
married  life  was  not  happy,  though  it  was  of  short  duration, 
for  on  June  17,  17 19,  he  died  at  Holland  House  (leaving 
an  only  daughter  who  died  unmarried),  grasping  the  hand 
of  the  young  Earl  of  Warwick,  when  he  asked  his  dying 
commands,  and  saying,  '  See  in  what  peace  a  Christian  can 
die.'" 

The  Earl  of  Warwick,  who  was  Addison's  step-son,  only 

VOL.  II.  H  H 


466  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

survived  him  two  years,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  cousin 
William  Edwardes  (created  Baron  Kensington  in  1776), 
who  sold  Holland  House  in  1767  to  Henry  Fox,  first  Lord 
Holland. 

The  fortunes  of  the  Fox  family  were  founded  by  Sir 
Stephen  Fox,  who  gained  the  favour  of  Charles  II.  by 
being  the  first  to  announce  the  death  of  Cromwell  to  him 
at  Brussels.  He  was  made  Clerk  of  the  Green  Cloth  and 
Paymaster  of  the  Forces,  and  acquired  a  great  fortune, 
"  honestly  got  and  unenvied,  which  is  nigh  to  a  miracle,'-' 
says  Evelyn.  Sir  Stephen  Fox,  "of  a  sweet  nature,  well- 
spoken,  well-bred,  and  so  highly  in  his  Majesty's  esteem," 
was  the  practical  founder  of  Chelsea  Hospital,  as  well  as 
of  many  other  charitable  institutions.  By  deserting  the 
cause  of  James  II.  he  continued  to  enjoy  Court  favour  till 
his  death  in  1716,  when  Anne  was  on  the  throne.  His 
second  son,  the  son  of  his  second  wife,  was  Henry  Fox,  the 
Secretary  of  State  and  Paymaster  of  the  Forces.  It  was 
with  him  that  Lady  Caroline  Lennox,  the  Duke  of  Rich- 
mond's daughter — after  she  had  cut  off  her  eyebrows  to 
protect  herself  from  an  unwelcome  marriage  arranged  by 
her  father — eloped  in  1744.  Having  endured  the  fury  of 
her  parents  for  four  years,  she  was  forgiven  on  the  birth  of 
her  eldest  son.  Henry  Fox  was  created  Lord  Holland  after 
his  purchase  of  Holland  House,  where  he  died  in  1774. 
His  son  Stephen,  who  succeeded  him,  only  survived  him 
six  months,  and  left  an  only  son,  Henry,  third  Lord 
Holland,  who  was  educated  under  the  guardianship  of 
his  uncle,  Charles  James  Fox,  the  famous  orator  and 
statesman. 

Under  the  third  Lord  Holland,  Holland  House  attained 


HOLLAND  HOUSE.  4b; 

a  splendour  and  beauty  which  it  had  never  acquired 
before,  and  it  became  an  irtellectua!  centre,  not  only  for 
England,  but  for  the  world.  Its  master  is  remembered  as 
the  most  genial  of  mankind ;  Lady  Holland,  though  way- 
ward and  fanciful,  was  also  beautiful  and  clever;  Miss 
Fox,  Lord  Holland's  sister,  was  loving,  gracious,  and 
charitable.  Sydney  Smith,  Luttrell,  and  Allen  were  habi- 
tue's of  the  house,  and  had  their  fixed  apartments  assigned 
to  them.  The  list  of  guests  included  Sheridan,  Blanco 
White,  Parr,  Byron,  George  Ellis,  Lord  Jeffrey,  Payne 
Knight,  Thurlow,  Eldon,  Brougham,  Lyndhurst,  Sir  Hum- 
phry Davy,  Count  Romford,  Lord  Aberdeen,  Lord  Moira, 
Windham,  Curran,  Sir  Samuel  Romilly,  Washington  Irving, 
Pozzo  di  Borgo,  Counts  Montholon  and  Bertrand,  Prin- 
cess Lieven,  the  Humboldts,  Talleyrand,  Tom  Moore, 
Madame  de  Stael,  Macaulay.  Daily  all  that  was  most 
brilliant  in  European  society  was  welcomed  uninvited  to 
the  hospitable  dinner-table.  It  was  no  wonder  that 
Sydney  Smith  heard  "  five  hundred  travelled  men  assert 
that  there  was  no  such  agreeable  house  as  Holland 
House." 

The  third  Lord  Holland  died  in  1841,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son,  British  Minister  at  Florence.  He  died 
in  1859.  Under  his  widow,  Mary  Augusta,  Lady  Holland, 
daughter  of  the  eighth  Earl  of  Coventry,  Holland  House 
still  has  the  reputation  of  being  the  most  charming  house 
in  England. 

As  we  pass  the  terrace  which  bounds  the  garden  and 
enter  the  deep  belt  of  shade  which  encircles  the  mansion,  the 
most  conspicuous  feature  is  a  gateway  with  stone  piers  by 
Inigo  Jones  bearing  the  arms  of  Rich,  approached  by   a 


468 


WALKS  IN  LONDON. 


double  flight  of  steps  enclosing  a  fountain.  The  house  is 
now  entered  from  the  east  side  ;  originally  the  entrance  was 
on  the  south,  and  it  was  there  that  William  Penn,  to  whom 
Holland  House  was  let  for  a  time,  narrates  that  he  could 


At  Holland  House. 


scarcely  get  down  the  steps  through  the  crowd  of  suitors 
who  besought  him  to  use  his  good  offices  with  the  king 
in  their  behalf. 

The  Interior  of  Holland  House  is  full  of  historical  relics, 


HOLLAND  HOUSE.  409 

pictures,  and  china.  Many  of  the  portraits  are  by  Watts, 
who  first  rose  into  fame  under  the  patronage  of  Elizabeth. 
Lady  Holland,  and  who  painted,  for  the  walls  of  the  house, 
many  of  the  most  valued  friends  of  its  master.  One  of  his 
best  portraits  is  that  of  Princess  Lieven. 

In  the  last  of  "  the  West  Rooms  " — around  which,  to  those 
who  know  it  well,  many  of  the  happiest  associations  of  the 
house  are  entwined — are  three  interesting  works  of  Hogarth, 
a  view  of  Ranelagh ;  a  portrait  of  the  first  Lord  Holland ; 
and  a  scene  of  Private  Theatricals  (from  Dryden's  Indian 
Emperor)  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Conduitt,  Master  of  the 
Mint,  in  which  the  first  Lady  Holland,  then  Lady  Caroline 
Lennox,  with  her  father  and  mother,  took  a  part.  Her 
portrait  by  Ramsay  also  hangs  here,  with  that  of  her  sister 
Lady  Cecilia  Lennox,  who  died  of  consumption  at  Holland 
House. 

From  the  third  of  the  West  Rooms  a  staircase  leads  to 
the  Library  (originally  a  Portrait  Gallery),  a  long  room, 
warm  with  a  glow  of  crimson  velvet,  with  two  great  carved 
chimney-pieces,  and  deeply  recessed  windows,  from  one  of 
which  there  is  a  view,  through  the  dark  boughs  of  a  cedar, 
into  the  radiant  flower-garden.  In  one  corner  is  Addison's 
folding-table  (purchased  at  Rogers'  sale)  covered  with  faded 
green  velvet,  blotted  by  his  pen.  A  little  lobby  leads  from 
the  library  to  the  inner  rooms.  Here,  on  a  pane  of  glass, 
are  the  lines  written  by  Hookham  Frere  in  181 1 — 

"  May  neither  fire  destroy  nor  waste  impair, 
Nor  Time  consume  thee  till  the  twentieth  heir, 
May  Taste  respect  thee,  and  may  Fashion  spare." 

Here  also,  amongst  other  relics,  are — ■ 


4/o  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

A  Letter  from  Voltaire,  written  at  the  "  Delices,"  expressing  his 
'•'  pleasure  at  receiving  the  son  of  the  amiable  and  honoured  Mr.  Fox, 
who  was  formerly  so  kind  to  me." 

A  Portrait  of  Addison. 

A  Miniature  of  the  Empress  Catherine,  with  a  letter  from  her, 
saying  that  she  had  ordered  the  bust  of  "  Charles  Fox  "  to  be  placed 
on  her  colonnade  with  those  of  Demosthenes  and  Cicero. 

An  original  Portrait  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  given  by  M.  Gallois  at 
Paris. 

A  Portrait  of  John  Locke,  supposed  to  be  the  identical  picture  dis- 
carded from  the  hall  at  Christ  Church. 

An  outline  Portrait  of  Edward  VI.  by  Vertue,  given  by  Horace 
Walpole. 

A  Miniature  of  Robespierre,  on  the  back  of  which  Fox  has  written, 
"un  scelerat,  un  lache,  et  un  fou." 

A  Medallion  of  Ariosto  found  near  the  head  of  the  poet  when  his 
coffin  was  exhumed  in  S.  Benedetto  at  Ferrara  in  1800. 

An  autograph  Order  by  Addison  (1719)  desiring  that  the  Countess 
of  Warwick  should  be  allowed  to  receive  for  him  his  stock  in  the 
South  Sea  Company. 

We  enter  from  hence  the  Yellow  Drawing  Room,  which 
contains  a  charming  pastel  portrait  of  Charles  James  Fox 
as  a  child,  and  leads  into  the  Gilt  Room,  full  of  rich  colour, 
with  a  great  window  over  the  central  doorway.  The 
emblematical  figures  over  the  chimney-pieces  are  by  Walls, 
and  supply  the  place  of  lost  pictures  by  Francis  Cleyn,  a 
Danish  artist,  which  were  described  by  Walpole  as  not 
unworthy  of  Parmigiano.  From  this  room,  which  is  said  to 
be  haunted  by  the  ghost  of  the  first  Earl  of  Holland  carry- 
ing his  head  in  his  hand,  we  may  enter  the  Crimson  Draw- 
ing Room,  or  Sir  Joshua  Room,  filled  with  noble  works  by 
Reynolds — 

*  The  "  Muscipula  " — a  little  girl,  with  a  face  full  of  mischief,  hold- 
ing a  mou?e  in  a  cage  temptingly  out  of  reach  of  a  cat. 

*  Portrait  of  Charles  James  Fox,  a  noble  picture.  The  Receipt  for 
^105  for  the  portrait  (April  20,  1789)  is  preserved.     Reynolds  painted 


HOLLAND  HOUSE.  471 

Fox  again  in  Nov.  1791 ;  his  last  portrait,  to  which,  when  the  final 
touches  were  given,   "his  hand  fell  to  rise  no  more." 

*  Portrait  of  the  first  Lord  Holland,  with  Holland  House  in  the 
background.  The  picture  belonged  to  his  granddaughter  Miss  Fox, 
and  was  stolen  from  her  house  in  London  :  it  was  lost  for  thirty  years, 
after  which  it  was  found  by  Miss  Fox,  and  repurchased,  in  Colnaghi's 
shop. 

"It  is  said  that  Lord  Holland,  when  he  received  his  portrait,  could 
not  help  remarking  that  it  had  been  hastily  executed;  and,  making 
some  demur  about  the  price,  asked  Reynolds  how  long  he  had  been 
painting  it ;  the  offended  artist  replied,  '  All  my  life,  my  Lord.'  " — 
Cotton's  Sir  J.  Reynolds  and  his  Works. 

Florentius  Vassall  and  Mrs.  Russell. 

*  Charles  James  Fox  walking  with  Lady  Susan  Strangways,  who 
afterwards  eloped  with  O'Brien  the  actor,  beneath  a  window  of  Holland 
House,  out  of  which  leans  Lady  Sarah  Lennox,  the  lovely  sister  of  the 
first  Lady  Holland,  who  awakened  the  early  love  of  George  III.,  and 
afterwards  married  Sir  Charles  Bunbury.     A  most  beautiful  picture. 

Mary  Brace,  Duchess  of  Richmond  (ob.  1797). 
Hon.  Thomas  Conolly  (eb.  1803). 
Hon.  Caroline  Fox,  and  her  dog. 

*  Portrait  of  Baretti,  author  of  the  Italian  Dictionary,  seated  in  hi-3 
old  brown  coat,  very  short-sighted,  and  peering  into  a  book.  This 
picture  was  given  by  Lord  Hertford  in  exchange  for  a  portrait  of  his 
grandmother,  Lady  Irwin. 

The  Dining-room  is  interesting  as  the  chamber  in  which 
Addison  died.     We  must  notice  its  pictures — 

Kneller.     Sir  Stephen  Fox  (1716)  and  Lady  Fox  (1718). 
Watts.     Mary  Augusta,  Lady  Holland. 

Fagan.  Elizabeth,  Lady  Holland,  seated,  with  a  dog  in  her  lap  and 
Vesuvius  in  the  distance. 

Hoppner.     Samuel  Rogers,  an  admirable  portrait. 
Hayter.     Lord  John  Russell. 

*  Reynolds.     Caroline,  Lady  Holland. 
Shee.     Thomas  Moore. 

Ramsay.  Lady  Louisa  Conolly,  a  sister  of  Caroline,  Lady  Holland. 
A  graceful  full-length  portrait  in  a  pink  dress. 

The  gardens  of  Holland  House  are  unlike  anything  else 


4J2 


WALK'S   IN  LONDON. 


in  England.  Every  turn  is  a  picture  :  Art  has  combined 
with  Nature  to  make  it  so,  and  has  never  intruded  upon 
Nature.  A  raised  terrace,  like  some  of  those  which  belong 
to  old  Genoese  palaces,  leads  from  the  house,  high  amongst 
the  branches  of  the  trees,  to  the  end  of  the  flower-garden 
opposite  the  West  Rooms,  where  a  line  of  arches  festooned 
with  creepers — a  picturesque  relic  of  the  old  stables— forms 


Am 


i 


.  'h  '■ 


V   . 

% 


The  Lily  Garden,  Holland  House. 


the  background.      Facing  a  miniature  Dutch  garden  here 
is  "  Rogers'  Seat,"  inscribed — 

"  Here  Rogers  sat  and  here  for  ever  dwell 
"With  me,  those  Pleasures  that  he  sings  so  well." 


Within  the  little  arbour  hang  some  verses  by  Luttrell. 
Opposite  is  a  noble  head  of  Napoleon  I.  by  Cauova  or 
one  of  his  pupils,  erected  whilst  he  was  at  St.  Helena,  on  a 


GARDENS   OF  HOLLAND  HOUSE.  473 

pedestal  inscribed  with  lines  from  Homer's  Odys?ey  (Book 
I.  i.  196)  translated  by  the  third  Lord  Holland. 

*'  He  is  not  dead,  he  breathes  the  air. 
In  lands  beyond  the  deep, 
Some  distant  sea-girt  island  where 
Harsh  men  the  hero  keep." 

Beyond  this  are  gardens  occupying  the  ground  where 
Lord  Camelford  was  killed  in  a  duel  with  Colonel  Best  in 
1804  Below  is  "the  Green  Lane,"  a  long  avenue,  where 
hares  and  pheasants  have  been  shot  within  the  memory  of 
the  present  generation,  and  where,  as  Aubrey  narrates — 

"The  beautiful  Lady  Diana  Rich,  daughter  to  the  Earl  of  Holland, 
as  she  was  walking  in  her  father's  garden  at  Kensington,  to  take  the 
fresh  air  before  dinner,  about  eleven  o'clock,  being  then  very  well,  met 
her  own  apparition,  habit,  and  everything,  as  in  a  looking-glass. 
About  a  month  after,  she  died  of  the  small-pox.  And  'tis  said,  that 
her  sister,  the  Lady  Isabella  (Thinne)  saw  the  like  of  herself  also  before 
she  died.  This  account  I  had  from  a  person  of  honour." — Miscel- 
lanies. 

The  garden  of  Holland  House  is  remarkable  as  the  place 
where  the  Dahlia  (named  from  Dr.  Andrew  Dahl,  a 
Swedish  botanist)  was  first  cultivated  in  England,  being 
raised  from  seeds  in  1804,  brought  from  Spain  by  Elizabeth, 
Lady  Holland.  The  custom  of  gunfire  at  11  p.m.,  so  well 
known  to  inhabitants  of  Kensington,  is  said  to  have  been 
instituted  by  a  Lord  Holland  whose  watchman  was 
murdered  by  poachers  because  he  had  forgotten  to  load  his 
gun,  and  who  desired  that  all  robbers  might  be  warned  that 
they  were  not  to  consider  this  a  precedent  that  they  might 
attack   his   servants   with    impunity.*     We   cannot    leave 

*  For  further  particulars  as  to  the  house  and  its  contents,  "Holland  House," 
by  Princess  Matin  Liechtenstein,  may  be  consulted. 


474  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Holland  House  without  quoting  the  noble  passage  relating 
to  the  third  Lord  Holland  in  Macaulay's  "  Essays  " — 

"In  what  language  shall  we  speak  of  that  house,  once  celebrated  foi 
its  i are  attractions  to  the  furthest  ends  of  the  civilised  world.  To  that 
house,  a  poet  addressed  these  tender  and  graceful  lines,  which  have 
now  acquired  a  new  meaning  not  less  sad  than  that  which  they  origin- 
ally bore. 

1  Thou  hill,  whose  brow  the  antique  structures  grace, 
Reared  by  bold  chiefs  of  Warwick's  noble  race, 
Why,  once  so  loved,  whene'er  thy  power  appears, 
O'er  my  dim  eyeballs  glance  the  sudden  tears  ? 
How  sweet  were  once  thy  prospects  fresh  and  fair, 
Thy  sloping  walks  and  unpolluted  air  ! 
How  sweet  the  glooms  beneath  thine  aged  trees, 
Thy  noon-tide  shadow  and  thine  evening  breeze  ! 
His  image  thy  forsaken  bowers  restore  ; 
Thy  walks  and  airy  prospects  charm  no  more ; 
No  more  the  summer  in  thy  glooms  allayed, 
Thine  evening  breezes,  and  thy  noon-day  shade.'* 

"Yet  a  few  years,  and  the  shades  and  structures  may  follow  their 
illustrious  masters.  The  wonderful  city  which,  ancient  and  gigantic 
as  it  is,  still  continues  to  grow  as  fast  as  a  young  town  of  logwood  by  a 
water-privilege  in  Michigan,  may  soon  displace  those  turrets  and 
gardens  which  are  associated  with  so  much  that  is  interesting  and 
noble,  with  the  courtly  magnificence  of  Rich,  with  the  loves  of 
Ormond,  with  the  counsels  of  Cromwell,  with  the  death  of  Addison. 
The  time  is  coming  when,  perhaps,  a  few  old  men,  the  last  survivors  of 
our  generation,  will  in  vain  seek,  amidst  new  streets,  and  squares,  and 
railway  stations,  for  the  site  of  that  dwelling  which  was  in  their  youth 
the  favourite  resort  of  wits  and  beauties,  of  painters  and  poets,  of 
scholars,  philosophers,  and  statesmen.  They  will  then  remember,  with 
strange  tenderness,  many  objects  once  familiar  to  them,  the  avenue  and 
terrace,  the  busts  and  the  paintings,  the  carving,  the  grotesque  gilding, 
and  the  enigmatical  mottoes.  With  peculiar  fondness  they  will  recall 
that  venerable  chamber,  in  which  all  the  antique  gravity  of  a  college 
library  was  so  singularly  blended  with  all  that  female  grace  and  wit 
could  devise  to  embellish  a  drawing-room.  They  will  recollect,  not 
unmoved,  those  shelves  loaded  with  the  varied  learning  of  many  lands 
and  many  ages,  and  those  portraits  in  which  were  preserved  the  features 

*  Tickull  od  the  "  Death  of  Addison." 


HOLLAND   HOUSE.  475 

of  the  best  and  wisest  Englishmen  of  two  generations.  They  will  recol- 
lect how  many  men  who  have  guided  the  politics  of  Europe,  who  have 
moved  great  assemblies  by  icason  and  eloquence,  who  have  put  life 
into  bronze  and  canvas,  or  who  have  left  to  posterity  things  so  written 
as  it  shall  not  willingly  let  them  die,  were  there  mixed  with  all  that 
was  loveliest  and  gayest  in  the  society  of  the  most  splendid  of  capitals. 
These  will  remember  the  peculiar  character  which  belonged  to  that 
circle,  in  which  every  talent  and  accomplishment,  every  art  and  science, 
had  its  place.  They  will  remember  how  the  last  debate  was  discussed 
in  one  comer,  and  the  last  comedy  of  Scribe  in  another ;  while  "Wilkie 
gazed  with  modest  admiration  on  Sir  Joshua's  Baretti ;  while  Mackin- 
tosh turned  over  Thomas  Aquinas  to  verify  a  quotation  ;  while  Talley- 
rand related  his  conversations  with  Barras  at  the  Luxembourg,  or  his 
ride  with  Lannes  over  the  field  of  Austerlitz.  They  will  remember, 
above  all,  the  grace,  and  the  kindness,  far  more  admirable  than  grace, 
with  which  the  princely  hospitality  of  that  ancient  mansion  was  dis- 
pensed. They  will  remember  the  venerable  and  benignant  countenance 
and  the  cordial  voice  of  him  who  bade  them  welcome.  Thev  will  remember 
that  temper  which  years  of  pain,  of  sickness,  of  lameness,  of  confine- 
ment, seemed  only  to  make  sweeter  and  sweeter,  and  that  frank  polite- 
ness, which  at  once  relieved  all  the  embarrassment  of  the  youngest  and 
most  timid  writer  or  artist,  who  found  himself  for  the  first  time  among 
Ambassadors  and  Earls.  They  will  remember  that  constant  flow  of 
conversation,  so  natural,  so  animated,  so  various,  so  rich  with  observa- 
tion and  anecdote  ;  that  wit  which  never  gave  a  wound  ;  that  exquisite 
mimicry,  which  ennobled  instead  of  degrading  ;  that  goodness  of  heart 
which  appeared  in  every  look  and  accent,  and  gave  additional  value  to 
every  talent  and  acquirement.  They  will  remember,  too,  that  he  whose 
name  they  hold  in  reverence  was  not  less  distinguished  by  the  inflexible 
uprightness  of  his  political  conduct,  than  by  his  loving  disposition  and  his 
winning  manners.  They  will  remember  that,  in  the  last  lines  which  he 
traced,  he  expressed  his  joy  that  he  had  done  nothing  unworthy  of  the 
friend  of  Fox  and  Grey ;  and  they  will  have  reason  to  feel  similar  joy, 
if,  in  looking  back  on  many  troubled  years,  they  cannot  accuse  them- 
selves of  having  done  anything  unworthy  of  men  who  were  distin- 
guished by  the  friendship  of  Lord  Holland." — Macaulay. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

SOUTH  KENSINGTON. 

IF  we  turn  to  the  left  at  Tattersall's,  the  wide  ugly 
Brompton  Road  will  lead  us  to  Cromwell  Road, 
where  the  South  Kensington  Museum,  begun  in  1856,  is 
perpetually  extending.  In  its  later  buildings  great  use  is 
made  of  the  different  tints  of  terra-cotta  ornament  so  largely 
and  advantageously  employed  in  the  Lombard  cities. 

The  Museum  is  open  free  on  Mondays,  Tuesdays,  and  Saturdays, 
lrom  10  A.M.  to  10  p.m.  On  Wednesdays,  Thursdays,  and  Fridays 
the  Museum  is  open  from  10  A.M.  to  4,  5,  or  6  P.M.,  as  advertised  at  the 
entrance,  on  payment  of  6d. 

Any  one  is  permitted  to  make  notes  and  sketches  in  the  museum 
galleries,  who  does  not  require  to  sit  down  or  mike  use  of  an  easel. 
Visitors  are  permitted  to  make  careful  copies  from  the  objects  or 
pictures  (not  water-colours)  by  following  the  rules  advertised  in  the 
galleries. 

The  principal  entrance  to  the  Museum  is  in  Cromwell 
Road.*  We  first  enter  the  New  Court,  which  is  divided  by 
a  central  gallery.  It  is  approached  beneath  a  magnificent 
Roodloft  of  marble  and  alabaster,  of  1623,  from  the  cathedral 
of  Bois  le  Due  in  North  Brabant.  In  the  centre  is  a  copy 
of  Trajan's  Column  at  Rome.     The  magnificent  collection 

•  In  the  garden  is  John  Bell's  statue  of  "  The  Eagle-Slayer." 


SOUTH  KENSINGTON  MUSEUM.  477 

of  architectural  casts  and  other  objects  in  this  court  include 
—beginning  from  the  left — 

Tomb  of  Walter  Gray,  Archbishop  of  York,  12 16-55,  from  York 
Minster. 

Porch  of  Rochester  Cathedral,  1340. 

Porch  in  the  cloisters  of  Norwich  Cathedral,  1297 — 1329. 

Angle  of  the  cloisters  of  San  Juan  de  los  Reyes,  Toledo,  15111 
cent. 

Tabernacle  of  S.  Leau  near  Brussels,  by  Corneille  de  Vriendt,  16th 
cent. 

*Reredos  representing  the  Legend  of  St.  Margaret,  German  of  the 
15th  cent.* 

*Altar-piece  representing  the  Legend  of  St.  George,  in  nineteen 
compartments,  from  Valencia,  15th  cent. 

Arch  of  Santa  Maria  la  Blanca  (the  Jewish  Synagogue)  at  Toledo, 
14th  cent. 

(North  wall.)  The  Porch  cdled  Puerta  della  Gloria,  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Santiago,  1 180-90. 

(East  wall.)     Choir  stalls  of  Ulm  Cathedral  by  Jorg  Syrlin,  1468. 

Choir  Screen  of  St.  Michael's,  Hildesheim,  12th  cent. 

(Screen.)  The  Schreyder  Monument  from  St.  Sebald  at  Nurem- 
berg, executed  by  Adam  Kraft  in  1492.  The  reliefs  represent  the 
Cross  Bearing,  the  Entombment,  and  the  Resurrection. 

♦Portions  of  the  wrought-iron  Screen  in  Hampton  Court  gardens, 
executed  by  Huntingdon  Shaw  of  Nottingham,  in  1625. 

♦Doorway  from  the  demolished  wooden  church  of  Sailand  in  Norway, 
1 2th  cent. 

Seven-branched  Candlestick  from  Milan  Cathedral,  12th  cent. 

Passing  the  central  Screen  of  the  court,  we  see — 

The  Chimney-piece  of  the  Council  Chamber  of  the  Palais  de 
Justice,  Bruges,  1529. 

The  Corona  (hanging  from  the  roof)  of  Hildesheim  Cathedral, 
1044-54. 

Fountain,  with  figures  of  Perseus  and  Medusa,  in  the  old  palace  at 
Munich,  1680. 

Tomb  of  Count  Henneberg  in  Romhild  Church,  Meiningen,  by 
Pet;r  Vischer,  1508,  from  a  drawing  by  Albert  Durer. 

•  Original  works  of  art  are  here  marked  with  an  asterisk. 


478  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

St.  George,  on  horseback,  slaying  the  dragon,  from  a  fountain  in 
the  Hradschin  Palace  at  Prague,  1378. 

Iron  Baptismal  Font  and  Crane,  from  Notre  Dame  de  Hal  in 
Belgium,  cast  by  William  Le  Fevre  at  Tournay  in  1444. 

Font  of  Hildesheim  Cathedral,  1260. 

The  Shrine  of  St.  Sebald  at  Nuremberg,  by  Peter  Vischer, 
1506-19. 

Poich  of  the  tomb  of  Sheik  Salem  Christi  at  Fathpur  Sikri  near 
Agra,  Mogul  Ait,  1556— 1605. 

Eastern  gateway  of  the  Sanchi  Tope  near  Bilsah,  Bhopal,  Central 
India.     Buddhist,  A.D.  19—37- 

Pulpit  of  Mimbar,  Cairo,  15th  cent. 

From  the  central  door  at  the  end  of  the  corridor  beneath 
the  screen  we  enter  the  South  Court,  decorated  with  mosaic 
portraits  of  distinguished  painters,  sculptors,  or  workers  in 
pottery.  The  west  side  of  the  area  is  entirely  occupied  by 
the  Loan  Collections;  the  eastern  side  is  filled  with  cases  of 
precious  objects.  At  the  south-eastern  angle  is  a  model  of  a 
French  boudoir  of  the  time  of  Marie  Antoinette— containing 
a  harp  supposed  to  have  belonged  to  that  queen. 

Descending  the  central  passage  we  enter  the  North  Court, 
devoted  chiefly  to  architecture  and  sculpture.  Over  the 
entrance  is  a  model  of  the  Cantoria  or  Singing  Gallery  in 
Santa  Maria  Novella  at  Florence,  by  Baccio  d'Agnolo,  c. 
1500.  On  the  opposite  side  is  the  tribune  of  Santa 
Chiara  at  Florence,  1493.  Most  of  the  objects  in  this  Hall 
are  copies:  we  shall  only  notice  a  few  of  the  precious 
originals. 

(Left  of  entrance.)  A  Lavabo  by  Benedetto  de  Rovezzano,  1490,  from 
a  house  at  Florence. 

An  Altar  by  Benedetto  de  Majano,  1444-98,  from  the  Palazzo 
Ambron  at  Florence,  containing  a  terra-cotta  Pieta  cf  the  15th 
century. 

(Right  of  entrance.)     Bust   of  Henry  VII.  by  Torregiano,    i6tb 

cent. 


SOUTH  KENSINGTON  MUSEUM.  479 

Lavello  for  domestic  use,  from  Venice,  1520. 

St.  Sebastian--a  statuette  attributed  to  Michael  Angelo,  1505. 

The  Leathern  Sword  and  Scabbard  of  Caesar  Borgia  (1500),  whose 
monogram  "  Cesare  "  is  thrice  repeated  upon  it. 

(In  a  glass  case)  Cupid  (?)  by  Michael  Angelo,  believed  to  have 
been  executed  for  Jacopo  Galli  in  1497. 

Altar,  bearing  a  relief  of  the  Resurrection,  with  statuettes  of  Saints 
on  the  pilasters,  from  St.  Domenico  at  Genoa,  15th  cent. 

Statue  of  Jason,  by  a  pupil  of  Michael  Angelo,  c.  1530. 

A  case  of  Sculptor's  Models  in  wax  and  terra-cotta  (several 
attributed  to  Michael  Angelo)  which  belonged  to  the  Gherardini  da 
Firenzc. 

Altar-piece  by  Leonardo  del  Tasso,  1520,  from  the  Church  of  Santa 
Chiara  at  Florence,  enclosing  a  tabernacle  ascribed  to  Desiderio  da 
Setlignano,  c.  1480. 

liust  of  Giovanni  di  San  Miniato,  by  Antonio  Rossellino,  1456. 

Kneeling  Virgin,  by  Matteo  Civilali  of  Lucca,  15th  cent. 

(Near  the  north  end  of  the  Court)  the  "  Waterloo  Vase,"  executed 
by  Sir  R.  IVestmacott  for  George  IV. 

Beneath  the  gallery  on  the  eastern  side  of  this  court  is  a 
collection  of  ecclesiastical  vestments,  including  (within  the 
4th  arch)  the  famous  Syon  Cope,  which  was  worked  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  III.,  and  belonged  to  the  nuns  of  Syon 
near  Isleworth,  by  whom  it  was  carried  into  Portugal  at  the 
Reformation.  Brought  back  to  England  at  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  it  was  bequeathed  to  the  Earl  of 
Shrewsbury  by  some  poor  nuns  to  whom  he  had  given  an 
asylum.  Beneath  the  5th  arch  is  a  Portrait  of  Napoleon  I., 
interesting  as  an  example  of  the  wonderful  needlework  of 
Miss  Mary  Linwood,  whose  exhibition  excited  so  much 
interest  at  the  beginning  of  this  century.  Built  into  the 
compartments  below  the  east  gallery  are  a  number  of  noble 
chimney-pieces,  rescued  from  decaying  palaces  at  Como, 
Brescia,  Venice,  &c,  and  well  worthy  of  study.  The  most 
magnificent,  from  Padua,  is  of  1530  :  opposite  to  it  are  an 


480  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

altar-piece  and  tabernacle  from  the  Church  of  S.  Girolamo 
at  Fiesole,  by  Andrea  da  Flesole. 

The  compartments  beneath  the  northern  gallery  are  chiefly 
occupied  by  specimens  of  Delia  Robbia  Ware,  including — 

A  Medallion  bearing  the  arms  of  King  Rene  of  Anjou,  executed  in 
honour  of  his  visit  to  the  Villa  della  Loggia,  which  belonged  to  the 
Pazzi  family,  near  Florence,  c.  1453. 

The  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  by  Andrea  della  Robbia. 

The  Madonna  giving  her  girdle  to  St.  Philip,  from  the  Chapel  of 
the  Canigiani  near  Florence,  1500. 

Twelve  Plaques,  painted  in  blue,  representing  the  twelve  months  oi 
the  year,  supposed  to  have  been  painted  by  Luca  della  Robbia  for  the 
writ  ins; -room  of  Cosimo  de'  Medici. 

Against  one  of  the  piers  on  the  west  side  of  the  court  is  a  terra-cotta 
bust  of  the  15th  century,  said  to  be  a  portrait  of  Savonarola. 

From  the  north-western  angle  of  the  North  Court  a  door 
leads  to  the  North  Corridor,  devoted  to  an  exhibition  of 
Persian  Art.  Hence  we  reach  the  North-western  Corridors, 
devoted  to  ancient  furniture.  We  had  better  return  to  the 
staircase  at  the  north-western  angle  of  the  North  Court  to 
ascend  to  the  upper  floor.  The  walls  here  are  decorated 
with  the  cartoons  executed  for  the  frescoes  in  the  Houses 
of  Parliament.  Passing  through  the  three  rooms  facing 
the  stairs  (devoted  to  Loan  Exhibitions),  a  door  on  the 
right  leads  into  Galleries  devoted  to  Pottery  and  Porcelain, 
both  English  and  Foreign.  From  the  third  of  the  before- 
mentioned  rooms  a  door  on  the  left  leads  to  the  Galleries 
above  the  South  Court.  That  above  the  central  screen  con- 
tains many  of  the  greatest  treasures  of  the  museum — 

A  case  containing— a  splendid  Reliquary,  formed  like  a  Byzantine 
Church,  1 2th  century — an  altar  cross  of  Rhenish  Byzantine  work, 
1 2th  cent. — a  fine  German  triptych  of  champleve  enamel  of  the  13th 
cent. 


THE  SHEEPSHANKS  COLLECTION.  481 

Eight  cases  of  rare  enamels,  1 6th  and  17th  centuries. 

Three  cases  of  ecclesiastical  objects.  The  third  contains  the 
famous  "  Gloucester  Candlestick  "  given  by  the  Abbot  Peter  to  the 
Church  of  St.  Peter  at  Gloucester,  c.  1 104. 

Two  cases  of  precious  metals  combined  with  agate,  crystal,  and  other 
materials. 

Four  cases  of  rare  vessels  in  precious  metals  for  secular  use. 

Two  cases  of  clocks  and  watches.  Observe  the  astronomical  glob* 
made  at  Augsburg  in  1584  for  the  Emperor  Rudolph  II. 

Entering  the  Southern  Gallery,  the  western  portion  is 
devoted  to  Carvings  in  Ivory.  In  a  case  at  the  entrance  of 
the  eastern  portion  is  a  beautiful  Metallic  Mirror  made  for 
a  Duke  of  Savoy,  c.  1550. 

(The  door  in  the  centre  leads  to  the  Gallery  over  the 
Central  Screen  of  the  New  Court,  containing  noble  specimens 
of  ancient  iron-work,  chiefly  German  and  Italian.) 

The  door  at  the  east  end  of  the  Southern  Gallery 
leads  to  the  Galleries  of  Water  Colour  Pictures,*  through 
which  we  enter  three  rooms  almost  entirely  devoted  to 
the  collection  of  pictures  illustrative  of  British  Art  which 
was  given  to  the  nation  by  Mr.  John  Sheepshanks  in  1S57, 
and  which  is  known  as  "  the  Sheepshanks  Collection." 
We  may  especially  notice — 

1st  Room. 

Sir  E.   Landseer   (1802—73).     88.  The   Drover's   Departure;    qr 
There's  no  place  like  Home;  93.  The  Old  Shepherd's  Chief  Mouinei  ; 
99.  Suspense. 

Peter  de  Wint  (1784— 1849).  258.  A  Cornfield— a  glorious  picture, 
given  by  the  painter's  daughter. 

•  The  best  pictures  here  arc  the  hundred  works  of  art  given  by  Mrs.  Ellison  of 
Sudbrooke  mar  Lincoln.     I  spe<  ially  beautiful  is  No.  1048,  1  igh   Castle 

by  G.  F.  Robson  (1790 — 1833).     Some  of  the  pictures  are  interesting  as    1 
sentations   of    Old  London — as   that   of   old    Buckingham    House   (No.   80)   l>j 
h.  Dayes. 

VOL.  II.  I   I 


48a  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

2?id  Room. 

33.  John  Constable  (1776— 1837).     Chichester  Cathedral. 
62.   Thomas  Creswick  (1811 — 69).     A  Summer's  Afternoon. 

yd  Room. 

Joseph  Mallard  William  Turner  (1775 — 1851).  207.  Line-fishing 
off  Hastings ;  208.  Venice ;  209.  St.  Michael's  Mount,  Cornwall ; 
210.  Royal  Yacht  Squadron  at  Cowes ;  2U.  Vessel  in  distress  off 
Yarmouth. 

Hence  we  reach  the  North  Gallery,  which  contains  the 
celebrated  Cartoons  of  Raffaelle,  being  the  original  designs 
(drawn  with  chalk  upon  strong  paper  and  coloured  in  dis- 
temper) by  Raffaelle  and  his  scholars,  especially  Francesco 
Penni,  for  the  tapestries  ordered  by  Leo  X.  to  cover  the 
lower  walls  of  the  Sistine  Chapel,  the  upper  part  being 
already  clothed  with  the  glorious  frescoes  which  still  adorn 
them.  There  were  originally  eleven  Cartoons,  but  four  are 
lost — The  Stoning  of  Stephen,  The  Conversion  of  St.  Paul, 
St.  Paul  in  his  Dungeon  at  Philippi,  and  the  Coronation  of 
the  Virgin,  which  last  was  intended  to  fill  the  space  above 
the  altar.  The  tapestries  were  executed  at  Arras,  and  were 
hence  called  Arazzi.  They  were  worked  under  the  super- 
intendence of  Bernard  van  Orley,  a  Dutch  pupil  of 
Raffaelle,  and  were  hung  up  in  the  Sistine,  on  St.  Stephen's 
Day,  Dec.  26,  1519.  Eight  years  after,  they  were  carried 
off  in  the  sack  of  Rome  by  the  French,  but  were  restored  to 
Julius  III.  by  the  Constable  Anne  de  Montmorency.  In 
1798  they  were  again  carried  off  by  the  French,  and  passing 
through  various  hands,  were  repurchased  by  Pius  VII.  in 
1808  from  a  Frenchman  named  Devaux,  at  Genoa.  Though 
greatly  faded  and  much  injured  by  bad  restoration,  they  still 
hang  in  the  Vatican. 


THE   CARTOONS.  483 

The  seven  Cartoons,  which  alone  exist  now,  lay  neglected 
in  the  manufactory  at  Arras  till  they  were  seen  there  in 
1630  by  Rubens,  who  advised  Charles  I.  to  purchase  them 
for  a  tapestry  manufactory  which  was  established  at  Mort- 
lake.  On  the  death  of  Charles,  Cromwell  bought  them  for 
^300.  They  remained  almost  forgotten  at  Whitehall  till 
the  time  of  William  III.,  who  removed  them  to  Hampton 
Court,  where  a  room  was  built  lor  them  by  Wren,  in  which 
they  hung  till  they  were  brought  to  South  Kensington, 
Tapestry  workers  have  twice  cut  them  into  strips  and  pricked 
the  outlines  with  their  needles,  first  at  Arras,  and  afterwards 
at  Mortlake,  where  several  copies  were  executed.  A  splendid 
set  of  tapestries  worked  from  the  Cartoons  whilst  they  were 
at  Arras  (probably  ordered  by  Henry  -VIII.)  was  in  the 
collection  of  Charles  I.  at  Whitehall,  and  was  purchased, 
alter  his  death,  by  the  Duke  of  Alva  :  they  are  now  in  the 
Royal  Museum  at  Berlin. 

The  Cartoons  require  many  visits  to  be  properly  under- 
stood. He  who  visits  them  often  will  agree  with  Steele  : 
"  When  I  first  went  to  see  them,  I  must  confess  I  was  but 
barely  pleased  ;  the  next  time  I  liked  them  better;  but  at 
last,  as  I  grew  better  acquainted  with  them,  I  fell  deeply 
in  love  with  them  :  like  wise  speeches,  they  sank  deep 
into  my  heart."  * 

Right. 

Chrisfs  Charge  to  Peter.     The  Saviour,  a  noble  figure  of  divine 

expression,  points  to  Peter,  who  kneels,  with  the  keys  in  Ins  hand,  and 

gazes  up  with  loving  veneration  to   his  Master,  who   bids  him  "  I        I 

my  Sheep  !  "     A  somewhat  literal  m  is  given  to  th»"  words  by 

!lock  of  sheep  to  which  the  Saviour  pointswith  his  left  hand.    The 

express    every   variety  of    emotion,   surprise,   aMeaishment, 

•  Spi    tatt  1 ,  No.  244. 


4^4  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

even  anger,  but  the  expression  in  James  and  John  is  only  that  of 

adoration  and  love. 

"  Nothing  can  exceed  the  beaming  warmth,  the  eager  look  of  pure 
devotion,  in  St.  John's  head.  His  delightful  face  seems  to  start 
forward  from  his  hair  with  gratitude  and  rapture.  St.  John  seems  to 
have  been  a  character  Raffaelle  delighted  in.  It  was  in  fact  his 
own." — Haydon. 

"  Present  authority,  late  sufferings,  humility  and  majesty,  despotic 
command  and  divine  love  are  at  once  seated  in  the  celestial  aspect  of 
our  blessed  Lord.  The  figures  of  the  eleven  apostles  are  all  in  the 
same  passion  of  admiration,  but  discover  it  differently  according  to 
their  characters.  The  beloved  disciple  has  in  his  countenance  wonder 
drowned  in  love  :  and  the  last  personage,  whose  back  is  towards  the 
spectators,  and  his  side  towards  the  presence,  one  would  fancy  to  be 
St.  Thomas,  as  abashed  by  the  conscience  of  his  former  diffidence, 
which  perplexed  concern  it  is  possible  Raffaelle  thought  it  too  hard  a 
task  to  draw,  but  by  this  acknowledgment  of  the  difficulty  to  describe 
it." — Spectator,  226. 

The  Death  of  Ananias.  Peter,  who  stands  with  James  as  the 
prominent  figure  of  the  apostolic  group,  appears  to  be  uttering  the 
words,  "  Thou  hast  not  lied  unto  men,  but  unto  God."  In  the  fore- 
ground the  mercenary  Ananias  falls  in  the  convulsion  of  death,  while 
the  spectators  are  horrified  at  the  divine  judgment.  In  the  background 
are  two  groups  unconscious  of  the  scene  enacted  near  them.  On  the 
one  side  are  people  bringing  in  their  property  to  the  community  of 
goods,  amongst  them  Sapphira,  who  comes  with  reluctance,  counting 
the  money  she  is  about  to  part  from  :  on  the  other  side  St.  John,  the 
apostle  of  love,  and  another,  are  comforting  the  poor  with  gifts. 

Peter  and  John  Healing  the  Lame  Man.  The  apostles  are  standing 
between  the  twisted  pillars  of  the  Beautiful  Gate  of  the  Temple.  St. 
Peter,  grasping  the  cripple  by  the  hand,  bids  him  "  Arise  and  walk  !  " 
St.  John,  filled  with  pity,  gazes  upon  the  beggar,  who,  when  he  first 
finds  strength  in  his  feet,  is  doubtful  of  their  new  vigour.  "  The 
heavenly  apostles  appear  acting  these  great  things  with  a  deep  sense  of 
the  infirmities  which  they  relieve,  but  no  value  of  themselves  who 
minister  to  their  weakness.  They  know  themselves  to  be  but  the 
instruments."*  The  figures  of  the  spectators  are  wonderfully  noble 
and  expressive. 

"  What  a  beautiful  creature  is  that  in  the  corner  who  with  a  fairy's 
lightness  is  gracefully  supporting  an  elegant  wicker  basket  of  fruit  and 
flowers  and  doves,  and  holding  a  beautiful  boy  who  carries  doves  also, 

*  Spectator,  No.  226 


THE   CARTOONS.  485 

which  are  undulating  their  little  innocent  heads  to  suit  his  motion, 
She,  as  she  glides  on,  turns  her  exquisite  features,  her  large  blue  eyes, 
beautiful  full  nose,  and  little  delicate  breathing  mouth,  whose  upper 
lip  seems  to  tremble  with  feeling,  and  to  conceal,  for  a  moment,  a  little 
of  the  nostril.  Never  was  there  a  more  exquisite  creature  painted.  It 
is  impossible  to  look  at  her  without  being  in  love  with  her.  Raffaelle's 
flame  was  so  steady  and  pure. 

"Several  bystanders  seem  to  regard  the  beggar  as  if  with  an  ejacula- 
tion of  '  Poor  Man  !  '  One  appears  lost  in  abstraction  as  if  reflecting 
on  his  helpless  situation." — Haydon. 

Paul  and  Barnabas  at  Lystra.  A  cripple,  who  has  been  healed,  is 
expressing  his  gratitude  to  the  apostles,  while  an  old  man,  raising  his 
garment,  is  satisfying  himself  that  the  maimed  limb  is  really  restored. 
'The  priests,  who  mistake  the  apostles  for  Mercury  and  Jupiter,  are 
hastening  forward  with  bulls  for  the  sacrifice,  and  a  man  is  bringing  in 
a  ram.  Paul  is  about  to  rend  his  garments  in  his  indignation  at  the 
idolatry  of  the  people,  and  Barnabas,  clasping  his  hands,  prays  that  it 
may  be  arrested.  A  young  man,  observing  the  distress  of  the  apostles, 
tries  to  stop  the  sacrifice,  and  already,  in  some  of  the  faces  at  the  edge 
of  the  picture,  is  evinced  the  change  in  the  temper  of  the  people  of 
Lystra,  who  afterwards  stoned  Paul.  The  sacrificial  group  in  this 
cartoon  is  taken  from  a  relief  in  the  Villa  Medici  aft  Rome. 

Left 

Elymas  the  Sorcerer  struck  Blind.  Paul,  a  sublime  figure,  stretches 
out  his  hand  with  the  words,  "  And  now  behold  the  hand  of  the  Lord  is 
upon  thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  blind,  not  seeing  the  sun  for  a  season." 
The  Sorcerer,  standing  opposite  to  him,  filled  with  graceless  indigna- 
tion, gropes  forwards  in  the  first  hideous  terror  of  his  blindness. 
Sergius,  the  proconsul  of  Cyprus,  starts  forward  from  his  seat  in 
dismay,  and  even  the  lictors  at  the  side  of  the  throne  exhibit  fear  and 
amazement.  Only  the  upper  half  of  the  tapestiy  from  this  cartoon  is 
in  existence. 

Paul  Preaching  at  Athens.  The  noble  figure  of  St.  Paul  was 
adapted  by  Raffaelle  from  that  lately  finished  by  Filippino  Lippi 
in  the  Church  of  the  Carmine  at  Florence.  The  audience  express  every 
varied  emotion  of  attention,  meditation,  doubt,  and  conviction.  The 
greater  part  of  this  cartoon  was  probably  executed  by  Francesco  Penni. 
The  Miraculous  Draught  of  Fishes.  The  scene  is  the  lake  of 
Gennesaret.  On  the  distant  shore  the  people  still  linger  where  the 
Saviour  lias  been  teaching  fiom  Peter's  boat.  Now  the  two  boats  ol 
the  dbciples   are  drawn  up  close  to   each    other.      lu  one   of   them 


480  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

several  of  the  apostles  are  vainly  striving  to  draw  in  their  net,  which  is 
torn  with  the  weight  of  the  fish  :  in  the  other,  Peter  kneels  at  the  feet 
of  his  Saviour,  with  the  words,  "  Depart  from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful 
man,  O  Lord  !  "  Raffaelle"  is  believed  to  have  executed  almost  the 
whole  01  this  cartoon  with  his  own  hand,  as  a  model  for  the  rest,  but 
the  cranes  on  the  bank  are  attiibuted  to  Giovanni  da  Udine. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  Exhibition  Road  (reached  from 
the  North-western — i.e.  Furniture  Galleries — take  a  ticket 
of  free  admittance  with  you  from  the  door  as  you  go  out) 
is  the  entrance  to  the  Educational  part  of  the  Museum 
devoted  to  Educational  Appliances,  Natural  Products,  Ma- 
chinery,  Naval  Models,  and  Building  Materials.  A  division 
in  the  long  gallery  devoted  to  machinery  is  interesting  as 
containing — 

The  Puffing  Billy.  The  oldest  locomotive  in  existence,  the  first 
which  ran  with  a  smooth  wheel  on  a  smooth  rail,  constructed  under 
William  Hedley's  Patent  for  Christopher  Blackett  of  Wylam  Collieries. 
After  many  trials,  it  began  to  work  regularly  in  1813,  and  was  kept  in 
use  till  1862. 

The  Rocket,  the  prize  engine,  constructed  by  Stephenson  for  com- 
petition in  1829  at  Rain  Hill,  on  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester 
Railway,  which  was  formally  opened,  Sept.  15,  1830. 

The  original  Engine  fitted  in  18 12  to  the  Comet,  the  first  steamer  in 
Europe  advertised  for  the  conveyance  of  passengers  and  goods. 

The  first  Hydraulic  Press,  constructed  by  Joseph  Bramah  in  1795. 

The  Fire  Engine  patented  by  Richard  Kewsham,  1821-25,  being 
one  of  the  first  engines  in  which  two  cylinders  and  an  air-vessel  are 
combined  and  worked  together  so  as  to  ensure  the  discharge  of  con- 
tinuous streams  of  water. 

Different  Models  designed  and  patented  by  James  Watt,  and  that 
(Xewcomen's  Engine)  in  repairing  which  he  made  the  discovery  of  a 
separate  condenser,  which  identified  his  name  with  that  of  the  steam- 
engine. 

The  first  staircase  on  the  right  leads  to  the  National 
Portrait  Gallery,  of  ever-increasing  interest  and  importance, 
established  at  the  suggestion  of   Philip   Henry,   5th 


THE   NATIONAL    PORTRAIT  GALLERY.  487 

Stanhope,  its  first  President.  At  present  it  occupies  a  suite 
of  small  rooms  which  are  wholly  inadequate,  and,  as  it  is 
constantly  increasing,  no  arrangement  as  to  dates  or  characters 
has  been  even  attempted.  It  deserves  the  appropriation  of 
some  fine  building  in  a  central  situation,  such  as  the 
wantonly  destroyed  Northumberland  House.  Many  of  the 
earlier  portraits,  chiefly  royal,  are  by  unknown  artists,  and 
more  curious  than  otherwise  remarkable  :  the  later  portraits 
are  not  only  interesting  from  those  they  commemorate,  but 
are  in  many  cases  valuable  as  specimens  of  the  English 
School  of  portrait-painters — Dobson,  Riley,  Richardson,  J  er- 
vas,  Michael  Wright,  Mary  Beale,  Godfrey  Kneller,  Wissing, 
Sarah  Hoadley,  Thomas  Hudson,  Hogarth,  Hoare,  Dance, 
Gainsborough,  Reynolds,  Romney,  Opie,  Hoppner,  Wright 
of  Derby,  Hilton,  Allan  Ramsay,  Hudson,  Beachey,  Rae- 
burn,  Lawrence,  Phillips,  and  Landseer.  It  is  impossible 
(1S77)  to  give  more  than  an  alphabetical  guide  to  some 
of  the  more  interesting  pictures  : — 

Joseph  Addison;  1672  — 1719.  —  Sir  G.  Kneller. 

George  Monk,  Duke  of  Albemarle,  the  restorer  of  Charles  II.  ;  1008 
-70. — Sir  P.  Lely. 

John  Allen,  historic  writer  ;  1770 — 1S43. — Sir  E.  Landseer. 

Jeffrey,  Lord  Amherst,  1717 — 1797.— fiat  h. 

Anne  of  Denmark,  wife  of  James  I. ;  1575 — 1619. —  Van  Sotner. 

Princess  Anne  (afterwards  Queen);  1664 — 1 7 1 7  ;  with  her  son  the 
Duke  of  Gloucester  ;  1689 — \-,oo.—DahI. 

Queen  Anne. — Dahl. 

Sir  Richard  Arkwright  ;  1732— 1792. —  Wright  of  Derby. 

Dr.  Isaac  Barrow,  the  theologian  and  mathematician  ;  1630 — 1677  > 
a  striking  work  of  Claude  Le  Fevre. 

James  Barrv,  the  painter  ;  1741  — 1806. — By  himself. 

William  Pulteney,  Earl  of  Bath  ;  1682  -1704  ;  a  magnificent  portrait 
by  Sir  J.  Reynolds. 

Francis  Bartolozzi,  the  engraver;  1 730 — 18 13  ;  a  line  work  of 
Opie. 


488  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

William  Russell,  1st  Duke  of  Bedford;  1613 — 1700;  a  fine  specimen 
of  Sir  G.  Ktieller. 

Jeremy  Bentham,  1748 — 1832  ;  as  a  boy. — T.  Frye. 

Jeremy  Bentham  at  81  (painted  1829). — H.  W.  Pickersgill. 

Thomas    Bewick,     1758 — 1828 ;   the    wood    engraver,    aged   70.— 
Ramsay. 

Sir  William  Blackstone,  the  judge,  author  of  the  Commentaries ; 
I723— 1780.— Sir  J.  Reynolds. 

William  Blake,  the  artist  and  engraver;  1757 — 1827;  a  noble  portrait 
by  T.  Phillips. 

Thomas  Blood,  who  attempted  to  murder  the  Duke  of  Ormonde, 
and  stole  the  Regalia;  1628 — 1680. — Gerard  Soest. 

Admiral  Edward  Boscawen  ;  171 1 — 1761. — Sir  J.  Reynolds. 

Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning,  the  poetess ;  1809— 1861,  in  chalks. — 
Field  Talfeurd. 

Sir  M.  I.  Brunei,  who  constructed  the  Thames  Tunnel,  which  is  seen 
in  the  background  ;   1769 — 1849. — Drummond. 

George  Villiers,  2nd  Duke  of  Buckingham;  1627 — 1687;  a  beautiful 
specimen  of  Sir  P.  Lely. 

Sir  Francis  Burdett,  statesman  and  orator;  1770- -1844.  —  T. 
Phillips. 

William  Cecil,  Lord  Burghley,  the  minister  of  Elizabeth,  painted  at 
77,  in  1597;  1521— 1598.— M.  Gheerardts. 

Right  Hon.  Edmund  Burke  ;  1729— 1797.— School  of  Reynolds. 

Burnet,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  the  historian  ;   1643 — 17 15. — Riley. 

Robert  Bums,  the  poet ;  1759— 1796. — Alex.  Nasmyth. 

George,  Lord  Byron,  the  poet ;  1788 — 1828. — T.  Phillips. 

Charles  Pratt,  Lord  Chancellor  Camden;  1713 — 1794;  a  fine  work 
of  Dance. 

Lord  Chancellor  Campbell,  author  of  "Lives  of  the  Chancellors;" 
1779— 1861.—  T.  A.  Woolnoth. 

Thomas  Campbell,  the  poet;  1777— 1844.— Sir  T.  Lawrence. 

SirDudley  Carleton,  the  diplomatist,  afterwards  Viscount  Dorchester; 
1572 — 1631. — Cornelius  Jansen. 

Anne,  Lady  Carleton. — C.  Jansen. 

Queen  Caroline  of  Anspach,  wife  of  George  II. ;  1682— 1737.— E. 
See  man. 

Caroline,  Princess  of  Wales,  wife  of  George  rV. ;  1682— 1734;  a 
sensuous  portrait  in  a  red  dress  and  hat,  painted  at  Blackheath  by  Sir 
T.  Lawrence. 

Elizabeth  Carter,  the  Greek  scholar,  1717— 1806,  in  crayons. — Sit 
T.  Lawrence. 


'HE  NATIONAL  PORTRAIT  GALLERY.  489 

Catherine   of  Aragon,  first  wife  of  Henry  VIII. ;    1485 — 1536. — 
Unknown. 

Catherine  of   Braganza,  wife  of  Charles    II.,  1638 — 1705,  in  the 
dress  in  which  she  arrived  in  England. — Stoop. 

Sir  William  Chambers,  the  architect;  1726 — r7o6. — Sir  y.  Reynolds. 

Sir  Francis  Chantrey,  the  sculptor;  1782— 1'  41.  —T.  Phillips. 

Charles  II. ;  1630 — 1685. — Mrs.  Beale. 

Princess  Charlotte  ;   1796 — 181 7. — G.  Dawe. 

Queen  Charlotte,  wife  of  George  III.  ;  1744 — 1818. — Allan  Ramsay. 

William  Pitt,  Earl  of  Chatham;  1708— 1778.— i?.  Brompton. 

Philip  Dormer,  Earl  of  Chesterfield,  author  of  the  "Letters;  "  1694 
—1773. — Hoare. 

Charles  Churchill,  the  satirist;  1731 — 1765. — Schaak. 

Thomas  Clarkson,  who  promoted  the  Abolition  of  the  Slave  Trade  ; 
1760— 1846.— De  Breda. 

Barbara  Villiers,  Duchess  of  Cleveland;  1640 — 1709. — Sir  P.  Lely. 

Robert,  Lord  Clive  ;  1725 — 1774. — Dance. 

Richard  Cobden  ;  1804 — 1865. — L.  Dickinson. 

Richard  Temple,  Viscount  Cobham,  the  friend  of  Pope,  ob.  1759;  a 
capital  work  of  Vanloo. 

Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge,    the  poet;    1772 — 1834. —  Washington 
Alston. 

The  same,  in  his  23rd  year. — M.  Vandyke. 

George  Colman,  the  dramatist ;  1733  — 1794. — Gainsboro7igk. 

William  Congreve,  the  dramatist ;  1669 — 1729. — Sir  G.  Kneller. 

Captain  J.  Cook,  the  navigator;  1728— 1779. — J.  Webber. 

Sir  Eyre  Coote  ;   1726 — 1783. — Unknown. 

Charles,  Earl  Cornwall  is  ;   1738 — 1805. — Gainsborough. 

Richard  Cosway,  the  miniature  painter;  1 741— 1782. — By  himself. 

Abraham  Cowley,  the  poet;  1618 — 1667. — Mrs.  Beale. 

William,  1st  Earl  of  Craven  ;  1606— 1697. — Honthorst. 

Richard  Cumberland,  the  dramatist;  1732 — 1811. — Rmnney. 

Erasmus  Darwin,    physician   and   poet;    1731 — 1802. —  Wright  of 
Derby. 

Moll  Davis,  an  actress  beloved  by  Charles  II. — Sir  P.  Lely. 

Thomas  De  Quincey,  author  of  "  Confessions  of  an  Opium  Eater ;" 
1785—  (859.— Sir  Watson  Gordon. 

Charles  Dickens,  the  novelist;  1812 — 1870. — Ary  Scheffer. 

Charles  Dibdin,  the  song-writer ;  1745 — 1813. —  T.  Phillips. 

William  Dobson,  "  The  British  Tintoret ;"  1610— 1646.— .#>/  himself. 

Charles  Sackville,  Earl  of  Dorset,   the  Patron  of  Dryden;   1637 — . 
1706. — Sir  G.  Kneller. 


4Q0  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

John  Dryden,  the  poet;  1631— 1700. — Maitbert. 

John  Dunning,  afterwards  Lord  Ashburton ;  1731 — 1783. — Sir  J. 
Reynolds. 

Elizabeth,  Queer  of  Bohemia,  daughter  of  James  I.;  1596 — 1662. — 
Mirevtldt. 

John  Flaxman,  the  sculptor,  1755 — 1826,  modelling  the  bust  of  his 
friend  Hayley,  whose  son  is  introduced. — Romney. 

Benjamin  Franklin  ;    1706 — 1790. — French  School. 

David  Garrick,  actor  and  author;  1716 — 1779. — R.  B.  Pine. 

George  II. ;  1683 — 1 760;  full-length,  at  the  time  of  his  accession. — 
Michael  Dahl. 

William  Hogarth,  1697 — 1764,  painting  the  Muse  of  Comedy,  a 
small  full-length,  by  himself. 

James  Hogg,  the  Ettrick  Shepherd  ;  1772 — 1S35. — Denning. 

Rev.  John  Home,  1724 — 1808,  author  of  "Douglas" — a  noble 
portiait  by  Sir  Henry  Raeburn. 

John  Howard,  the  philanthropist ;  1726— 1 790. — Mather  Brown. 

Leigh  Hunt,  the  essayist;  1784 — 1859. — Llaydon. 

Sir  Elijah  Impey,  Chief  Justice  in  India.;  1732  — 1809. — Zoffany. 

Henry  Ireton,  the  son-in-law  of  Cromwell ;  1610 — 165 1. —  Walker. 

Rev.  Edward  Irving,  founder  of  the  "Catholic  and  Apostolic 
Church  ;  "   1792  — 1834.—  A  sketch  by  Slater. 

James  I.  as  a  boy;  1566— 1625. — Zucchero. 

James  I.  in  robes  of  state. —  Van  Somer. 

James  II. ;  1633— 1 701.— Riley. 

Lord  Chancellor  Jeffreys,  the  cruel  judge,  1648 — 1689,  as  Recorder 
of  London. — Sir  G.  Kneller. 

Henry,  Lord  Jermyn,  afterwards  Earl  of  St.  Albans,  the  friend  of 
Henrietta  Maria,  ob.  1683. — Sir  P.  Lely. 

Angelica  Kauffmann  ;  1740 — 1807.— 2?y  herself. 

John  Keats,  the  poet ;  1795 — 182 1 ;  a  small  full-length  seated  figure, 
reading,  by  Severn. 

John  Philip  Kemble,  the  tragedian;   1757 — 1823. — Gilbert  Stuart. 

Augustus,  Viscount  Keppel,  admiral;  1727 — 1786;  a  noble  work  of 
Sir  f.  Reynolds. 

John  Lambert,  General  of  the  Parliamentary  forces;  1620  — 1694. — 
Walker. 

Henry,  3rd  Marquis  of  Lansdowne ;  1780 — 1863;  a  beautiful  picture 
by  Hoppner. 

David  Livingstone,  the  African  traveller ;  1813 — 1873;  a  sketch  by 
J.  Bonomi. 

George  II.  in  middle  life,  with  Westminster  Abbey  in  the  distance. 
— Shai  kleton. 


THE  NATIONAL  PORTRAIT  GALLERY.  491 

George  II.,  aged  70. —7'.  IVorliJge. 

George  III.  ;  1738 — 1820. — Allan  Ramsay. 

George  IV. ;  1762 — 1830;  a  study  for  the  profile  on  the  coinage. — 
Sir  T.  Lawrence. 

Prince  George  of  Denmark,  husband  of  Queen  Anne;  1658  — 1708. 
—  Wissing . 

John  Gibsoti,  the  sculptor;  1791 — 1866. — Mrs.  Carpenter. 

Oliver  Goldsmith,  the  poet;  1728  — 1774;  a  portrait  which  belonged 
to  himself. — School  of  Reynolds. 

Thomas  Gray,  the  poet;  1716 — 1771  ;  sketched  from  memory  by  his 
biographer. —  //  'illiam  Mason. 

William  Wyndham,  Lord  Grenville;  1759— 1834  ;  a  beautiful  portrait 
by  Hoppner. 

Sir  Thomas  Gresham,  founder  of  the  Royal  Exchange;  1519 — 1579  ; 
a  grand  portrait  by  Sir  Antonio  Afore. 

Sir  Harbottle  Grimston,  Speaker,  and  Master  of  the  Rolls  ;  1602 — 
1683.— Sir  P.  Lely. 

Nell  Gwynne,  beloved  by  Charles  II.  ;  1640 — 1691. — Sir  P.  Lely. 

Emma  Hart,  Lady  Hamilton  ;  a  sketch  by  Ro/iuiey. 

George  Frederick  Handel;  1684—1759. — Hudson  (the  master  of 
Sir  J.  Reynolds). 

James  Harris,  author  of  "Philosophical  Essays;"  1709 — 1780. 
—Romney,  after  Reynolds. 

Warren  Hastings,  First  Governor-General  of  India;  1733 — 1818;  a 
noble  work  of  Sir  '/'.  Lawrence. 

Lord  Heathfield,  the  Defender  of  Gibraltar  ;  1717 — 1790. — Copley. 

Sir  William  Herschel ;  1738 — 1822.— Abbot. 

Benjamin  Hoadly,  Bishop  of  Winchester;  1676  — 1761. — Mrs.  Hoadly. 

Thomas  Hobbes,  the  philosopher,  aged  81 ;  1588  — 1679;  a  very  fine 
work  of/.  M.  Wright. 

John  Locke,  the  philosopher ;    1632 — 1704. — Brownover. 

Alexander  Wedderbum,  Lord  Loughborough,  Lord  Chancelloi  , 
1733— 1805. —  W.  Owen. 

Simon  Eraser,  Lord  Lovat,  beheaded  ;   1668 — 1747. — Hogarth. 

"When  Lord  Lovat  was  brought  from  Scotland,  to  be  tried  in 
London,  Hogarth,  having  previously  known  him,  went  to  meet  him  at 
St.  Albans,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  his  portrait,  and  at  the  'White 
I  l.nt'  in  that  town,  found  the  hoary  peer  under  the  hands  of  his 
r.  The  old  nobleman  rose  to  salute  him,  according  to  the  Scotch 
and  French  fashion,  with  so  much  eagei  ,  that  he  left  a  large  portion 
of  the  lather  from  his  beard  on  the  face  of  his  old  friend,  lie  i 1  drawn 
in  the  attitude  of  enumerating  by  his  fingers  the  rebel  forces — 'such  a 
genera]  had  so  many  men,'  "  &c. — J.  Ireland. 


492  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Geoige,  Earl  of  Macartney,  1737 — 1806,  conferring  with  his  secre* 
tary,  Sir  E.  Staunton. — Abbott. 

Sir  James  Mackintosh;   1765 — 1832. — Sir  T.  Lawrence. 

William,  Earl  of  Mansfield,  Lord  Chief  Justice;  1704 — 1793. — 
Copley. 

John,  Duke  of  Marlborough ;   1650 — 1722. —  Wyck. 

Princess  Mary,  afterwards  Mary  I. ;  1516 — 1558;  a  curious  portrait 
painted  in  1544. —  Unknown. 

Queen  Mary  of  Modena.  wife  of  James  II. ;    1658 — 1718. —  Wissing. 

Queen  Mary  II.,  wife  of  William  III. ;   1662 — 1694. —  Wissing. 

Mary,  Queen  of  Scots  ;  1542— 1587.  "  The  Fraser  Tytler  Portrait," 
in  a  rich  dress,  by  a  French  artist. — Unknown. 

The  same,  in  a  widow's  dress,  painted  during  her  captivity  at  Shef- 
field.— P.  Ondry. 

Richard  Mead  the  great  physician;  1673 — 1754. — Allan  Ramsay. 

Mary  Russell  Mitford,  authoress  of  "  Our  Village  "  ;  1786 — 1855. — 
y.  Lucas. 

James,  Duke  of  Monmouth,  1649 — 1685,  son  of  Charles  U.  and 
Lucy  Waters  ;  beheaded. —  Wissing. 

Hannah  More,  the  religious  writer,  1745 — x^33>  painted  at  77.— 
H.  W.  I'ickersgill. 

George  Morland  the  artist ;   1763 — 1804. — By  himself. 

Arthur  Murphy  the  dramatist ;    1727 — 1805. — Dance. 

Admiral  Lord  Nelson  ;    1737 — 1823. — Fiiger. 

The  same. — F.  L.  Abbott. 

Joseph  Nollekens  the  sculptor;   1737 — 1823. — F.  L.  Abbott. 

The  same,  as  an  old  man. — J.  Lonsdale. 

James  Northcote  the  painter;   1746 — 1831. — Northcote. 

Anne  Oldfield  the  actress;    1683 — 1730. — Richardson. 

John  Opie  the  portrait  painter;    1761  — 1807. — By  himself. 

Henrietta,  Duchess  of  Orleans,  1644 — 1670,  youngest  daughter  of 
Charles  I.,  wife  of  the  only  brother  of  Louis  XIV. — Mignard. 

James  Butler,  1st  Duke  of  Ormond,  Lord  High  Steward ;  1610— 
1088.— Sir  P.  Lely. 

James,  2nd  Duke  of  Ormond  ;  1665 — 1745. — Dahl. 

William  Paley,  author  of  the  "Evidences";  1743 — 1805. — Sir  W. 
Beechey,  after  Romney. 

Samuel  Parr  the  great  scholar;   1747 — 1825. — Dawe. 

Henry  Pelham  the  minister;   1696 — 1754. — Hoai-e. 

Mary,  Countess  of  Pembroke;  1550 — 162 1  ;  a  very  interesting 
picture. — Marc  Gheerardts. 

Samuel  Pepys,  author  of  the  "Diary";  1632 — 1703.— Hayes. 


THE  NATIONAL  PORTRAIT  GALLERY.  493 

Spencer  Perceval  the  Prime  Minister,  1762— 1812,  assassinated  in 
the  lobby  of  the  House  of  Commons. — Joseph. 

Sir  Thomas  Picton,  1758—1815,  killed  at  Waterloo.— Sir  M.  A. 
Shee. 

Oliver  Plunkett,  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  1629— 1681,  executed  at 
Tyburn. — G.  Murphy. 

Alexander  Pope  the  poet;  1688 — 1714;  in  crayons. — Hoare. 

The  same,  with  Martha  Blount. — Jervas. 

Joseph  Priestley  the  philosopher;  1733— 1804;  in  crayons.— Sharpies. 

Matthew  Prior,  poet  and  statesman;   1664 — 1721. — Richardson. 

Francis  Quarles,  author  of  the  "Emblems";  1592 — 1644. — 
H '.  Dobson. 

Catherine,  Duchess  of  Queensberry,  Prior's  "Kitty  ever  young." — 
Jervas. 

Sir  Stamford  Raffles;   1781 — 1826. — Joseph. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  1552— 1618,  beheaded  at  Westminster.— 
Zucchero. 

Sir  Joshua  Reynolds;  1723 — 1792  ;  a  magnificent  effect  of  light  and 
shadow. — By  himself. 

Samuel  Rogers  the  poet;  1763 — 1855;  in  chalks. — Sir  T.  Law- 
rence. 

Rt.  Hon.  George  Rose,  statesman  and  political  writer;  1744 — 1818; 
a  noble  portrait  by  Sir  IV.  Beechey. 

Louis  Francis  Roubiliac  the  sculptor,  1695 — 1762,  modelling  his 
Statue  of  Shakspeare.  —  Carpentiers. 

William,  Lord  Russell,  the  patriot;  1641 — 1683;  beheaded. — Riley. 

Rachel,  Lady  Russell,  daughter  of  Wriothesley,  Earl  of  Southamp- 
ton, and  widow  of  the  patriot ;   1636— 1723. — Sir  G.  Kneller. 

William  Sancroft,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury;  1616 — 1693;  in 
crayons. — E.  Lulterel. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  the  poet  and  novelist;  1771 — 1832. — Graham 
Gilbert. 

The  same,  a  sketch  at  Abbotsford. — Sir  E.  Landseer. 

The  same,  in  his  study  at  Abbotsford ;  his  last  portrait. — Sir  W. 
Allan. 

William  Shakspeare;  1564 — 1616.  "The  Chandos  Portrait."  It 
belonged  to  Sir  W.  Davenant,  Betterton,  Mrs.  Barry,  Mr.  Kirk,  Mr. 
Nicolls,  the  Duke  of  Chandos,  and  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  and 
Chandos.  It  was  bought  by  Lord  Ellesmere  at  the  Stowe  sale  for 
355  guineas  and  presented  by  him  to  the  gallery.— Burbage  or  Taylor. 

William  Petty,  Earl  of  Shelbume,  1st  Marquis  of  Lansdowne; 
1737—1805.-^7/'  J.  Reynolds. 


494  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

"William  Shenstone  the  poet ;   1714 — 1763.— .£".  Alcock. 

Anne  Brudenell,  Countess  of  Shrewsbury,  ob.  1702.— Sir  P.  Lely. 

Sarah  Siddons  the  actress;   1755 — 1831. —  Sir  IV.  Beechey. 

The  Electress  Sophia,  1630— 17 14,  granddaughter  of  James  I.  am! 
mother  of  George  I. — Honthorst. 

Henry  Wriothesley,  Earl  of  Southampton,  1573— 1624,  the  friend 
of  Shakspeare. — Mircveldt. 

Robert  Southey  the  poet ;  1774— 1843  ;  a  sketch  in  \%o\.—Edridge. 

The  same,  painted  in  1796. — M.  Vandyke. 

James,  1st  Earl  Stanhope;   1673— 1721.— Sir  G.  Kneller. 

Charles,  3rd  Earl  Stanhope  ;   1753  — 1816.— Ozias  Humphrey, ' 

Thomas  Stanley,  historian  of  philosophy;  1625— 1678. — Sir  P. 
Lely. 

Richard  Steele,  essayist  and  dramatist;   1671— 1729. — Richardson. 

Thomas  Stothard  the  artist;   1755 — 1834. — J.  Green. 

Joseph  Strutt  the  antiquary;   1749  — 1802.— Ozias  Humphrey. 

Prince  Charles  Edward  Stuart,  1720 — 1788,  as  a  boy. — Largilliete. 

Prince  Charles  Edward  Stuart,  the  young  Chevalier;   1720— 1788. 

Pompeo  Battoni. 

Louisa,  Countess  of  Albany,  wife  of  Prince  Charles  Edward;  1752— 
1824. — Pompeo  Battoni. 

Prince  James  Stuart,  son  of  James  II.  and  Mary  of  Modena,  called 

by  some  James  III.,  by  others  "the  Old  Pretender;  "   16S4— 1737. 

Alexis  Simeon  Belle. 

The  same. — Mengs. 

Henry  Benedict  Stuart,  younger  brother  of  Prince  Charlie;   1725 

1807. — Largilliere. 

The  same,  as  Cardinal  York. — Pompeo  Battoni. 

Jonathan  Swift,  Dean  of  St.  Patrick's;   1667—1745.-5^^. 

Sir  William  Temple  the  diplomatist;   1628— 1699.—  Sir  P.  Lely. 

James  Thomson  the  poet ;    1700 — 1748. — Paton. 

Lord  Chancellor  Thurlow ;   1732— 1806.  — Z1.  Phillips. 

John  Tillotson,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury;  1630— 1694.— Mrs. 
Beale. 

John  Home  Tooke  the  politician  ;   1736  — 1812.— Zfa/vfj/. 

George  Byng,  1st  Viscount  Torrington;  1663— 1733.— Sir  G. 
Kneller. 

Patrick  Fiaser  Tytler  the  historian;   1791— 1849.—  Mrs.  Carpenter. 

Peter  Martyr  Vermilius,  the  Reformed  preacher  at  Oxford  in  time 
of  Edward  VI. ;   1500— 1562.—  Hans  Asper. 

William  Wake,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury ;   1657— 1 737.— Gibson. 

William  Waller  the  poet;  1605— 168J. —Piley. 


THE  NATIONAL   PORTRAIT  GALLERY.  495 

Sir  Robert  Walpole,  1st  Earl  of  Orford,  the  Prime  Minister ;  1676— 
I745.—  Vanloo. 

Horace  Walpole,  4th  Earl  of  Orford,  the  author;  1717— 1797.— 
N.  Hone. 

"William  Warbnrton,  Bishop  of  Gloucester;  1698 — 1779. — C. 
Phillips. 

General  George  Washington;  1732 — 1799;  in  crayons. — Mrs. 
Sharpies. 

James  Watt  the  engineer  ;    1736 — 18 19. — De  Breda. 

Isaac  Watts,  author  of  the  Hymns  ;    1G74— 1748. — Sir  G.  Kneller. 

The  1st  Duke  of  Wellington;    1769  —  1S52.— Count  D'Orsay. 

Rev.  John  Wesley  ;    1703 — 1791  ;  aged  63. — Hone. 

The  same,  aged  85.— W7.  Hamilton. 

Benjamin  West  the  historical  painter;   1738— 1820. — Gilbert  Stuart. 

Rev.  George  WMtefield,  preaching;    1714 — 1770. — J.  Woolaston. 

William  Wilberforce  the  philanthropist;  1759  — 1833. — Sir  T. 
Lawrence. 

Sir  David  Wilkie  the  painter;   1785—1841.—/?/  himself. 

William  III.  as  a  boy  of  seven  in  a  yellow  dress;  1650 — 1702. — 
Cornelius  Jansen. 

Sir  Ralph  Win  wood  the  diplomatist ;   1564— 1617. — Mireveldt. 

General  James  Wolfe  ;    1 726  -1759- — High  more. 

William  Wordsworth  the  poet;    lJJO—l8y>.—Pickersgill. 

Sir  Christopher  Wren  the  architect ;   1632—1723. — Sir  G.  Kneller. 

Joseph  Wright  of  Derby  the  portrait  painter;  1734— 1797.— -ffe 
himself. 

Anne  Hyde,  Duchess  of  York,  mother  of  Mary  II.  and  Anne;  1637 
— 167 1.— Sir  P.  Lely. 

John  Zoffany  the  painter ;   1733— 1810.— 2?y  himself. 

A  room  attached  to  this  gallery  contains  a  number  of 
electrotype  casts  from  the  tombs  in  Westminster  Abbey. 
A  fine  bronze  bust  of  Charles  I.  is  by  Fanelli ;  a  terracotta 
bust  of  Cromwell  is  by  Pierce. 

A  little  higher  up  the  Exhibition  Road  is  the  entrance  of 
The  India  Museum, 

Admittance,  Mondays  and  Saturdays  is. :  on  all  other  days  6J. 

The  galleries  on  the  ground-floor  are  occupied  by  objects 


496  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

illustrative  of  the  Natural  Products,  Minerals,  and  Zoology 
of  India.  On  the  upper-floor  are  specimens  of  Indian 
Manufactures.  In  Room  IX.  are  the  principal .  curiosities, 
which  were  formerly  shown  at  the  East  India  House — 
Runjeet  Singh's  golden  throne,  and  Tippoo  Saib's  Tiger, 
taken  at  Seringapatam,  which  was  made  by  mechanism  to 
growl,  and  the  Englishman  it  is  supposed  to  be  devouring, 
to  scream,  for  his  amusement.  The  passage  by  which  (he 
lower  galleries  are  reached  is  occupied  by  the  curious  sculp- 
tures brought  in  1845  from  the  Amravati  Tope  on  the  river 
Kistna  in  the  district  of  Guntoor  in  Madras. 

The  dull  Horticultural  Gardens  occupy  the  site  of  those 
of  Loudon  and  Wise,  whose  collection  of  trees  and  shrubs 
was  so  much  eulogised  by  Evelyn.  To  the  south-west 
of  these,  at  the  junction  of  Cromwell  Road  and  Gloucester 
Road,  stood  Gloucester  Lodge,  built  for  the  Duchess  of 
Gloucester  and  inhabited  by  Princess  Sophia,  and  after- 
wards by  George  Canning.     It  was  pulled  down  in  1852. 

Returning  to  the  Brompton  Road,  we  find  the  Fulham 
Road  running  southwards.  On  the  right  is  Onslow  Square, 
which  retains  a  portion  of  the  fine  avenue  which  once 
ex '.ended  from  the  grounds  of  Cowper  House  to  the  Fulham 
Road,  where  it  terminated  opposite  Hollis  Place. 

The  Consumptive  Hospital,  at  the  south-east  corner  of 
Onslow  Square,  occupies  part  of  the  grounds  of  Sydenham 
Edwards,  the  editor  of  the  Botanical  Register,  which 
grounds  existed  till  1844.  The  perfectly  countrified  aspect 
of  Brompton  at  this  time  is  described  by  Lord  Lytton  in  his 
novel  of  "  Godolphin." 

Streets  are  rapidly  increasing  along  the  Fulham  Road, 
which  a  short  time  ago  ran  entirely  through  nursery-grounds. 


FULUAM.  497 

The  famous  Brompton  Park  Nursery  lasted  from  the  time 
of  James  II.  to  that  of  the  Exhibition  of  1851.*  Evelyn 
describes  "its  noble  assembly  of  trees,  evergreens,  &c." 
The  Brompton  Stock  is  a  memorial  of  its  celebrity. 

On  the  right  are  The  Bollotis,  where  forty  years  ago  six 
brace  of  partridges  used  to  rise  in  a  morning,  now  regularly 
laid  out  with  villas,  much  frequented  by  artists. 

[The  road  leads  through  Walham  Green  to  Fulham,  which, 
though  four  miles  from  Hyde  Park  Corner,  requires  a 
cursory  mention  here  as  the  home  of  the  Bishops  of 
London. 

Fulham,  which,  according  to  Camden,  means  "  the  place 
of  fowles,"  but,  according  to  most  authorities,  "  the  place 
of  dirt,"  is  a  pretty  antiquated  village  with  a  wooden 
bridge  over  the  Thames.  The  Inn  of  the  Golden  Lion 
existed  in  the  time  of  Henry  VII.,  and  was  for  some  time 
the  residence  of  Bishop  Bonner.  At  another  tavern,  the 
King's  Arms,  the  Fire  of  London  was  annually  commemo- 
rated on  September  1,  in  honour  of  its  having  given  refuge 
to  a  number  of  city  fugitives.  The  perpendicular  Church 
of  All  Saints,  which  stands  near  the  river,  contains  a  great 
number  of  interesting  monuments.  We  may  especially 
notice  that  of  John  Viscount  Mordaunt  of  Avalon,  father  of 
the  great  Earl  of  Peterborough,  ob.  1675,  by  Bushnell, 
sculptor  of  the  figures  on  Temple  Bar,  with  a  statue  by 
Bird  ;  the  noble  monument  by  Gibbons  to  Dorothy  Hyliard, 
1695,  wife  of  Sir  W.  Clarke,  Secretary  at  War  to  Charles  II., 
and  afterwards  of  Samuel  Barrow,  physician  to  the  same, 
author  of  the  Latin  verses  prefixed  to  "  Paradise  Lost ;  "  the 
simple  altar  tomb  of  Sir  William  Butts,  1545,  the  physician 

•   Tlu  Buildtr,  September  4,  1875. 
VOL.  IT.  K  K 


498  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

to  Henry  VIII.,  mentioned  by  Shakspeare ;  the  quaint 
monument  of  Margaret,  wife  of  Sir  Peter  Legh  of  Lyme, 
1603,  and  her  two  babies  ;  the  mural  monuments  of  Thomas 
Carlos,  1665,  son  of  the  Colonel  Careless  who  hid  Charles  II. 
in  the  oak,  and  was  allowed  to  change  his  name  to  Carlos 
as  a  reward ;  of  Thomas  Smith,  Master  of  Requests  to 
James  L,  1609;  of  Bishop  Gibson,  1748;  Bishop  Porteus, 
1S09  ;  and  Bishop  Blomfield,  1857.  An  admirable  Flemish 
brass  commemorates  Margaret  Swanders,  1529.  In  the 
churchyard  are  the  monuments  of  Sir  Francis  Child,  17 13, 
and  of  Theodore  Hook,  1841.  On  the  easte»a  side  of 
the  church  are  the  tombs  of  a  number  of  the  bishops 
(beginning  at  the  church  wall) — Lowth,  1787  ;  Terrick, 
1777;  Randolph,  1813;  Gibson,  1748;  Sherlock,  1761  ; 
Compton,  1713;  Hayter,  1762;  Robinson,  1723.  Near 
the  tomb  of  his  patron,  Bishop  Compton,  lies  Richard 
Fiddes,  author  of  the  Life  of  Cardinal  Wolsey.  In  the 
grave  of  Bishop  Lowth  rests  his  friend  Wilson,  Bishop  of 
Bristol,  1792. 

A  drive  through  an  avenue,  or  (from  the  church)  a  raised 
causeway  called  "  the  Bishop's  Walk,"  leads  to  Fulham 
Palace,  the  ancient  manor-house  of  the  Bishops  of  London. 
A  gateway  is  the  approach  to  a  quaint  picturesque  court- 
yard surrounded  by  low  buildings  of  red  and  black  bricks, 
erected  by  Bishop  Fitzjames  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VII. 
The  interior  of  the  palace  is  unimportant,  though  the 
Library  contains  a  number  of  episcopal  portraits,  including 
that  of  Bishop  Ridley,  whose  four  years'  residence  here  is 
one  of  the  most  interesting  periods  in  the  history  of  the 
palace.  Under  his  hospitable  roof  the  mother  and  sister  of 
his  predecessor,  Bonner,  continued  to  reside,  ever-welcome 


FULHAM  rALACE. 


400 


guests  at  his  table,  where  the  place  of  honour  was  always 
reserved  for  "  our  mother,  Bonner."  The  palace  gardens 
were  filled  with  rare  shrubs  by  Bishop  Grindal,  who  was  a 
great  gardener  :  they  still  contain  a  very  fine  cork-tree.  A 
picturesque  garden-gateway  bears  the  arms  of  Bishop  Fitz- 
james.  The  Chapel,  in  the  garden,  was  built  by  Butteriield 
fur  Bishop  Tait,  1867. 


Courtyard,  Fulham  Palace. 


In  the  water-meadows  and  on  the  river  banks,  near 
Fulham  Palace,  may  be  recognised  many  of  the  familiar 
subjects  in  the  pictures  of  Do  Wint,  who  repeated  them 
over  and  over  again.  In  ascending  the  river  to  Fulham  a 
perfect  gallery  of  De  Wints  is  seen. 

Near  the  palace  is  Craven  Cottage,  much  admired  when 
it  was  built  by  Lady  Craven,  afterwards  Margravine  of 
Anspach.     At  Parsorfs    Great,  a  hamlet  of   Fulham.  lived 


Soo  WALKS  IN  LONDON. 

Lord  Mordaunt,  whose  tomb  is  in  the  church,  and  his 
son,  the  famous  Earl  of  Peterborough.  Peterborough 
House  has  been  rebuilt.  On  the  same  side  of  the  green 
Samuel  Richardson  lived  trom  1755  to  his  death  in 
1 761.I 


INDEX. 


Academy,  Royal,  i.  42,  74 

Al<i<'rmanbury,  i.  231 
Atdgate,  i.  345 
Alley,  Change,  i.  362 

Cranborne,  ii.  7 

Duck's  Foot,  i.  430 

Great  Hell,  i.  247 

Gunpowder,  i.  113 

Halt-Moon,  i.  301 

Hope  and  Anchor,  i.  418 

Panyer,  i.  158 
Atmack  s,  ii.  68 

Almonry,  The  "Westminster,  ii.  371 
Almshouses,  Countess  of  Kent's,  i.  XTJ 

Emery  Hill's,  ii.  400 

Lady  Dacre's,  ii.  437 

Palmer's,  ii.  356 

Sir  A.  Tudde's,  i.  295 

Sir  J.  Milborne's,  i.  347 

Vandun's,  ii.  398 
Alsatia,  i.  114 
Arcade,  Burlington,  ii.  78 
Arch,  Green  Park,  ii.  113 

Marble,  ii.  100 
Artillery  Ground,  i.  303 
Astley's  Amphitheatre,  ii.  404 
Austin  Friars,  i.  277 

B. 

Bank,  Child's,  i.  102 

Coutts',  i.  18 

of  F.ngland,  i.  256 

Gosling's,  i.  102 

Hoare's,  i.  102 
Bankside,  i.  459 
Barbican,  i.  272 
Bath,  Cold  Bath,  i.  2it 

Lord  Essex's,  i.  37 

Queen  Anne's,  ii.  160 

Kcman,  in  the  Strand,  i.  37 
Battersea,  ii.  448 
Bayswater,  ii.  104 

fordbury,  i.  19 
Belgravia,  ii.  108 


Bermondsey,  i.  466 
Bethnal  Green,  i.  317 
Bevis  Marks,  i.  319 
Billingsgate,  i.  422 
Blackfriars,  i.  438 
Bloomsbury,  ii.  163 
Boltons,  the,  ii.  497 

Brewery,  Barclay  and  Perkins's,  \.  467 
Truman,  Hanbury,  and  Buxton'*,  L 

_  .,    314 

Bridewell,  i.  116 

Bridge,  Albert,  the,  ii.  450 

Battersea,  ii.  448 

Blackfriars,  i.  438 

New  Chelsea,  ii.  450 

London,  i.  447 

Southwark,  i.  434 

Waterloo,  1.  474 

Westminster,  ii.  40a 
Brokenwharf,  i.  436 
Bucklersbury,  i.  250 
Buildings,  Beaufort,  i.  28 

Craven,  i.  93 

Cripplegate,  i.  273 

Pitt's,  ii.  462 

Southampton,  ii.  191 

Westmoreland,  i.  264 
Bunhill  iields,  i.  303 

c. 

Camden  Town,  i.  221 

C  anonbury,  i.  217 

Castle  Baynard,  i.  435 

Cartoons,  the,  ii.482 

Cathedral,  St.  George's,  Roman  Catholic, 
ii.  405 
St.  Paul's,  i.  128 

Cemetery,  Bunhill  Fields,  i.  305 
Friends',  i.  312 
Kensal  Green,  ii.  143 
St.  George,  Hanover  Square,  ii.  104 
St.  George  the  Martyr,  ii.  187 
St.  Giles  in  the  Fields,  ii.  147 

Chamber,  Jerusalem,  ii.  361 

Chambers,  Albany,  ii.  73 


502 


INDEX. 


Chambers,  Crosby  Hall,  i.  287 

Chapel,  of  Chelsea  Hospital,  ii.  427 
Clement's  Inn,  i.  44. 
Foundling  Hospital,  ii.  187 
Fulham  Palace,  ii.499 

Chapel,  Grosvenor,  ii.  96 
Lambe's,  i.  217 
of  Lambeth  Palace,  ii.  417 
Lincoln's  Inn,  i.  84 
Marlborough  Gardens,  ii.  53 
the  Mercers',  i.  243 
Moravian,  i.  107 
Orange  Street,  ii.  128 
of  the  Pyx,  ii.  353 
Rolls,  i.  79 

1\  oyal  of  St.  James's,  ii.  59 
Royal  of  Whitehall,  ii.  217 
St.  Catherine's,  Regent's  Park,  ii.  140 
St.  Catherine's,  Westminster,  ii.  358 
St.  Etheldreda,  ii.  200 
St.  John  in  the  Tower,  i.  392 
St.  Patrick,  Soho,  ii.  151 
St.  Peter  ad  Vincula,  i.  490 
St.  Stephen,  Westminster,  ii.  374 
St.  Thomas  of  Aeon,  i.  244 
Sardinian,  i.  91 
Serjeants'  Inn,  i.  79 
Spa  Fields,  i.  212 

Chapter  House,  Westminster,  ii.  347 

Charterhouse,  the,  i.  194 

Cheapside,  i.  223 

Chelsea,  ii.  425 

Chichester  Rents,  i.  82 

Church,  Allhallows,  Barking,  i.  363 
Allhallows,  Bread  Street,  i.  324 
Allhallows  the  Great,  i.  431 
Allhallows,  Lombard  Street,  i.  335 
Allhallows  in  the  Wall,  i.  276 
All  Saints,  Fulham,  ii.  497 
All  Saints,  Margaret  Street,  ii.  148 
All  Souls,  Langham  Place,  ii.  139 
Austin  Friars,  i.  277 
Chelsea  Old,  ii.  434 
Holy  Trinity,  Minories,  i.  415 
Irvingite,  ii.  184 
Martyrs'  Memorial,  i.  213 
St.  Alban,  Holborn,  ii.  193 
St.  Alban,  Wood  Street,  i.  229 
St.  Alphege,  London  Wall,  i.  275 
St.  Andrew,  Holborn,  ii.  193 
St.  Andrew,  Wells  Street,  ii.  149 
St.  Andrew  Undershaft,  i.  357 
St.  Anne,  Soho,  ii.  132 
St.  Anne  in  the  Willows,  i.  259 
St.  Antholin's,  i.  328 
St.  Augustine,  i.  326 
St.  Bartholomew  the  Great,  i.  182 
St.  Bartholomew  the  Less,  i.  189 
St.  Bartholomew,  by  the  Exchange, 

i.  429 
St.  Benet,  Paul's  Wharf,  i.  437 
St.  Botolph,  Aldersgate,  i.  260 
St.  Botolph,  Aldgate,  i.  347 
St.  Botolph,  Bishopsgate,  i.  298 
St.  Bride,  i.  118 


Church,  St.  Catherine  Coleman,  i.  34a 
St.  Catherine  Cree,  i   354 
St.  Clement  Danes,  i.  41 
St.  Clement,  Eastchcap,  i.  332 
St.  Dionis  Backi  hurch,  i.  336 
St.  Dunstan  in  the  I  nst,  i.  423 
St.  Dunstan  in  the  West,  i.  106 
St.  Dunstan,  Stepney,  i.  351 
St.  Edmund,  i.  335 
St.  Ethelburga,  i.  298 
St.  Faith,  i.  132 
St.  Gabriel,  i.  336 
St.  George,  Bloomsbury,  ii.  183 
St.  (Jeorge,  Hanover  Square,  ii.  13! 
St.  George,  Southwark,  i.  466 
St.  Giles,  Cripplegate,  i.  26g 
St.  Giles  in  the  Fields,  ii.  155 
St.  Gregory,  i.  132 
St.  Helen's,  Great,  i.  288 
St.  James,  Clerkenwell,  i.  209 
St.  James,  Garlickhithe,  i.  435 
St.  James,  Piccadilly,  ii.  71 
St.  John,  Clerkenwell,  i.  203 
St.  John  the  Evangelist,  ii.  190 
St.  John,  Westminster,  ii.  399 
St.  Lawrence,  Jewry,  i.  234 
St.  Leonard,  Shoreditch,  i.  315 
St.  Magnus,  i.  429 
St.  Margaret,  Lothbury,  i.  257 
St.  Margaret  Pattens,  i.  336  _ 
St.  Margaret,  Westminster,  ii.  391 
St.  Martin  in  the  F'ields,  ii.  2 
St.  Martin,  Ludgate,  i.  125 
St.  Mary,  Abchurch,  i.  3,1 
St.  Mary,  Aldermanbury,    . 
St.  Mary  Aldermary,  i.  3  6 
St.  Mary,  Battersea,  ii.  .\\'i 
St.  Mary  le  Bone,  ii.  1 12 
*        St.  Mary  le  Bow,  i.  232 
St.  Mary  at  Hill,  i.  424 
St.  Mary,  Islington,  i.  217 
St.  Mary,  Kennington,  ii.  462 
St.  Mary,  Lambeth,  ii.  407 
St.  Mary  Overy,  i.  450 
St.  Mary,  Soho,  ii.  153 
St.  Mary  le  Strand,  i.  38 
St.  Mary,  WhitechapeT,  i.  349 
St.  Mary  Woolnoth,  i.  33; 
St.  Mary  Magdalen,  Old  Fish  Street 

i.  32.1 
St.  Michael,  i.  434 
St.  Michael  Bassishaw,  i.  275 
St.  Michael,  Cornhill,  i.  361 
St.  Michael  le  Quern   i.  157 
St.  Michael,  Queenhithe,  i.  436 
St.  Michael,  Wood  Street,  i.  228 
St.  Mildred,  Bread  Street,  i.  324 
St.  Mildred,  Poultry,  i.  249 
St.  Nicholas  Cole  Abbey,  i.  323 
St.  Olave,  Hart  Street,  i.  341 
St.  Olave,  Old  Jewry,  i.  246 
St.  Pancras  in  the  Fields    ii.  14; 
St.  Pancras,  New  Road.  ii.  143 
St.  Paul,  Covent  Garden,  i.  22 
St.  Peter,  Clerkenwell,  i.  2:3 


INDEX. 


5"3 


Church,  St.  Peter,  Cornhill,  i.  361 
St.  Peter,  Paul's  Wharf,  i.  43/ 
St.  Saviour,  Southwark,  i.  450 
St.  Sepulchre,  i.  1O9 
St.  Mephen,  Coleman  Street,  l.  C4/ 
St.  Stephen,  Walbrook,  i.  255 
St.  Stephen,  Westminster,  ii.  400 
St   Switbin,  i.  329 
St   Vedast,  i.  220 
Temple,  i.  63 

Churchyard,     Allhallows     Staining,     i. 

3.37 

St.  Anne,  Soho,  ii.  132 

St.  Giles,  ii.  155 

St.  Giles,  Cripplegate,  i.  270 

St.  Martin's,  ii.  4 

St.  .Margaret,  Westminster,  ii.  308 

St.  Matthew,  Friday  Street,  i.  230 

St.  I  ancras,  ii.  145 

St.  Pancras  in  Pancras  Lane,  i.  242 

St   Paul's,  i.  156 

St.  Stephen's,  i.  246 
Circus,  Finsburjr,  i.  301 

Piccadilly,  ii.  124 
Clerkenwell,  i.  206 
Cloisters,  Charterhouse,  i.  194 

Grey  Friars,  i.  164 

Westminster,  ii.  35  t 
Close,  Bartholomew,  i-  191 
Club,  Army  and  Navy,  ii 

Arthur's,  ii.  67 

Athenaeum,  ii.  48 

Beefsteak,  i.  21 

Poodle's,  ii.  68 

P, rooks',  ii.  68 

Carlton,  ii.  49 

Conservative,  ii.  67 

Garrick,  i.  135 

Guards',  ii.  49 

Kit  Kat,  i.  104 

Literary,  ii.  51,  131 

Naval  and  Military,  ii.  82 

New  University,  ii.  68 

Oxford  and  Cambridge,  ii.  49 

Reform,  ii.  48 

Travellers',  ii.  48 

United  Sri  vi'  .  ,  ii.47 

White's,  ii.  69 
Cockpit,  the,  ii.  223 
Coffee-house,  Bu  ton's,  i. 27 

Chapter,  i.  156 

Don  Saltero's,  ii.  431 

Garawaj  's,  i.  362 

Jonathan's,  i.  362 

Lloyd's,  i.  253 

Tom's,  i.  27 

Will's,  i.  26 

\\  Ii  te's  (1  ocolate,  ii.  69 
Cold  11  n  1  our,  i.  430 
Coll  'ge,  Gresham,  i.  296 

llcalds',  i.  155 

ol  I'1  .  i.  158 

and  St.  Maiy,  i.  \i\ 

5     1,  i. 

Ol  .-111 -eons,  i.  95 


College,  University,  ii.  Vj\ 
Column,  DuKe  ot  V  oik's,  ii.  48 

-Wlson,  ii.  I 

Westminster  Memorial,  ii.  ,  o 
Common,  Kensington,  ii.  400 
Conduit,  Bayswater,  1.  $w 

Cornhill,  i.  300 

<  i  1  eat,  1.  224 

Little,  i.  224 

St.  James's,  ii.  49 
Convent,  Augustinian,  i.  277 

PI. 11  k  Friars,  i.  438 

Carthusian,  i.  192 

Cluniac,  i.  468 

Crossed  Friars,  i.  344 

Grey  Friars,  i.  162 

Poor  Clares,  i.  417 

Whitefriars,  i-   114 
Corner,  Hyde  Park,  ii.  107  . 

Pie,  i.  172 

Poets',  ii.  235 
Cottage,  Craven,  ii.  499 
Court,  Brick,  Temple,  i.  7a 

Bolt,  i.  112 

Cecil,  ii.  7 

Crane,  i.  108 

Devereux,  i.  50 

Dorset,  ii.  227 

Drury,  i.  39 

I      -  on,  i.  107 

Flower  de  Luce,  i.  108 

Founders',  i.  256 

Fountain,  Temple,  i.  73 

Fox,  ii.  191 

Green  Arbour,  i.  169 

Hare,  i.  266 

Hare,  Temple,  i.  70 

Ingram,  i.  336 

Johnson's,  i.  112 

Oxford,  i.  256 

Poppin's,  i.  114 

St.  Martin's,  i.  126;  ii.  128 

St.  Peter's,  ii.  6 

Salisbury,  i.  115 

Tanfield,  Temple,  i.  71 

Wine  Office,  i.  112 

White  Hart,  i.  333 
Court-room,  Barber-Surgeons',  i.  26a 
Covent  Garden,  i.  .9 
Cripplegate,  i.  268 
Cross,  in  Beech  Lane,  i.  268 

Charing,  i.  1 

Cheapside,  i.  224 

St.  Paul's,  i.  151 
Crutched  Fi  iais,  i.  344 
Crypt,  Bow  Church,  i.  23a 

( rerard's  Hall,  i.  323 

Guildhall,  i.  240 

Lambeth  Chapel,  ii.  417 

St.  lames  in  the  Wall,  i.  337 

St.  '.Michael,  Aldgate,  i.  345 

St.  Paul's,  i.  - 

St.  Stephen's,  Westminster,  ii.  385 

Wes  minster  Abbey,  ii.  340 
Custom  House,  the,  i.  421 


5°4 


INDEX. 


a 


Deanery,  St.  Paul's,  i.  155 

Westminster,  ii.  360 
Docks,  the,  i.  418  _ 
Domesday  Book,  i.  108 
Drive,  the  Queen's,  ii.  107 


E. 

Entry,  Church,  i.  442 
Exchange,  the  Coal,  i.  423 

New,  i.  16 

Royal,  i.  251 

Stock,  i.  256 

Wool,  i.  246 
Exchequer,  the,  ii.  22J 
Exhibition,  Madame  Tussaud's,  sr,  96 

F. 

Fair,  Bartholomew,  i.  173 

Cloth,  i.  iqo 

Milk,  ii.  120 
Farm,  Chalk,  ii.  141 

Ebury,  ii.  108 
Fields,  Bonner's,  i.  317 

Finsbury,  i.  275 

The  Five,  ii.  109 

Spa,  i.  212 
Fire  Brigade,  Metropolitan,  1.  326 
Fountain,  the  Buxton,  ii.  401 

of  St.  Lawrence,  i.  334 

in  the  Temple,  i.  73 

Trafalgar  Square,  i.  I 
Friars,  Austin,  i.  277 
Fulham,  ii.  497 
Fu)  wood's  Rents,  ii.  407 


Gallery  of  British  Artists,  ii.  45 

Grosvenor,  ii.  79 

National,  ii.  7 

National  Portrait,  ii.  486 
Gate,  Aldgate,  i.  345 

Aldersgate,  i.  258 

Bishopsgate,  i.  298 

Cripplegate,  i.  208 

Ludgate,  i.  123 

Newgate,  i.  166  _ 

Queen  Anne's,  ii.  401 

Temple  Bar,  i.  51 

Storey's,  ii.  401 
Gate  House,  Westminster,  ii.  568 
Gateway  of  Essex  House,  i.  50 

King  Street,  ii.  204 

of  Lincoln's  Inn,  i.  82 

of  St.  James's  Palace,  ii.  53 

St.  John's,  i.  200 

Temple,  Inner,  i.  61 

Temple,  Middle,  i.61 

Whitehall  (Holbein's),  ii.  2C4 

of  York  House,  i.  14 


Gardens,  Baldwin's,  ii.  193 

Botanic  (Chelsea),  ii.  429 

Brompton  Nursery,  ii.  497 

of  Buckingham  Palace,  ii..il$ 

of  Chelsea  Hospital,  ii.  426 

Cremorne,  ii.  448 

of  Gray's  Inn,  i.  ioo_ 

of  Holland  House,  ii.  472 

Horticultural,  ii.  496 

Kensington,  ii.  4S4 

of  Lambeth  Palace,  ii.  420 

Marylebone,  ii.  143 

Paris,  i.  460 

Privy,  ii.  220 

Ranelagh,  ii.  428 

St.  James's  Palace,  ii.  61 

Spring,  ii.  121 

Temple,  i.  76 

Vauxhall,  ii.  422 

Westminster  College,  ii,  358 

Zoological,  ii.  141 
Great  St.  Helen's,  i.  287 
Green,  Kensington  Palace,  ii.  460 

Parson's,  ii.  499 
Grey  Eriars,  i.  162 
Grove,  Lisson,  ii.  142 

Westbourne.  ii.  104 
Guildhall,  the,  i.  236 

H. 

Hackney,  i.  317 

Hall,  Agricultural,  i.  215 

Albert,  ii.  453 

Copped,  ii.  422 

Crosby,  i.  282 

the  Egyptian,  Mansion  House,  I.  254 

Exeter,  i.  28 

the  Flaxman,  ii.  164 

Gerard's,  i.  323 

Hicks',  i.  199 

Piccadilla,  ii.  70 

the  Welsh,  i.  240 

Westminster,  ii.  380 
Halls  of  City  Companies — 

Apothecaries',  i.  440 

Armourers',  i.  247 

Barber-Surgeons',  i.  262 

Brewers',  i.  230 

Carpenters',  i.  276 

Clothworkers',  i.  337 

Coopers',  i.  276 

Curriers',  i.  273 

Cutlers',  i.  433 

Drapers',  i.  257 

Dyers',  i.  432 

Fishmongers',  i.  445 ' 

Goldsmiths',  i.  226 

Haberdashers',  i.  230 

Ironmongers',  i.  339 

Leathersellers',  i.  295 

Mercers',  i.  244 

Merchant  Tailors',_  i.  28* 

Painter-Stainers',  i.  435 

Parish  Clerks',  i.  435 


INDEX. 


5°S 


Halls  of  City  Companies— 

ii'  wtercrs',  i.  356 

Pinners',  i.  279 

Saddlers',  i.  242 

Skinners',  i.  432 

Stationers',  i.  126 

Vintners',  i.  434 
Hangman's  Gains,  i.  418 
Haymarket,  the,  ii.  46 
Highbury  Barn,  i.  216 
Hill,  College,  i.  433 

Constitution,  ii.  113 

Dowgate,  i.  432 

Fish  Street,  1.  424 
Hill,  Hay,  ii.  84 

Primrose,  ii.  141 

Snow,  ii.  201 

St.  Lawrence  Poultney,  i.  430 
Hockley  in  the  Hole,  i.  212 
Holborn,  ii.  188 
Horse  Guards,  the,  ii.  221 
Hospital,  Bethlcm,  ii.  404 

Bridewell,  i.  116 

Chelsea,  ii.  425 

Christ's,  i.  162 

Consumptive,  ii.  496 

Foundling,  the,  ii.  185 

Guy's,  i.  460 

King's  College,  i.  95 

St.  Bartholomew's,  1.  188 

St.  Giles',  ii.  154 

St.  Katherinc's,  ii.  140 

St.  Thomas's,  ii.  406 
Houndsditch,  i.  318 

House,  of  the  Abbots  of  Westminster,  ii. 
360 

of  Alderman  Beckford,  ii.  152 

of  Alderman  Boy  dell,  i.  24a 

of  Alderman  Wood,  ii.  15a 

Alford,  ii.  4S2 

Ancaster,  i.  91 

Apsley,  ii.  109 

Archbishop's,  ii.  424 

Arlington,  ii.  114 

Arklow,  ii.  102 

Ashburnhara,  ii.  367 

Baci  n,  i.  265 

Bangor,  i.  114 

of  James  Barry,  ii.  148 

Bath,  ii.  82 

Beaufort,  ii.  431 

Berkeley,  ii.  79 

of  Miss  Berry,  ii.  gj 

of  Bloomfield,  i.  247 

Bourdon,  ii.  88 

Bridgewater,  ii.  61 

of  Ldmund  Burke,  ii.  131 

Burlington,  ii.  73 

Burnet,  i.  206 

of  Dr.  Burncy,  ii.  129 

of  B-Ton  (his  birthplace),  il,  99 

Cambridge,  ii.  82 

Camden,  ii.  460 

Canonburv,  i.  219 

Carlisle,  i!   151 


House,  Carlton,  ii.  47 

of  Thomas  Carlyle,  ii.  447 

of  Lord  Castlereagh,  ii.  50 

of  Chantrey,  ii.  82 

Chesterfield,  ii.  94 

of  Sir  R.  Clayton,  i.  346 

Cleveland,  ii.  50 

of  Lord  Ciive,  ii.  87 

of  Commons,  ii.  387 

of  Cosway,  ii.  51 

of  Cowley,  i.  106 

of  Mrs.  Cromwell,  ii.  226 

of  the  De  la  Poles,  i.  430 

Devonshire,  ii.  79 

of  Earls  of  Devonshire,  i.  30Z 

Dorchester,  ii.  106 

of  Drayton,  i.  106 

Drury,  i.  92 

of  Uryden,  ii.  130,  134 

Dudley,  ii.  106 

Durham,  i.  15 

East  India,  i.  360 

Falconberg,  ii.  15a 

Fife,  ii.  219 

of  Flaxman,  ii.  149 

Foley,  ii.  139 

of  Sir  P.  Francis,  ii.  50 

of  Fuseli,  ii.  6 

of  Gainsborough,  ii.  51 

Gloucester,  ii.  82 

of  Goldsmith,  i.  169 

of  Gondomar,  i.  348 

Goring,  ii.  114 

Gresham,  i.  251,  273 

Grosvcnor,  ii.  91 

of  Nell  Gwynne,  ii.  50 

of  Hans  Jarobscn,  i.  348 

Harcourt,  ii.  99 

Haunted,  in  Berkeley  Square,  U.  87 

Hertford,  ii.  98 

of  Hogarth,  ii.  127 

Holland,  ii.  463 

of  John  Hunter,  ii.  127 

of  Lady  Huntingdon,  i.  21a 

Kensington,  ii.  462 

Kent,  ii.  451 

of  Kosciusko,  ii.  127 

Lansdowne,  ii.  84 

Lauderdale,  i.  266 

of  the  Duke  of  Leeds,  ii.  49 

Leicester,  ii.  125 

of  Linacre,  i.  329 

Lindsey,  i.  91 

Lindsey  (Chelsea),  ii.  446 

London,  i.  266 

of  Lords,  ii.  388 

of  Lord  Macaulay,  it.  463 

Marlborough,  ii.  52 

of  Sir  T.  Mayerne,  ii.  446 

Lord  Mayor's  Banqueting,  ii.  100 

of  Milton  in  St.  Bride's,  1.  119 

of  Milton  in  Petty  France,  ii.  402 

of  Lord  Mohun,  ii.*i3o 

Montagu,  ii.  97,  224 

of  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu,  ii.  99 


$ob 


INDEX. 


House,  of  Sir  T.  More,  ii.  431 
of  Napoleon  III.,  ii.  68 
Newcastle,  i.  90 
of  Sir  I.  Newton,  ii.  129 
Norfolk,  ii.  50 
Northumberland,  i.  6 
Northumberland,  of  the  Earls  of,  i. 

344  „    „     ,    .. 

of  Sir  R.  Peel,  ti.  221 
Peterborough,  ii.  424 
of   Lord  Peterborough  at  Parson's 

Green,  ii.  409 
of  Sir  P.  Pindar,  i.  299 
Portsmouth,  i.  94 
Powis,  ii.  88 

of  Princess  Amelia,  ii-  00 
of  the  Duke  of  Queensberry,  ii.  82 
of  Sir  J.  Reynolds,  ii.  6, 127 
Rochester,  i.  J59 
of  G   Romney,  ii.  99 
of  Roubiliac,  ii.  6 
of  the  first  Royal  Academy,  ii.  48 
of  the  Royal  Society,  i.  109 
Salisbury,  i.  19 
Schomberg,  ii.  51 
Shaftesbury,  i.  264 
Shakspeare's,  i.  266 

Somerset,  i.  33 

Southampton,  ii.  igi 

Stafford,  ii.  65 

Stratheden,  ii.  452 

Thanet,  i.  264 

of  Hr  J.  Thornhill,  ii.  6,  127 

of  Turner,  at  Chelsea,  ii.  427 

of  Vanbrugh,  ii.  220 

of  General  Wade,  ii.  78 

Wallingford,  ii.  221 

of  Horace  Walpole,  ii.  87 

of  Sir  R.  Walpole,  ii.  69 

of  Izaak  Walton,  i.  106 

White,  the,  ii.  151 

of  Sir  R.  Whittington,  i.  273,  341 

Winchester,  i.  278,  .158 

Winchester  (at  Chelsea),  ii.  431 

Worcester,  i.  28 

York,  i.  11 

of  Count  Zinzendorf,  i.  146 
Houses  ot  Pailiainent,  ii.  365 
Hoxton,  i.  317 


Infirmary,  the,  of  Westminster,  ii.  357 
Inns  of  Court  and  Chanceiy— 

Barnard's,  i.  98 

Clifford's,  i.  70 

Furnival's,  i.  08 

Gray's,  i.  98 

Lincoln's,  i.  82 

L\  on's,  i.  40 

Scroope's,  i.  98 

.'■erjeants',  i.  79 

Staple,  i.  96 

Temple,  Inner,  i.  $3 


Inns  of  Court  and  Chancer 

Temple,  Middle,  i.  71 

Thavies',  i.  98 
Institution,  Royal,  ii.  70 

United  Service,  ii.  219 
Irvin-ite  Church,  ii.  184 
Island,  Duck,  ii.  119 

Thorney,  ii.  228 
Islington,  i.  215 


Kennington,  ii.  404 
Kensington  Gore,  ii.  ■-] 
King's  Jewel  House,  ii.  37s 
Knightsbridge,  ii.  451 


Lambeth,  ii.  404 
Lane,  Basing,  i.  323 
Billiter,  i.  345 
Birchin,  i.    35 
Botolph,  i.  423 
Canonbury,  i.  .77 
Carter,  i.  442 
Chancery,  1.  78 
Clement's,  i.  33$ 
Cloak,  i.  433 
Cock,  i.  172 
Cree,  i.  356 
Distaff,  i.  323 
Drury,  i.  92 
Eldenesse,  i.  159 
Elms,  ii.  105 
Fetter,  i.  107 
Field,  i.  123 
Golden,  i.  272 
Gravel,  i.  348 
Gray's  Inn,  ii.  191 
Gutter,  i.  227 
Hog,  ii.  153 
Ivy  Bridge,  i.  18 
Kirion,  i.  327 
Lad,  i.  232 
LewknoPs,  ii.  160 
Maiden,  ».  27 
Mark,  i.  340 
Middle  Temple,  i.  61 
Milio-d,  i.  48 
Mincing,  i.  337 
Nightingale,  i.  347 
Pancras,  i.  242 
Petticoat,  i.  348 
Philpot,  i.  336 
Pudding,  i.  429 
Rood,  i.  331 
St.  Anne's,  ii.  ;;i 
St.  John's,  i.  1  eg 
St.  Martin's,  ii.  6 
St.  Pancras,  i.  327 
Seacoal,  i.  336 
Serthin  ;,  i.  349 
Shire,  i.  104 


INDEX. 


5°7 


Lane,  Shoe,  i.  113 

Soper,  i.  242 

Strand,  i.  37 

Suffolk,  i.  430 

Three  Cranes,  i.  434 

Tyburn,  ii.  83 

Warwick,  i.  158 ' 

Water,  i.  440 
Library,  British  Museum,  ii.  18a 

Charterhouse,  i.  196 

Christ's  Hospital,  i.  165 

Grenville,  ii.  182 

Guildhall,  i.  241 

King's,  ii.  181 

Lambeth,  ii.  412 

Lincoln's  Inn,  i.  85 

Middle  Temple,  i.  76 

Royal  Society,  ii.  76 

Society  of  Antiquaries,  ii.  78 

Westminster  Abbey,  ii.  356 

Westminster  School,  ii.  366 

Williams',  i.  272 
Lincoln's  Inn,  i.  82 
Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  i.  85 
Lions  of  Landseer,  ii.  2 
Little  Britain,  i.  260 
Lloyd's,  i.  253 
Lodge,  Airlic,  ii.  463 

Argyll,  ii.463 

Holly,  ii.  4  3 

Lowther,  ii.  452 
London  Stone,  i.  329 
London  Wall,  i.  273 
Long  Acre,  ii.  114 
Lord's  Cricket  Ground,  ii.  14S 
Lothbury,  i.  256 
Ludgate,  i.  123 

M. 

Mansion  House,  the,  i.  254 
Manufacture  of  Chelsea  China,  ii.  448 
Manufacture  of  Doulton  Faience,  ii.  422 
Market,  Billingsgate,  i.  422 

Clare,  i.  44 

Hungerford,  i.  11 

iimes's,  ii.  47 
eadenhall,  i.  352 

Newgate,  i.  161 

Oxford,  ii.  148 

Shepherd's,  ii.  83 

Smithfield,  i.  172 
Marylebone,  ii.  142 
Muyfair,  ii.  83 
Mavpolc,  the,  in  the  Strand,  i.  38 

Undershaft,  i.  -554 
Meeting  House,  Quakers',  i.  333 
Memorial,  Albert,  ii.  454 

Westminster  Scholars',  ii.  400 
Mint,  the  Royal,  i.  418 
Monastery,  Blackfriars,  i.  438 
Monument,  the,  i.  424 
Moorfields,  i.  ;,oi 
Museum,  the  British,  ii.  165 

City,  i.  241 


Museum,  College  of  Surgeons,  i.  55 
Don  S.ihi  10's,  ii,  4ji 
The  india,  ii.  495 
London  Missionary',  '•  3H 
Soane,  i.  86 

South  Kensington,  ii.  476 
United  Service,  ii.  219 


N. 

National  Gallery,  ii.  7 
New  Law  Courts,  the,  i.  78 


Old  Bailey,  i.  168 

Old  Chelsea  Bun  House,  ii.  419 

Old  Jewry,  i.  246 

Opera,  Italian,  ii.  46 

Office,  Admiralty,  ii.  221 

Colonial,  ii.  223 

East  India,  ii.  223 

Foreign,  ii.  223 

Home,  ii.  223 

Lost  Property,  ii.  220 

Police,  ii.  223 

Record,  i.  108 

War.  ii.  49 
Offices  of  Messrs.  Cubitt,  ii.  lot 


P. 

Paddington,  ii.  142 
Palace,  Bridewell,  i.  117 

Buckingham,  ii.  11 J 

Chelsea,  ii    430 

Fulham,  ii.  490 

Kennington,  ii.  404 

Kensington,  ii.  456 

Lambeth,  ii.  410 

St.  James's,  ii.  53 

Savoy,  i.  29 

of  the  Tower,  :. 

Westminster,  Ni  w,  ii.  377 

Westminster,  OM.  ii.  375 

Whitehall,  ii.  202 
Pall  Mall,  ii.  43 
Park,  I'attersea,  ii.  450 

Bellsize,  ii.  163 

Green,  ii.  113 

Hyde,  ii.  105 

Marylebone,  ii.  142 

Regent's,  ii.  139 

St.  James's,  ii-  115 

Westbourne.  ii.  104 
Passage,  Jerusalem,  :.  208 

Lansdowne,  ii.  .-i) 

Sweedon's,  ii.  273 
Pentonville,  i.  220 
Petty  France,  ii.  40' 
Place,  Argyll,  ii.  :  17 

Bedford, 

Canonbuiy,  i.  no 


5o8 


INDEX. 


Place,  Connaught,  it.  101 

Duke's,  i.  319 

Ely,  ii.  196  _ 

Hamilton,  ii.  83 

Langham,  ii.  139 

Palsgrave,  i.  51 

Park,  ii.  69 

Portland,  ii.  139 

Rathbone,  ii.  149 

St.  James's,  ii.  69 

Stratford,  ii.  100 

Wardrobe,  i.  442 

Waterloo,  ii.  47 

Windsor,  i.  264 
Piccadilly,  ii.  7° 
Post  Office,  the,  i.  226 
Priory,  Cbristchurch,  i.  356 

Holy  Trinity,  i.  356  _ 

St.  Bartholomew's,  i.  180 

St.  John's,  i.  199 
Prison,  Clerkenwell,  i.  211 

Cold  Bath  Fields,  i.  212 

Fleet,  i.  120 

the  Lollards,  ii.  419 

Marshalsea,  i.  465 

Millbank,  ii.  424 

Newgate,  i.  166 

Pentonville,  i.  220 

Tothill  Fields,  ii.  400 
Poultry,  i.  249 

Q. 

Quadrant,  the,  ii.  124 
Queenhithe,  i.  435 

R. 

Ratcliffe  Highway,  i.  419 
Record  Office,  i.  108 
Restaurant^  Pontack's,  i.  106 
Ring,  the,  ii.  108 
Row,  Bolton,  ii.  84 

Budge,  i.  328 

Butchers',  i.  41 

Canon,  ii.  227 

Cheyne,  ii.  447 

Church,  i.  340 

Cleveland,  ii.  6t 

Cooper's,  i.  344 

Paternoster,  i.  156 

Rochester,  ii.  400 

Rotten,  ii.  107 
Road,  Brompton,  ii.  476 

Campden  Hill,  ii.  463 

Commercial,  i.  350 

Edgeware,  ii.  102 

Goswell,  i.  266 

Horseferry,  ii.  400 

Theobald's,  ii.  189   _ 

Tottenham  Court,  ii.  1G0 

Tyburn,  ii.  100 
Rolls  Chapel,  i.  79 
Rookery,  the,  ii.  158 
Rooms,  Willis's,  ii.  68 


St.  Giles's,  ii.  154 
St.  John's  Wood,  ii.  14I 
St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  1.  128 
Sanctuary  of  St,  Martin's   le  Grand,  L 
222 
of  Westminster,  ii,  369 
Of  Whitefriars,  i.  1x4 
Savoy,  the,  i.  29 
School,  Archbithop  Tenison's,  U.  197 

Charterhouse,  i.  195 

City  of  London,  i.  231 

Grey  Coat,  ii.  400 

Mercers',  i.  434 

Radcliffc,  i.  351 

St.  Paul's,  i.  153 

Westminster,  ii.  364 
Seldam,  the,  i.  234 
Serpentine,  the,  ii.  108 
Sessions  House,  Old  Bailey,  i.  168 

Clerkenwell,  i.  208 
Seven  Dials,  the,  ii.  159 
Shadwell,  i.  419 
Shop-front,  the  oldest,  i.  252. 
Shoreditch,  i.  314 
Smithfield,  i.  172 
Soane  Museum,  i.  86 
Society  of  Antiquaries,  ii.  7? 

of  Arts,  i.  17 

Astronomical,  ii.  74 

Chemical,  ii.  74 

Charity  Organization,  L  *5 

Chemical,  ii.  74 

Geological,  ii.  74 

Linnaean,  ii.  74 

Royal,  ii.  74 
Soho,  ii.  150 
Somers  Town,  i.  2i>I 
Southwark,  i.  460 
Spitalfields,  i.  312 
Square,  Audley,  ii.  94 

Bedford,  ii.  164 

Belgrave,  ii.  109 

Berkeley,  ii.  87 

Blandford,  ii.  97 

Bloomsbury,  ii.  183 

Bryanston,  ii.  97 

Cavendish,  ii.  98 

Charterhouse,  i.  191 

Cold  Bath,  i.  212 

Crosby,  i.  287 

Dorset,  ii.  97 

Finsbury,  i.  301 

Golden,  ii.  137 

Gordon,  ii.  184 

Gough,  i.  112 

Grosvenor,  ii.  89 

Hanover,  ii.  138 

Leicester,  ii.  125 

Manchester,  ii.  98 

Montagu,  ii.  98 

Myddelton,  i.  214 

Onslow,  ii.  496 

Portman,  ii.  96 


INDEX. 


509 


Square,  Prebend,  1. 117 

Printing  House,  i.  443 

Red  Lion,  ii.  189 

Russell,  ii.  184 

St.  James's,  ii.  49 

St.  John's,  i.  203 

Soho,  ii.  150 

Southampton,  ii.  183 

Spital,  i.  314 

Tavistock,  ii.  164 

Trafalgar,  ii.  1 

Trinity,  i.  367 

Vincent,  ii.  400 
%tatue  of  Achilles,  ii.  107 

of  Queen  Anne,  i.  137;  ii.  403 

ot  Lord  George  Bentinck,  ii.  99 

of  G.  Canning,  ii.  401 

of  Charles  I.,  i.  3 

of  Charles  II.,  Chelsea  Hospital,  ii. 

425 
©f  Charles  II.  by  Gibbons,  i.  232 
of  Charles  II.  at  the  Mansion  House, 

,'~?55 
of  Sir  R.  Clayton,  ii.  407 
of  Lord  Clyde,  ii.  48 
of  the  Prince  Consort,  ii.  201,  454 
of  Captain  Coram,  ii.  185 
of  William,  Duke  of  Cumberland,  ii. 

of  Edward  VI.,  i.  164^ ;  ii.  407 

of  Queen  Elizabeth,  1.  107 

of  Sir  John  Franklin,  ii.  48 

of  George  I .,  ii.  129 

of  George  III.,  ii.  46 

of  George  IV.,  ii.  2 

of  Sir  H.  Havelock,  ii.  2 

of  Lord  Herbert  of  Lea,  ii.  49 

of  James  II.,  ii.  219 

of  the  Duke  of  Kent,  ii.  139 

of  Melancholy  and  Madness,  ii.  405 

of  Sir  II .  Myddelton,  i.  217 

of  Sir  C.  Napier,  ii.  2 

of  Lord  Nelson,  ii.  1 

of  George  Peabody,  i.  279 

of  Sir  R.  Peel,  i.  223 

of  Henry  Peto,  i.  98 

of  William  Pitt,  ii.  138 

of  Richard  I.,  ii.  391 

of  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  ii.  429 

of  Queen  Victoria,  i.  232 

of  Wellington,  Hyde  Park  Corner,  ii. 

"3 

of  Wellington,   Royal  Exchange,  i. 
250 

of  William  III.,  ii.  49 

of  William  IV.,  i.  332 

of  the  Duke  of  York,  ii.  48 
Stangate,  ii.  406 
Staple  Inn,  i.  96 
Stepney,  i.  35° 
Strand,  the,  i.  5 
Street,  Addle,  1.  229 

Albemarle,  ii.  79 

Aldersgate,  i.  258 

Arlington,  ii.  60 


Street,  As'hby,  i.  213 

Audit  y,  North,  ii.  96 

Aud'.ey,  South,  ii.  94 

Baker,  ii.  98 

Basinghall,  New,  i.  275 

Bath,  Great,  i.  213 

Bennet,  ii.  69 

Berkeley,  ii.  84 

Bishopsgate,  i.  282 

Bloomsbury,  ii.  162 

Bond,  ii.  78 

Borough,  High,  i.  460 

Bow,  Covent  Garden,  i.  *6 

Bread,  i.  324 

Bridge,  Westminster,  ii.  40a 

Broad,  i.  276 

Brook,  ii.  94 

Brooke,  ii.  192 

Brydges,  i.  19 

Bull  and  Mouth,  i.  259 

Burleigh,  i.  27 

Bury,  ii.  68 

Cannon,  i.  323 

Carey,  i.  95 

Castle,  ii.  148 

Cato,  ii.  90 

Cecil,  i.  19 

Chenies,  ii.  164 

Chandos.  i.  19,  27 

Charles  (Berkeley  Square),  ii.  88 

Charles  (Drury  Lane),  ii.  160 

Charles  (Grosvenor  Square),  ii.  89 

Charles  (St.  James's),  ii.  49 

Church,  ii.  447 

Clarges,  ii.  82 

Cockspur,  ii.  45 

Coleman,  i.  246 

Compton,  ii.  150 

Cork,  ii.  78 

Cornhill,  i.  360 

Coventry,  ii.  124 

Cranbourm-,  ii.  134 

Crown,  ii.  153 

Curzon,  ii.  82 

Cutler,  i.  318 

Dean,  ii.  150 

Delahay,  ii.  227 

Denzil,  i.  44 

Devonshire,  i.  301 

Dover,  ii.  79 

Downing,  ii.  223 

Dudley,  ii.  159 

Duke  (Aldgate),  i.347 

Duke  (St.  James's),  U.  68 

Endell,  ii.  160 

Essex,  i.  48 

Exeter,  i.  27 

Falcon,  i.  261 

Farringdon,  i.  123 

Fenchurch,  i.  335 

Fish,  Old,  i.  323 

Fleet,  i.  101 

Fore,  i.  273 

Francis,  ii.  164 

Friday,  i.  230 


5io 


INDEX. 


Street,  Garrick,  ii.  135. 
Gerard,  ii.  130 
Grosvenor,  ii.  91 
Giltspur,  i.  172 
Gower,  ii.  164 
Gracechurch,  i.  333 
Great  George,  ii.  401 
Gresham,  i.  232 
Grub,  i.  273 
Half  Moon,  ii.  82 
Harley,  ii.  99 
Hart,  i.  341 
Haymarket,  ii.  46 
Holies,  i.  44 

Holies  (Cavendish  Square),  ii.  99 
Holywell,  i.  39 
Homer,  ii.  91 
Hosier,  i.  172 
Houghton,  i.  24 
Howard,  i.  48 
Howland,  ii.  162 
James,  ii.  47 
Jermyn,  ii.  7° 
Jewin,  i.  266 

Jewry,  i-  347,  .,   . 
John  (Adelphi),  1.  17 
King,  i-  235  .. 

King  (Westminster),  11.  225 
Kingsgate,  ii.  189 
King  William,  i.  333 
Knightrider,  i.  324 
Lcadenhall,  i.  354 
Lime,  i.  336 
Lombard,  i.  334 
Long,  ii.  67 
Long  Acre,  ii.  134 
Macclesfield,  ii.  13a 
Margaret,  ii.  148 
Market,  ii.  47 
Middlesex,  i.  348 
Milk,  i.  231 
Milton,  i.  273 
Monkwell,  i.  262 
Montague,  ii.  184 
Monmouth,  ii.  159 
Mount,  ii.  89 
Museum,  ii.  165 
Newgate,  i.  162 
Newport,  ii.  135 
Norfolk,  i.  47 
Old,  i.  260 
Orchard,  ii.  07 
Oxford,  ii.  100 
Panton,  ii.  47 
Portsmouth,  i.  95 
Portugal,  i.  95 
Queen,  i.  242  ;  ii.  434 
Queen,  Great,  i.  90 
Redcross,  i.  268 
Regent,  ii.  124 
St.  Andrew's,  ii.  159 
St.  George's,  i.  419 
St.  James's,  ii.  67 
St.  Mary  Axe,  i.  337 
Salisbury,  i.  19 


Street,  Seymour,  ii.  9b 

Silver,  i.  261 

Skinner,  i.  312 

Southampton,  i.  19 

Stangate,  ii.  406 

Streatham,  ii.  164 

Suffolk,  ii.  45 

Surrey,  i.  48 

Sutton,  ii.  151 

Tavistock,  i.  19 

Thames,  Lower,  i.  420 

Thames,  Upper,  i.  430 

Throgmorton,  i.  257 

'1  hreadneedle,  i   280 

Tower,  Great,  i.  363 

Upper,  i.  217 

Villiers,  i.  13 

Vine,  ii.  399 

Wardour,  ii.  149 

Warwick,  ii.  43 

Watling,  i.  326 

Wells,  ii.  149 

Wentworth,  i.  349 

Wild,  Great,  i.  92 

Wigmore,  ii.  08 

Wimpole,  ii.  98 

Winchester,  Great,  i.  297 

Windmill,  Great,  ii.  124 

Wood,  i.  227 

Wych._i.45 

York,  ii.  402 
Sundials,  of  the  Temple,  i.  76 

of  Lincoln's  Inn,  i.  83 


Tabernacle,  Whitefield's,  ii.  i6» 
Tattersall's,  ii.  451 
Tavern,  Angel,  i.  215 

Angel  (St.  Giles's),  ii.  157 

Bell,  i.  59 

Bell,  Old,  ii.  193 

Bible,  i.  104 

Black  Jack,  i.  95 

Blue  Boar,  ii.  igo 

Blue  Pig,  ii.  190 

Bow,  ii.  1^7 

Cheshire  Cheese,  i.  11a 

Cock,  i.  105 

Cock  (in  Hackne)'),  i.  317 

Cross  Keys,  i.  199 

Czar's  Head,  i.  367 

Devil,  i.  103 

Dolly's  Chop  House,  i.  158 

Elephant,  i.  337 

Four  Swans,  i.  295 

George,  i.  461 

Green  Dragon,  i.  295 

Hummums,  Old,  i.  it 

Mermaid,  i.  230 

Oxford  Arms,  i.  159 

Pillars  of  Hercules,  ii.  na 

Queen's  Head,  i.  340 

Red  Cow,  i.  418 

Running  Footman,  ii.  88 


INDEX. 


5<« 


Tavern,  Sir  Hujrh  Myddelton,  t.  814 

Star  and  Garter,  ii.  51 

Tabard,  i.  462 

Thatched  House,  ii.  67 

Three  Nuns,  i.  348 

Three  Tuns,  i.  423 

Waterman's  Anns,  i.  419 

White  Conduit  House,  i.  2ig 

White  Hart,  i.  461 
Temple,  the,  i.  61 
Temple  Bar,  i.  51 
Terrace,  Adelpni,  i.  16 

Richmond,  ii.  225 
Thames  Tunnel,  i.  419 
Theatre,  the,  i.  3r5 

Bankside,  i.  459 

The  Curtain,  i.  315 

Drury  Lanr,  i.  04 

The  Duke's,  i.  115 

The  Globe,  i.  059 

Red  Bull,  i.  213 

Sadler's  Wells,  i.  2t 

St.  James's,  ii.  68 

Salisbury  Court,  i.  115 
Times  Printing  Office,  i   443 
Tower,  Canonbury,  i.  218 

Hill,  i.  367 

of  London,  i.  368 

of  Montfiquet,  i.  117 

Royal,  i.  327 

of  St.  Mary  Somerset,  i.  436 

Victoria,  ii-  377 
Town,  Camden,  i.  221 

Kentish,  i.  221 

Somers,  i.  221 
Treasury,  the,  ii.  223 
Trinity  House,  the,  i.  417 
Tyburn,  ii.  101 
Tyburn ia,  ii.  104 


University,  New  London,  ii.  jS 


Vauxhall,  ii.  422 
Viaduct,  Holborn,  ii.  201 
Villa,  St.  Dunstan's,  ii.  14a 

W. 

Walbrook,  i.  255 
Walk,  Artillery,  i.  311 

Bird  Cage,  ii.  122 

Cheyne,  ii.  429 
Wall  of  London,  i.  270,  S75 
Wapping,  i.  418 
Ward,  Portsoken,  i.  347 
Wardrobe,  the  King's,  i.  43a 

the  Queen's,  i.  327 
Watergate  of  York  House,  L  13 
Well.  Bagnigge,  i.  214 

the  Clerks',  i    211 

Crowder's,  i.  271 

Sadler's,  i.  214 

St.  Bride's,  i.  108 

St.  Clement's,  i.  43 

Skinners',  i.  212 
Westminster  Abbey,  ii.  228 
Wharf,  Battle  I '.ridge,  i.  469 

Botolph,  423 
Whetstone  Park,  ii.  190 
Whitcchapil,  i.  349 
AV'iitefriars,  i.  114 
Whitehall,  ii.  202 


Yard,  Belle  Fauvage,  i.  124 
Coal,  ii.  1  no 

Dean's  (Westminster),  ii.  363 
Glass  House,  i.  4  .3 
Ireland,  i.  443 

Little  Dean's  (Westminster),  ii   364 
Palace,  New,  ii.  37S 
Palace,  Old,  ii.  390 
Playhouse,  i.  272,  4  13 
Red  Bull,  i.  213 
Scotland,  ii.  220 
Tilt,  ii.  122 
Tokenhouse,  i.  2}; 


THK    END. 


Dg  %  j?nmc  lUtfljar. 

CITIES    OF    NORTHERN    AND 
CENTRAL    ITALY. 

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honor  belongs  to  these  '  Memorials  of  a  Quiet  Life.'  "  —  Bishop  Huntington. 

"  We  are  far  from  using  the  language  of  mere  conventional  eulogy  when  we  say 
that  this  is  a  book  which  will  cause  every  right-minded  reader  to  feel  not  only  the 
happier,  but  the  better."  —  Conservative. 

"  The  name  of  Hare  is  one  deservedly  to  he  honored  ;  and  in  these  '  Memorials,' 
which  are  as  true  and  satisfactory  a  biography  as  it  is  possible  to  write,  the  author 
places  his  readers  in  the  heart  of  the  family,  and  allows  them  to  see  the  hidden 
sources  of  life  and  love  by  which  it  was  nourished  and  sustained."  —  Atuen-eitm. 

"  One  of  those  books  which  it  is  impossible  to  read  without  pleasure.  It  con- 
veys a  sense  of  repose  not  unlike  that  which  everybody  must  have  felt  out  of  ser- 
vice-time in  quiet  little  village  churches.  Its  editor  will  receive  the  hearty  thanks 
of  every  cultivated  reader  for  these  profoundly  interesting  '  Memorials '  of  two 
brothers,  whose  names  and  labors  their  universities  and  church  have  alike  re 
to  cherish  with  affection  and  remember  with  pride,  who  have  smoothed  the  path 
of  faith  to  so  many  troubled  wayfarers,  strengthening  the  weary  and  confirming 
the  weak."  —  Standard. 

"  The  book  is  rich  in  insight  and  in  contrast  of  character.  It  is  varied  and  full 
of  episodes  which  few  can  fail  to  read  with  interest ;  and,  as  exhibiting  the  senti- 
ments and  thoughts  of  a  very  influential  circle  of  minds  during  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, it  may  be  said  to  have  a  distinct  historical  value."  — Nonconformist. 

"  A  charming  book,  simply  and  gracefully  recording  the  events  of  a  simple  an  1 
gracious  life.  Its  connection  with  the  beginning  of  a  great  movement  in  the  Eng- 
lish Church  will  make  it  to  the  thoughtful  reader  more  profoundly  suggestive  than 
many  biographies  crowded  and  bustling  with  incident.  It  is  almost  the  tir-.t  of  0 
class  of  books  the  Christian  world  just  now  greatly  needs,  showing  how  the  spir- 
itual life  was  maintained  amid  the  shaking  of  religious  'opinions  '  ;  how  the  life 
of  the  soul  deepened  as  the  thoughts  of  the  mind  broadened;  and  how,  in  their 
union,  the  two  formed  a  volume  of  larger  and  more  thoroughly  vitalized  Christian 
idea  than  the  English  people  had  witnessed  for  many  days."  —  Glasgow  Herald. 


GEORGE  ROUTLEDGE  &  SONS,  NEW  YORK. 


$g  %  guhe  of  toafl. 

PRIMEVAL    MAN. 

An  Examination  of  some  Recent  Speculations. 

12mo,  cloth,  $1.50. 


"  We  have  given  a  meagre  outline  of  a  book  which  deserves  to  be  carefully 
read  by  all  who  would  keep  abreast  of  the  leading  tendencies  of  the  time.  It 
does  much  to  set  a  difficult  question  in  a  more  satisfactory  light,  but  it  does 
even  better  than  this  in  furnishing  a  most  admirable  example  of  the  temper  in 
which  such  discussions  should  be  conducted.  If  the  cause  of  revealed  truth 
had  more  defenders  like  the  Duke  of  Argyll,  we  should  hear  less  of  tbe  growing 
scepticism  of  men  of  science.  He  is,  himself,  a  striking  illustjation  of  the 
entire  compatibility  of  Christian  faith  with  scientific  culture." — The  Living 
Church. 

"  Will  doubtless  long  continue  to  command  the  respect  of  the  best  scholars 
of  the  day."  —  Detroit  Free  Press 

"The  author  of  this  work  is  doubtless  one  of  the  ablest  thinkers  in  Europe. 
...  .It  has  to  deal  with  questions  which  touch  upon  the  profoundest  problems 
of  our  nature  and  of  our  history,  and  is  altogether  a  very  interesting  and  in- 
structive work,  —  one  that  all  may  read  with  profit."'  —  Scientific. American. 

"This  volume  is  perhaps  the  most  clear,  graceful,  pointed,  and  precise  piece 

of  ethical  reasoning  published  for  a  quarter  of  a  century The  book  is 

worthy  a  place  in  every  library  as  skilfully  popularizing  science,  and  yet  sacri- 
ficing nothing  either  of  its  dignity  or  of  its  usefulness." — London  Noncon- 
formist. 

"  This  book  shows  great  knowledge,   unusual  command  of  language,  and  a 

true  sense  of  the  value  of  arguments It  may   be  questioned  and  even 

confuted  in  some  points,  without  losing  any  of  its  claims  as  a  candid,  clear,  and 
high-minded  discussion."  —  Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

"  The  style  of  his  Grace  (to  say  nothing  here  of  his  thought,  of  which  others 
have  spoken  words  of  admiration  certainly  not  too  strong)  often  runs  into  poetry  ; 
and  it  has  everywhere  that  indescribable  not-too-muchness  which  is  always  the 
cachet  of  high-class  work."  —  London  Illustrated  Times. 


GEORGE  ROUTLEDGE  &  SONS,  NEW  YORK. 


§3  §cb.  I.  <§.  ©Ioo&. 


MAN    AND    BEAST, 

Here  and  Hereafter. 

Illustrated  by  more  than  Three  Hundred  Original  Anecdotes.     12mo, 

cloth,  $3.00. 


"  The  book  is  delightful.''  —  British  Quarterly  Review. 

"  It  is  filled  with  anecdotes  which  are  very  entertaining."  —  Saturday  Review. 

"  Extremely  readable  and  interesting If  the  talk  runs  on  dogs,  cats,  cana- 
ries, horses,  elephants,  or  even  pigs  or  ducks,  he  who  has  '  Man  and  Beast '  at  his 
ringers'  ends  may  be  sure  of  a  story  good  enough  to  cap  the  best  that  is  likely  to 
be  told.-' —  Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

"Mr.  Wood,  by  means  of  this  very  readable  and  well-condensed  volume,  has 
done  more  than  any  one  else  recently  to  call  into  active  exercise  the  latent  sympa- 
thy towards  the  lower  animals  which  exists  in  all  of  us."  —  Nonconformist. 

"  Except  White  of  Selborne,  no  Englishman  perhaps  ever  wrote  more  feelingly 
of  animals,  and  with  more  sympathetic  insight  into  their  habits  and  ways.  They 
wanted  the  sacer  vates  until  Mr.  Wood  wrote  ;  if  they  were  given  to  passing  votes 
of  thanks,  the  whole  of  the  lower  animals  would  express  their  gratitude  to  the  au- 
thor of '  Man  and  Beast.'  "  —  Observer. 

'•The  volume  is  most  interesting.  Mr.  Wood  sets  his  heart  on  observing  the 
nature  and  habits  of  so-called  dumb  creatures,  and  few  who  love  them  will  fail  to 
be  interested  in  this  well-written  volume."  —  Watchman. 

"  We  recommend  all  lovers  (if  natural  history  to  read  it."  —  Land  and  Water. 

"This  truly  delightful  volume."  —  World. 

"An  exceedingly  interesting  and  profitable  book;    it  is  as  readable  as  ro- 

e  "  —  AmKIIIC  IS   PRi  SDYTERIAN. 

"A  most  delightful  book,  that  proves  the  lower  animals  share  with  man  the 
attributes  of  reason,  language,  memory,  n  sense  of  moral  responsibility,  uoselfish- 
ness,  and  love,  all  of  which  belong  to  the  spirit  and  not  to  the  body."  —  Philadel- 
phia City  I .   h 

"  As  to  its  intrinsic  merits,  we  cannot  speak  too  warmly The  book  is  one 

of  the  most  fascinating  we  h  tve  ever  read A  more  delightful  book  for  a  men- 
tal luncheon,  or  a  better  and  mure  appetizing  literary  '  cold  ham  '  at  which  to 
'cut  and  come  again,"  it  would  be  hard  to  find  "  — Christian  Intelligencer. 

"  The  book  will  find  a  deserved  and  permanent  place  in  literature  as  one  of  the 
rtaining  colli  ctions  of  Zo  ilogical  ana  ever  issued  from  the  press,  Inter- 
esting alike  to  the  philosopher  and  to  the  school-boy,  and  useful  in  cultivating  that 
knowledge  of  inferior  phj  siology  which  leads  man  to  be  merciful  to  beast,  whether 
he  admit  the  spiritual  relationship  "r  no."  —  New  York  World. 


GEORGE  ROUTLEDGE  &  SONS,  NEW  YORK. 


W4 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

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